View Full Version : Is Cyano REALLY a bad thing?
one4gatr
01/29/2010, 09:01 AM
I know the causes and cures for Cyano so I am not really concerned about that... I have been tweaking my photo,flow, and w/c schedules trying to find what my corals REALLY like... In the process of doing this I have developed a minor to moderate case of Cyano. Not enough to stress me out just enough that I need to clean it up about once a month or so. I havent bothered testing the water because I have been very comfortable with all my previous readings. BUT that being said whatever is causing/feeding my cyano also has kicked my coral growth and appearance into overdrive. A great example is my frogspawn. I bought this about 2 months ago it has doubled in size (tennis ball to about softball) since I have been tinkering. Also my shrooms which hadnt been doing much have grown about 5x the original size as well as been adding new growths like crazy. Shrooms for 3 months were about a nickle in size and now have grown to a minimum of 3" in diamater over the last couple of months... I never even knew they grew like a trumpet from the base lol...
So my question is aside from the obvious things like cyano choking out the corals if I let it get too crazy and being unsightly does it REALLY hurt the tank if I continue to let it fester? Also I have a small CUC made up of a couple of hermits,emerald crab,shrimp,nassarius, and colonistas. I have heard that Mexican Turbos and Astreas might be worth adding to help with the cyano but I hate the way turbos knock everything over so that really only leaves the Astreas if they do indeed help.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Mark
Fish_wiz2
01/29/2010, 09:09 AM
IME, nope. I've been battling cyano in ALL of my tanks (had 3 and even now!) and they didn't do nothing but look ugly. Unless i let it choke my corals but of course i would never let that... Hope that help, Wiz ;)
I feel that cyano is an indicator that there is something wrong in the tank. Decreased flow, high nutrients and out of balance water parameters come to mind.
stubby 58
01/29/2010, 09:32 AM
Your growth on mushrooms is coming from a dirty tank . They like less than pristine conditions . As you stated it will cover up your corals and kill them . If left unchecked it will be very hard to get rid of and take a lot longer .
stubby
one4gatr
01/29/2010, 09:40 AM
I feel that cyano is an indicator that there is something wrong in the tank. Decreased flow, high nutrients and out of balance water parameters come to mind.
Jeff I hear you there and understand what you mean. I KNOW something is NOT spot on BUT when things WERE spot on and I had no Cyano I had little to no coral growth. So really the question I have is it worth the tradeoff? Spending tons of time, tweaking, dosing, skimming, water changing to get back to "perfect" water parameters at the cost of coral growth seems like it may not be worth it in the long run. I dont own a skimmer so I know thats part of the problem now that I am stretching out my w/c cycle but dropping $100-$200 dollars to put a skimmer in just isnt cost effective at this time.
In a perfect world I would love to have the money to put everything I want and need into the tank to make it perfect. But I am content for things to be a little less than perfect while I can save money to get where I want to go as long as the tank still "looks" good and I wont have any long term damage caused by the Cyano.
But I am content for things to be a little less than perfect while I can save money to get where I want to go as long as the tank still "looks" good and I wont have any long term damage caused by the Cyano.
If it keeps growing and spreading, you will have problems in my opinion. If you can find a way to increase flow and export more nutrients, you may be able to head off a bigger problem.
one4gatr
01/29/2010, 10:10 AM
Your growth on mushrooms is coming from a dirty tank . They like less than pristine conditions . As you stated it will cover up your corals and kill them . If left unchecked it will be very hard to get rid of and take a lot longer .
stubby
Right but what about my hammer, frogspawn, xenia (i know i know lol..), feather duster, zoas, gsp, ricordia (shroom i know) and pavona (which I thought was dead prior to this tweaking)? My other corals prior to this experiment were pathetic looking. I just cant get past the fact that when the onset of the Cyano reared its head that ALL of the corals in the tank have responded favorably to the "less than pristine" conditions. In short I did something right. And without a huge investment in either equiptment or time I will likely not be able to completely "cure" the Cyano. I know alot of people battle Cyano and I am confident I can get rid of it if I wanted to but fear I will end back up with puny corals and have to start "supplementing" to get them back to where they are today.
Thanks
one4gatr
01/29/2010, 10:16 AM
If it keeps growing and spreading, you will have problems in my opinion. If you can find a way to increase flow and export more nutrients, you may be able to head off a bigger problem.
I have played with the flow and that doesnt help "much". I know a skimmer would go a LONG way and will be putting one in the loop with in the next couple of months. But I am willing to keep sucking it out in the meantime to perserve what good things I have going on. I am just surprised that you can have something "bad" going on and at the same time have a HUGE improvement in all other aspects.... lol... I just love this hobby...
Larah
01/29/2010, 11:12 AM
I just turnedoff a few of my power heaads and it had the same effect onthe corals, they're all opening up wmore and the shrooms are bigger and fuller. Butyeah I have the same problem with my sand bed, yucky cyano! I have just tried moving a couple of the power heads down so that they gently blow accross the sand to see if that helps with the cyano......
I agree with you, up to limits. A little cyano doesn't hurt. And it's fairly easy to deal with by turning the lights out. I've had it thick enough it had bubbles and that's a problem to be dealt with actively, but ordinarily, a little smudge of red on the sand, no big deal. Happens now and again, and anything from shrooms up to lps appreciates rich water. I get really good growth. I'd never quite thought of cyano as coral food, but I wouldn't be surprised. It's an interesting read in Wiki, between animal and vegetable, and actually IS the origin of the photosynthetic algaes we so cherish in our corals, so IMHO, it's just part of the tapestry of ocean life, and unless out of hand, has its place. It's sopping up something in excess, it produces oxygen, I've never lost any specimen to it, not even at its worst, and when you take it out, you're skimming out whatever excess of something that you'd accumulated. So it's far from a reason to panic.
one4gatr
01/30/2010, 05:07 AM
I agree with you, up to limits. A little cyano doesn't hurt. And it's fairly easy to deal with by turning the lights out. I've had it thick enough it had bubbles and that's a problem to be dealt with actively, but ordinarily, a little smudge of red on the sand, no big deal. Happens now and again, and anything from shrooms up to lps appreciates rich water. I get really good growth. I'd never quite thought of cyano as coral food, but I wouldn't be surprised. It's an interesting read in Wiki, between animal and vegetable, and actually IS the origin of the photosynthetic algaes we so cherish in our corals, so IMHO, it's just part of the tapestry of ocean life, and unless out of hand, has its place. It's sopping up something in excess, it produces oxygen, I've never lost any specimen to it, not even at its worst, and when you take it out, you're skimming out whatever excess of something that you'd accumulated. So it's far from a reason to panic.
Thanks Sk8r you stated what I was trying to convey better than I could. The root cause of my "problem" is also likely why I am having this dramatic improvement as well. I just am scared to try to make any changes (other than a skimmer) and screw up the good I have going.
Crustman
01/30/2010, 09:05 AM
My Foxface eats the cyano when it shows up. It has never hurt anything.
Misled
01/30/2010, 10:01 AM
Question, do you have a fuge. I agree with Sk8r. I have it growing on the walls of my fuge. There are bubbles on it and it stays on the walls. The pods tend to play in it. There's none on my rubble rock pile and I even have good coralline growth on the rubble rock.
I wouldn't be surprised if pods and bristleworms and maybe some snails ate it. Pods eat phyto. This is mostly right in their size range. Personally, I think something that's that ubiquitous in the ocean ought to be looked at carefully and not discarded as of no value: we used to spook at bristleworms and blame them for every demise: now we understand they're a good, even vital part of the environment.
Re cyano in the fuge, same situation with me. There's a little in my fuge, which is a lively fuge, with higher flow than a fuge is supposed to have, and it shows up now and again as the sun reaches my tank, but no big deal. I view it as part of that highly musical "circle of life."
one4gatr
01/30/2010, 06:07 PM
Question, do you have a fuge. I agree with Sk8r. I have it growing on the walls of my fuge. There are bubbles on it and it stays on the walls. The pods tend to play in it. There's none on my rubble rock pile and I even have good coralline growth on the rubble rock.
No... no fuge... just some cyano on the sand and a few rocks... FAR from an emergency situation and it doesnt really bother me... I was confounded that when I have things going great otherwise I have now developed this issue that some consider a MAJOR problem. I just wanted to see what people thought regarding how "harmful" cyano was. Like I stated earlier I certainly can FIX the "problem" as I know what I did to get here but I know if I do my corals growth and appearance will suffer. In the long run I will get it corrected "properly" once funds allow but in the meantime I am somewhat content to deal with it "manually" so to speak.
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