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07/24/2016, 10:33 AM | #1 |
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I can not get rid of Cyano bacteria
I've been battling Cyano bacteria growth for 5 months. I am pretty much out of ideas of how to defeat it. I have tried Chemi clean treatment and siphoning out all the covered sand, boiling it in RO and returning it to the tank. I feed the tank frozen mysis and always drain the water it defrosts in before dropping into the tank. I was advised to put phosguard into the filter which I have done. However it is getting worse and starting to grow on my Montipora and basically looks horrible.
How do I get rid of this for good, I'm starting to think the only way is to do something dramatic, like pulling everything out and starting again Tank details: Been going for 9 months Jewel lido 120 litre, HB Reef octopus skimmer, V2 Lumen air lighting, Eheim prof 3 filter. 2 Percula Clowns, Watchman goby, Cleaner shrimp 4 Hermits 10 Nassarius (which seem to be breeding rapidly) 2 turbo snails (one got eaten by a hermit crab recently after living happily for 6 months) RBT Anemone, 2 torch corals, branched montipora, purple gorgonia, ricordea, zoanthids Levels: NO3 - 5-6 ppm PO4 - 0.1 Mg - 1200 Ca - 380 KH - 8.4 pH - 8.0 (I do 18 litre water changes every two weeks and dose Mg, Ca & KH buffer weekly as these seem to drop. The skimmer runs in the day time only) |
07/24/2016, 10:51 AM | #2 |
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Are you just seeing it just in that corner of the tank? Maybe play with your power heads and get some more flow in that area or add another power head to the tank.
Just curious why you are only running your skimmer during the day? |
07/24/2016, 11:08 AM | #3 | |
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Quote:
no reason other than its quite noisy. I could quite easily run it 24/7 if thats more beneficial to the tank? The Cyano started in that corner but has now spread all around the tank mostly on the sand. I've tried to upload a pic but it keeps failing. |
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07/24/2016, 12:48 PM | #4 |
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so one school of thought is to feed the bacteria that will combine Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus before the algae and cyano can use it.
Three menthols are vodka dosing, bio-pellets or NoPox (from Red Sea). The presence of carbon will encourage the bacteria to grow, locking up the C,N&P and then your skimmer should pull it out of the system. I have read where you want your NO3 at 1.5 - 2 ppm for coral growth and 0.25 for color. PO4 at 0.1 for growth and 0.02 for color. Do you have a refugium in your sum to grow macro algae which would compete with the cyano for nutrients? |
07/24/2016, 12:57 PM | #5 |
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+1 on run the skimmer 7/24 or at least at night. Cyano consumes CO2, all of your Algae has some die off at night, without light, this is why pH goes down at night (no photosynthesis) while O2 is still being consumed by your bacteria releasing CO2. The skimmer is one of the best mechanisms to aerate the water gassing off CO2 and hopefully getting closer to 21% O2. So, IMHO if you have to shutoff the skimmer the best time to do that is during the day, but, also remember if you have fish, they make more waste during the day, so have a good micron sock. Also consider cleaning the sand like you did, but, wrap up the tank and turn off the lights for a couple days after, Cyano, seems much more sensative to lack of light and CO2 than other Algaes.
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07/24/2016, 01:05 PM | #6 |
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try the 3 day blackout (completely wrap the tank so NO light hits it).. Then siphon out what you can/whats left with a good water change after the 3 days..
Keep the skimmer on all the time.. It will go away in time as long as you keep after it.. I've also had good luck with red slime remover.. Just follow the directions exactly and repeat a few times..
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07/24/2016, 01:38 PM | #7 |
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Thank you everyone for the response. That makes complete sense regarding the skimmer and I will start running it full time now.
NS mike D - I don't have a sump currently, this is an upgrade I'm hoping to make in the future but limited on funds at the mo! 1jwampler and mcgyvr - if I do a 3 day blackout in the tank what effect does this have on the livestock and the coral? Do I still feed? So then directly after the 3 day black out siphon out all the sand and do a water change. Then I could do a Chemi clean treatment followed by another water change? Sounds more promising than anything I've done before. Let me know if this is safe to do with the clowns etc. |
07/24/2016, 01:45 PM | #8 | |
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I would definitely keep the skimmer running 24/7, it helps oxygenate the water, decreasing CO2 levels which feeds algae.
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07/24/2016, 02:31 PM | #9 | |
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I find it works better to fully black out the tank.. Any light is useful for the bacteria so don't let it have any..
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07/24/2016, 02:54 PM | #10 |
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Thanks everyone. Will let you know how it goes.
this was helpful also http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ght=lights+out |
07/24/2016, 03:02 PM | #11 |
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Don't completely wrap the tank: this may let snails eat some of your sand-sleeping fish alive, pretty nasty way to go. Go on natural and room lights only.
The lights-out part kills the bacterial sheet (cyano) and the skimmer uptakes the dead stuff and removes some of what makes it go. Using Chemiclean on a young tank is risky.
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Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%. |
07/24/2016, 03:33 PM | #12 | |
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of all the things i've lost, i miss my gary the most. Never hold your farts in. They travel up your spine into your brain, and that is where crappy ideas come from. Current Tank Info: i gave my reef away and i feel like a bird out of a cage!! |
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07/24/2016, 03:52 PM | #13 |
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Ive tried everything from chemi clean to red slime remover.
Tried microbe lift special blend to microbacter7. Now going to try aquavitro remediation. Blackouts do nothing to cyano as it doesn't need light to survive since it's not an algae. |
07/24/2016, 05:42 PM | #14 | |
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Quote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria
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07/25/2016, 04:55 AM | #15 |
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Did you say that you boiled your rock's in ro water? If you did, that's a good way to visit your local er.
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07/25/2016, 06:06 PM | #16 |
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I agree that black outs do work on cyano...That's all I've ever had to use, but then again I pull my few small frags out and put in another tank so only fish, live rock, sand and invertebrates are in the DT affected. If I had a larger collection of corals I probably couldn't do a week without light.
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07/29/2016, 07:40 AM | #17 |
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Hi all,
Thanks for all your help with this and for giving me a little bit of hope. So I killed the lights and covered the tank in towels with the skimmer running and left a gap on one side where the Watchman Goby sits so he had some light and something to "watch" The before and afters are attached. Fingers crossed it stays like this! If so I can do another lights out? Another positive is my BTA is now on the front of the rock after 3 months chilling out of view. |
07/29/2016, 05:46 PM | #18 |
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So glad this is working for you!
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08/06/2016, 10:12 AM | #19 |
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Im next for this. im struggling with the same thing, except in my 20 gal it only grows on the bottom sides of the tank and on two rocks that have are fairly new to the tank, im guessing that the rocks are leeching out phosphates.
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08/06/2016, 12:33 PM | #20 |
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Do the lights-out once a month---and have your skimmer in top form: that's how you get rid of the dieoff.
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Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%. |
08/13/2016, 09:11 AM | #21 |
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ok so i did the lights out for 3 days, covered up the tank. after the last day i turn the moon lights on to find no cyano anywhere. it was late at night so i went to bed and set the lights back on auto...woke up the next day and found some cyano on the same rocks from before. so i ended up going to my LF and picked up a mexican turbo snail and some blue legs...they did the job!
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08/13/2016, 09:13 AM | #22 |
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on another forum some guys are theorizing mangroves help idk the policy with linking other forums and all that jazz
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08/13/2016, 10:48 AM | #23 |
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Lights out is a fish for a symptom not the problem. How old is your sand? Are you using crushed coral? Do you clean it? Do you blow off your rocks before water changes? I am battling this right now too. I just changed out all my sand and so far it seems to have gotten better but not completely gone yet.
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08/13/2016, 10:49 AM | #24 |
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THey help. Not as much as monthly 3-day lights-outs.
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Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%. |
08/13/2016, 10:54 AM | #25 |
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i use a power head to blow off he rocks and stir up the sand bed, my sand is maybe 2 yrs old. i used carib sea live sand...best bet is to get some mexican turbo snails and doing the lights out like sk8r said, monthly lights out should do the trick and adding a good amount of blue legs and snails. I didnt want to use red slime remover, used it on another tank i had, killed everything in the tank.
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