Many new saltwater aquariums suffer from red slime algae and this leaves many aquarium owners wondering how to get rid of red slime algae in a saltwater aquarium.
Red slime algae is a common occurrence in marine aquarium systems.
It is very common in newer saltwater tanks that have not yet reached a biological balance.
If your tank is under 6 months old you can almost expect it to grow in your system.
In older more established tanks it maybe a sign that something is wrong and the system is out of balance.
What Causes It Generally it is caused by a build up of nutrients in the aquarium.
These nutrients are nitrate and phosphates.
These nutrients are put into the tank from fish waste and food.
In most new systems that are correctly stocked and filtered the problem will normally go away on its own in a few weeks, it just takes patience on your part.
In older systems you may need to clean your filters more frequently, reduce the number of fish in the tank or give the tank a real good cleaning.
A good cleaning would involve vacuuming the gravel thoroughly and blowing of any live rock work you have with a small power head to clean off any settled waste.
How to Get Rid Of Red Slime Algae In a Saltwater Aquarium Because red slime algae is a natural part of the aquatic system it is not recommended that you use chemicals to kill it off.
What normally will happen is that the nitrates and phosphate levels will spike when there is no algae to absorb it.
Then when the algae reappears it will come back more severe do to the excess nutrient build up.
You can however try some nitrate and or phosphate absorbing filter media to starve the algae of its food source.
But you need to find the actual source of your nutrients first.
Surprisingly many times it is the tap water you use to make the saltwater that is the cause.
Many cities and towns add phosphate to the water to stop the pipes from rusting, so every time you do a water change you are adding more algae food into your tank.
To avoid this you can buy a reverse osmosis water treatment system or use distilled water from the store.
Many saltwater aquarium keepers have also reported that red slime algae does not like high water flow so you can also try to increase water flow into the problem areas and see if that helps.