Cyanobacteria?

[Lickyricky]

Gez is this is the second bloom of Cyanobacteria?
First time I used chemiclean and it was a pain. (2-3 months ago) Hoping I don’t have to do it again.
Is it normal for it to come back? How can I keep it from coming back?
Parameters below in pic




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[nereefpat]

Is it just in one area? Can you increase flow there?

[Lickyricky]

Originally Posted by nereefpat

Is it just in one area? Can you increase flow there?

It’s pretty much all over. I already feel like I have too much flow and won’t be able to increase flow any more along the bottom which is where it is.


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[Tripod1404]

Do you dose carbon?

[RobZilla04]

Short answer is yes it can and often does come back unless you fix the cause. I'd the tank being hit with any odd sunlight (sun up or sun down)? What do you dose?

Increased flow alone won't prevent it from reappearing.

[Civicman86]

Originally Posted by RobZilla04

Short answer is yes it can and often does come back unless you fix the cause. I'd the tank being hit with any odd sunlight (sun up or sun down)? What do you dose?

Increased flow alone won't prevent it from reappearing.

I was just battling cyanocobalamin as well. Found out my light was coming on early in the morning and I didn't know it. Corrected the light and it seems to be on the decline.

[Lickyricky]

Originally Posted by Civicman86

I was just battling cyanocobalamin as well. Found out my light was coming on early in the morning and I didn't know it. Corrected the light and it seems to be on the decline.

Can you be more specific about the time of the light?


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[nycman]

Originally Posted by Lickyricky

Can you be more specific about the time of the light?


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Interested in this thread.

[Brieninsac]

Cyanobacteria tends to crop up in low nutrient systems. Your nitrates reflect this.

[Bill_Moorman]

Going to set up a controller in the future..which one are you using?

Sorry to hijack your thread!


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[Bulldog39]

Originally Posted by Brieninsac

Cyanobacteria tends to crop up in low nutrient systems. Your nitrates reflect this.

First time I heard this. So 0 nitrate will cause cyanobacteria?

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[RobZilla04]

Odd sun light contributed to cyano break out in my tank twice. Happens the same time of year when the sun hits the tank through a window at the front of my house. Its the only explanation I have since the nutrient levels remain stable for months before the break out. Also keeping the white channel of my LED intensity on the low side aids in preventing algae breakouts for me. As a side note (Viparspectra) the white channel has two green and two red LED's. Not sure what role they play.... guess I should finally get brave enough to change them.

[mcgyvr]

The picture to me looks more like diatoms vs cyano.. but a picture taken with all that blue light really sucks at showing proper colors,etc... which are quite necessary for a proper identification..

Are you stirring/vacuuming your sand bed? (that can cause a rebloom of diatoms)

[Civicman86]

Originally Posted by Lickyricky

Can you be more specific about the time of the light?


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Yes, I have a reef breeders light that you can setup for a 24 hour cycle. Being a noob I setup the light for 12 hours initially. Found out it was too much light and cut it back to 8 hours and still fought algae growth. One morning on my way to work, earlier than normal, I noticed a blue glow downstairs (tank is in the basement). Come to find out the light was coming on for a couple hours at night.

I checked the lights to ensure it was off when I wanted. Now my algae is on the decline and corals are doing better than ever - I assume becuase they are getting rest now.

[nycman]

I had a very bad outbreak of cyano on my 6 month old tank. I tested nitrate and phosphate often and never saw a reading above 0. Today, it is nearly defeated. I tried lights out for three days and a couple of chemical treatments with no help whatsoever. Here is what I think got on top of it however.

1) rinsing & cleaning mechanical sponges in sump daily.
2) addition of 50 and 100 micron filter pads in return section of sump - amazing how much it catches. Need very hot water with sprayer to clean them.
2) exclusively blue/violet/uv spectrum - 22000K - no whites, greens, reds, and decreasing brightness.
3) weekly siphoning of sand bed with water change.
4) RO/DI unit filter and resin changes - using a hand held TDS instrument was shocked to see my TDS was low single digits, yet my BRS meter was showing zero.
5) increased water changes to 50% per week with new RO/DI filter water.
6) removal of GFO
7) increased skimming from dry to wet, and generating much more skimmate.
8) increased volume and replacement frequency of GAC.

Not sure which of these were most significant, but likely micron filters, blue lights, and 0 TDS RO/DI water.

[irishmarine]

I had the same problem
Tried lights out and some is coming back though not as bad
I also checked my TDS from my RODI end product and it was at 11ppm so next I’ll try that
I also think the natural light was a factor as the room gets hit early am and during the day with sunlight so I matched my lighting times to the sunlight times
Also added a low micron filter and clean it more
I skim more now
And I also removed the mechanical sponges in place and added GFO

[reefgeezer]

Unlike algae, Cyano can compete for nutrients bound in dissolved organic compounds. These bound nutrients don't show up in standard testing. That's why Cyano often seems to show up in low nutrient systems.

Cyano could be a phase your tank is going through. It might go away as the tank develops other organisms that can compete with the it for the bound nutrients. A little is ok so don't freak out. Sometimes you can cause other issues or delay the development of the other organisms if you start messing with too much all at once.

If it gets too bad, the key to eliminating Cyano is lowering the dissolved organic levels. You can do this by carefully:

1. Vacuuming out the Cyano aggressively;
2. Adding or increasing GAC and changing it more often;
3. Making sure the skimmer is working well and skimming wet;
4. Increasing water changes; and
5. Changing filter socks and other mechanical filter pads daily.

[HBtank]

I think the main problem for most people is the thought that their systems as "high" and "low" nutrients based on static measurements. The reality is very few people know exactly what rates those specific nutrients are being generated, used, or filtered from their tank.

They have multiple pieces of equipment, and a range of livestock, specific to their tank actively stripping those nutrients at various stages of decay. I believe in many tanks that get close to 0 for "nutrients", this creates a very specific niche in your aquarium where one type of algae may be able to compete, effectively creating a mono-culture of algae. This could be good or bad... depending on the algae.

I personally think the first thing most people with problem algae issues (once established) should do is just back off some of the export methods and actually raise static levels and "break the niche", letting competition increase. Then work from there, maybe that 4th "reactor" wasn't needed after all...

[Lickyricky]

Originally Posted by HBtank

I think the main problem for most people is the thought that their systems as "high" and "low" nutrients based on static measurements. The reality is very few people know exactly what rates those specific nutrients are being generated, used, or filtered from their tank.

They have multiple pieces of equipment, and a range of livestock, specific to their tank actively stripping those nutrients at various stages of decay. This creates a very specific niche in your aquarium where one type of algae may be able to compete, effectively creating a mono-culture of algae.

I personally think the first thing most people with problem algae issues (once established) should do is just back off some of the export methods and actually raise static levels and "break the niche", letting competition increase.

As in turn the Skimmer off? It’s really the only thing running outside the 100 micron filter


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[FoxFace Fish]

What app is that?

[Lickyricky]

Originally Posted by FoxFace Fish

What app is that?

AquaticLog


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[HBtank]

Originally Posted by Lickyricky

As in turn the Skimmer off? It’s really the only thing running outside the 100 micron filter


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Hmmm, what is the tank stocked with and what do you feed? I personally think a skimmer is a fundamental piece of equipment (JMO) and would look to increase my stocking first to match my tank/skimmer.

The idea is to create low, but measurable nutrients (i.e. ~2-3 ppm nitrate), as opposed to the traditional approach of "starving it", and allow other more controllable algae dominate.

[Lickyricky]

Originally Posted by HBtank

Hmmm, what is the tank stocked with and what do you feed? I personally think a skimmer is a fundamental piece of equipment (JMO) and would look to increase my stocking first to match my tank/skimmer.

The idea is to create low, but measurable nutrients (i.e. ~2-3 ppm nitrate), as opposed to the traditional approach of "starving it".

3 fish (clown, huma huma, 6 like wrasse), 10 corals (mixed SPS and LPS), bubble tip, emerald crab, various snails and hermits


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[reefgeezer]

Originally Posted by HBtank

The idea is to create low, but measurable nutrients (i.e. ~2-3 ppm nitrate), as opposed to the traditional approach of "starving it", and allow other more controllable algae dominate.

I agree 0 is not good. However, IMO, increasing free (inorganic) nutrients to encourage algae may not solve the Cyano issue as long as there is nothing else competing for or otherwise limiting dissolved organics.

[HBtank]

Originally Posted by reefgeezer

I agree 0 is not good. However, IMO, increasing free (inorganic) nutrients to encourage algae may not solve the Cyano issue as long as there is nothing else competing for or otherwise limiting dissolved organics.

Agree completely, always find it hard to help with these issues as every tank is unique!

Like my tank is dominated by diatoms when I raise nutrients, regardless of how old it is (13 years now). I can always count on them taking over, which I attribute to my silica sand. My problem algae is (hopefully was) bubble (and bryopsis before), when I drive to low nutrients they dominated.

My advice is very general; simply that starving algae is an illusion unless you starve the whole tank (good luck) and that for many, going in the opposite direction (raising nutrients) has been shown to help with algea known to thrive at low nutrients.

And then where you go from there is another question, but frankly the long goal is to have livestock that out compete the algae, no place for algae with enough frags!