RED SLIM CARPET IN SALTWATER AQUARIUM

Question
I have a 55 gal. tank (7mths old) using a wet/dry filtration system and a Wisperpro biofilter.  I have 2 featherdusters, 1 Candi anenome, 1 group of pollups, about 20lbs of live rock. 2 Green Chromis and 2 other type damils w/a yellow strip along its top I also have 1 blue legged hermit crab.  On 7/4 I added a circulator flow pump (1 of the featherdusters was in the direct flow and his feather blew off - Will another grow in the tube?) and I added an automatic overflow filler to the wet/dry system.  I have a red/maroon color algea forming in some areas on the live sand.  I added 1 round of Red Slim Remover (Ultra Life Reef Products) on 7/3. I will be doing another round of that treatment on 7/5 the day of this writing.  I am guilty of not doing regular water changes as well as overfeeding.  I did a partial water change on 6/22 changing 15 gals. Also, I have using tap water and mixing it w/ocean salt. on 7/4 my levels were as follows - pH 7.8, Amonia .25, Nitrite .25, Nitrate 10, Salinity 32.1 and Gravity 1.024.  Please help get this water under control help me with the red slim problem. Your help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer
Hey Terez

what happened with your feather duster is normal, it is how they reproduce. The feathers should sprout a new body, and the old body should produce a new feather head.

The red slime you have is completely normal. Reefs go through 3 algae stages, brown diatom, hair algae, then cyano. youre right on time for your cyano stage. It will go away. all you need to do to control it is feed a bit less, and keep your skimmer going good.

I also noticed you said you are using tapwater, if you live in a city, that will cause bad cyano. City tapwater has phosphates and other junk that encourages cyano growth, and you should be using RO water, you can get a RO machine for $100-$200, or you can go to a machine at Safeway or other stores and get the bottles of it. RO water is pure and will not encourage any growth. The red slime remover you are using is not needed, let the tank naturally finish the cycle. Use RO water, feed less, and keep the skimmer going and you should be good.

Are you sure that you are having ammonia in the tank? thats not good, ammonia is fatal. Your cured live rock should be able to eat up the ammonia, try testing the water to make sure there is 0 ammonia.

any follow up questions, feel free to ask