how to get rid of cyanobacteria?

[mystery_reef]

hello anyone, the cyanobacteria in my 125 reef has been there for some time now and i have done many things to try and get rid of it but if there are any other tips or suggestions out there that would be great. it is not overwhelming but would be if i didnt take care of it once a week. how can i get rid of this annoying red slime? there is also dark brown or almost black moss looking algae in there, mostly growing on the glass over the coraline algae. what is this stuff and why do i have it or how can i get rid of it for good. thanks fo replies.

[chris wright]

g'day mystery_reef,

The old cyano battle is not much fun, but you can control it. Its impossible to get rid of, you just dont see it when its under control.

Here is a thread to read,

turn off lights (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532&perpage=25&pagenumber=1)

I have used and documented my problems in the above thread. Make sure that you monitor your livestock, especially if you have corals.

Also points to consider. Water flow in your tank needs to be stong enough to keep solids suspended in the water so that they can be skimmed off. Vaccum the cyano out as best you can, with a gravel siphon.

Be careful how much you feed your tank, nutrients help feed cyano. Also make sure your tank is not over stocked with fish.


Do regular water changes, say once a week of 10% minimum for a couple of weeks to improve your water quality. Get a refugium with macroalgae, especially if your not using a skimmer.

Follow the above steps and it shouldnt be a problem anymore.

Good luck.

[reefman5511]

I have used this method for handling the nitrates that can lead to cyano: http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/nitratecontrol/l/aa091901.htm
You also don't want to be using tap water. I agree with Chris about not overfeeding.

[mystery_reef]

chris- thanks for the link to your other thread i just read the whole thing and it sounds like a great idea. it does make sense though about the natural reefs as it is true that there is sometimes no light for and extended amount of time. i am going to try it. as for water flow mine is great and i have a good protein skimmer and refuge, my nitrates are very low and i do siphon out the cyano when doing my 10% water changes every 2-3 weeks to keep things fresh. sadly i only have 7 fish and 3 of them are chromis, i feed well but not over. thanks for your help i will post a reply to let you know when it works.

reefman5511- thanks, i dont use tap water pure ro for me and i agree with the feeding.

[zoozimmy]

you need a high water flow

[chris wright]

Cyano is a battle sometimes, but youll get there. Taking the time to stand back and access what you could be doing wrong is important, but sometimes I think its just part of the environment that is in a tank.

Looking forward to seeing your results mystery_reef, I hope it works out well for you. :)

[mystery_reef]

thanks again

[airinhere]

hey there! I just got done with a bad case of cyano. I ended up having to use erythromyacin to get rid of the stuff. I dosed a little less than half the recomended dosage and within two days I had no cyano anywhere and it hasn't returned. Be warned though, this will also reduce your beneficial bacteria as well. But wow does my tank look better.

[reeftankjunkie]

Make sure that your bulbs are not too old. I had a problem with cyano because my bulbs were almost 12 months old. I changed the bulbs and used chemi-clean once and the cyano is now all gone.

[chris wright]

Chemicals ...ahhhh!!!!!

I have used po4 minus, but I know now that I had poor flow, which I now monitor carefully. I clean my powerheads reguarly to keep optimum effeciency. This combined with good skimming has helped. But now, if cyano or algae break out or build up I turn off the lights as posted earlier in this thread. This is the cheapest and most effective means of control. Combine this with water changes and your on your way.

Whats the long term effects of chemicals, I cant say. I dare say that it cant be to good, so if the alternative is there, why not use it. It will in theory save some money in the long term, and not overload the system with unneccesary chemicals. Remeber that chemicals are a short term solution only.

Good luck.
;)

[hebdo27]

i started adding two packs of sugar (from Dunkin Donuts) every day to my tank for 3 days....by the 4th the cyno was gone. I also reduced light period by 1-2 hours. Now I don't have it anymore, I still dose sugar but just 1 pack every 2 days. That was about a month ago and everything is in tip top shape.

My tank is 90 gal mix reef with 30 gal sump.

GL

[elegance coral]

Have you tried the meds from your lfs? Chemiclean makes a red slime remover that really works well. There are other manufacturers but the Chemiclean doesnt change the color of your water like the others can.
I have tried to fight this stuff many times. I don't play with it anymore. I add the meds then in two or three days I do a large water change and clean everything up. The slime problem is then gone if you keep up maintanance.
Once you have red slime in your tank simply changing water and cleaning the rocks and sand dosnt seem to work well. The slime just keeps comming back. You got to kill it.

[mystery_reef]

thanks for the replies :) i think im going to try adding the sugar. i wonder why it worked or works? i am reluctant to adding chemicals and will only as a last resort. right now my lights are off for the first day so im trying that as well.

[pdkinsel]

If you have ample live rock and good flow then get rid of bio balls(if you have them). I had cyano break out every 2 weeks or so. Only thing I changes was to progressively eliminate the bio balls over a period of 4 water changes and no more cyano. I changed nothing else..not lighting schedule, etc. In fact I was feeding not even half of what I feed fish now and have same amount of fish.

[chris wright]

Yes the bio balls will increase the nitrates etc in your system feeding the cyano. Ive read that cyano converts lower level wastes into higher level waste to feed itself. Removal of the bio balls took away its food source.

Sugar, as I understand it, feeds the bacteria in your system, thus competeing for the nutrients that cyano and algae need. When the nutrients are down they all die off. I dont know enough about the additions of sugar to comment, but try it if you like. Just make sure you have good circulation and nutrient exports, water changes and skimming, or youll be adding sugar all the time to combat cyano.
Its easier to stop the build up, than to continually combat it. Im sure youll get sick of fighting it, I did when I didnt understand the basics of beating it.

Good luck

Chris

[mystery_reef]

yes i have bioballs in the system but i never used them in my others so this could be the reason for the cyano. my nitrates are always 0-5 about thank to the fuge witch takes care of most of it so im not sure if the cyano is feeding on this from the bioballs. thanks for all the replies.

[lukinrats]

I dont know about chemi clean yet, but I have heard of people dosing it... the one thing that worked well for me was PolyOx... and it worked well... did not change the water color or harm anything in anyway... some people may have different views on it, but I can vouch for it working on my cyano problem

[BigDaddy]

Queen Conchs love this stuff.