What will eat cyanobacteria?

[krishj39]

Hey, I have a question that, no doubt, has been asked a million times before.
What critters can I add to specifically get rid of cyanobacteria?
Are there any that are hardy enough to survive the trail end of my cycle?
Gradually I will turn the tank into a reef tank, so I would want animals that won't hurt the reef.
I know hermits and snails are the default answer, but I am asking what specific kinds will eat the most cyano.
My tank is a 90 gallon, dead sand so far, plan on adding detrivore. 10 lbs LR, adding more soon. Thanks! The cyano is getting oppressive!
Kris

 

[azonic]

Some people say certain crabs will eat it, I haven't had any luck. I tried everything suggested on this board...I finally treated with a red slime remover yesterday...it's still not all gone yet.

 

[blondenaso1]

Try to elevate the pH to around 8.4. If you can get the pH between 8.3-8.4 the cyno will slowly disapeer. This is the only "cure" which I have found that works. Also try turning the lights off for a full 24 hours and then reduce the cycle after this. Cemi-clean or other chemicals like Azonic used are a last resort. Good luck....don't get discouraged

 

[krishj39]

Right, I have heard that using any chemicals to get rid of the cyano are essentially anti-biotics and will kill a lot of the other bacteria as well. Does the Red Slime Remover you mentioned do this? Or does it JUST kill the cyano?
Oh, my pH is already at 8.3, is that close enough?
Kris

 

[azonic]

The red slime remover i used I can't honestly say for sure if it kills any bacteria. The guy at the LFS said it works really well from what he has heard from people who buy it. I won't lie about the bacteria because i don't know, I was too fed up with this crap, it killed two corals on me and started on a third...I had enough of it

 

[blondenaso1]

I know this might be a little bit for someone just starting with a SW reef tank, but my algae problem did not fully subside until a started drippin Kalkwasser a night. If you are interested do a search for it in the old post and you will find lots of info. It is common for every tank to go through an algae cycle after the initial cycle. Just give it some time.

 

[tcreef]

I agree with bigmac. Finding the source will be the best in the long run. I had a major attack of it. Scarlet, red leg, blue leg hermits didn't touch it. Nor did any of my snails, yellow tang or lawnmower blenny. If you can determine that your chemistry is good, nitrates and phosphates low as possible, then it's probably your lights. That's what my problem was evidently. My halides were way, way overdue for replacing. I read somewhere that some folks got rid of it by leaving the lights off for a couple of days, so I siphoned up as much as possible. I left the lights off while my new bulbs were being shipped. Installed the new lights and I wham......no more slime. Without using any chemicals.
Worked for me in this case. I'm certainly no chemist, but if you cut of the food supply, the bacteria will die. In my case it was bulbs that had shifted spectrums.
Hope this helps

 

[hnf2k]

forget all that stuff of changing your water and adding stuff. get snails. get a bunch, they will mow it down in no time. if you dont get enough your snails will eat it then move on and by the time they get back to it it will be all grown in again. you can even get them from this site, beth i think said she got a few trochus snails and they did an amazing job. as long as you have algae they will live, and i dont think they will survive your cycle so just let the cyno grow, and it will die off once your cycle is done. it feeds on high nutrients so while your nitrates and stuff are high you will grow a whole lot. then when you get good water quality it will slowly die off. but to help it you can get snails. and also increase your waterflow to the specific areas. it cannot grab a hold of the rock if there is a great amount of waterflow. you can also scrape it off to help in getting rid of it. just get a brand new toothbrush.

 

[broomer5]

100% totally in agreement with blondenaso1 and HNF2K !
Trochus snails - I have 3 in my system.
Two in display - 1 in refugium.
They are very large snails - like bulldozers.
SWF.com sells them at a good price.
They're the Sherman Tanks of my clean-up crew.
I've seen them working on little patches of cyno in the refugium.

 

[krishj39]

Thanks again guys! Lot's of good stuff here! Contradicting opinions, of course, but that's to be expected
I just read in a different post that mexican turbo snails were a good way to go, what do you think?
I have been adding Kalk, I don't know if it has helped though. Perhaps I will try turning off the lights, I was just skeptical it could work in just 24 hours, plus I love looking at my tank! It definitely isn't my lights though, they are brand new (1 NO Tri-chrom and 1 NO Actinic).
Kris

 

[broomer5]

I've never witnessed a Turbo eating cyno.
Turbo's are okay - if you don't mind having to turn them upright when they fall over
Good snail - just a poor design.
Trochus my friend - mega-snails - eating machines - cyno destruction ! ( within reason )
Don't expect one snail to completely eat a tank full of cynobacteria

 

[mlm]

I just want to add to the good stuff being said about trochus snails. purchased from this site. I brought five of them to my LFS and the ate all of there algea and they said they have never seen anything like them before .

 

[blondenaso1]

I have both trochus and mexican turbos in my tank and I would never buy another regular ole turbo again! Some people argue taht the trochus are too big and knock stuff over, but I have never had that problem. Plus, the things in your tank should be attached.

 

[broomer5]

Yep
Trochus - bottom
Turbo - top

 

[hnf2k]

woohoo, broomer agreed with me.

 

[diceman]

To add to the Mexican turbos, I had BAD cyan and I bought the Mexican turbos from this site and in no time (less than a week) they finished cleaning the red slime off everything and would highly recommend them if you have this problem. This is one of the best natural ways to get rid of red slime. I don't like to use chemicals if there is a natural way to get rid of a problem.

 

[fshhub]

Trochus snails, definitely, and nassarius (for the sand bed helps too)
Plus fighting conchs.
In addition to finding the source.

 

[slothy]

hrmm once again my tank is retarded... all the critters i have that "supposed to" eat it ingore my little patch i have..

 

[krishj39]

Slothy, I love reading your posts, they always crack me up.
Kris

 

[jonthefb]

how old are your bulbs? as stated above, the longer a blub has been run, the more it falls out of its normal spectrum causing all kinds of unwanted algae growth. try to replace your bulbs other than mh's every 6 months, and mh's ever 9-12 months.
as for snails, i have only had luck with trochus eating turf algae. my best warrior are cerith snails. they will go everywhere including buried in th esandbed and will chow all sorts of microalgaes such as cyano. great little snails that like to reproduce in your tank, which is always a good thing
good luck
jon