Cyano, losing the battle, what to do?

[vpotts28]

I have been fighting a cyano problem for about a month now. It was manageable and controllable until I went on vacation. I left the tank to my friend, and he grossly overfed. Now it went from the back glass to the sand. I siphoned it out on Sunday, and did a 20% wc, and it came right back. I have cut back feedings every other or third day, lights to 5 hrs. I have been running phosguard for three days and it isn't budging. What can I do?

 

[trippkid]

You can try some Chemi-Clean, or just keep doing what you are doing for awhile. Just follow directions exactly if you decide to use. I've used it a couple of times when starting the tank and when I added my DIY refugium about 6mo. ago with absolutely no problems whatsoever. IMO, the stuff works, so I'd maybe keep doing what you're doing, if not seeing any results,try the stuff, it will clean it right up.
Matt

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by trippkid
You can try some Chemi-Clean, or just keep doing what you are doing for awhile. Just follow directions exactly if you decide to use. I've used it a couple of times when starting the tank and when I added my DIY refugium about 6mo. ago with absolutely no problems whatsoever. IMO, the stuff works, so I'd maybe keep doing what you're doing, if not seeing any results,try the stuff, it will clean it right up.
Matt

Just remember, you are supposed to do a water change with in 48 hours of using chemclean/pure.
Mc

 

[wattsupdoc]

Theres the brown sugar treatment, I believe Anthony Calfo and Bob Fenner have some stuff about it on their site... Dig Around.

 

[trippkid]

Yeah, I said to follow directions exactly if going to use, but yes, you're supposed to do a 20% WC 48hrs. after treatment. I have done 15% with no problems. Also, if this stuff is as bad as some think: Why doesn't it say you need to run carbon after using? And, in anything that I've read about the product says that it doesn't harm nitrifying bacteria. I don't know. Like I said, I've used it a couple of times, followed directions(except the 15%change) and have had no issues in doing so.

 

[beth]

Do you have corals, anemones?
If not, turn off your lights except for a few hrs around feeding time for fish. Do this for a wk. If you have corals, you can still do this, but for a shorter period, giving your corals the light for at least 3 hrs a day.
Do a couple of gals of water change daily. Are you using RO?
ChemClean will work too, but follow the directions and the dose precisely, no overdosing or you may loose your tank.

 

[perfectdark]

I think people get nervous because using chem clean or EM tabs is basically dosing your tank with an antibotic and like all antibioics their main purpose is to kill bacteria. But IMO the amount of bacteria that live in your tank literally billions and the amount the chem clean kills a fraction of that amount wont deplete your tank of the nitrifing bacteria used to help filter it.
Another reason for people not liking the chemical cleaners is they say its only taking care of the symptoms and not curing the problem. My issue with this is, if you know the problem and its out of your control. I have had 2 outbreaks of cyano in my tank. They both came from an outside source. I purchased 2 pieces of coral for my tank at 2 different times and the display tank that had these pieces in it had cyano in it. So when I bought them I brought home some cyano. I tried to scoop it out and do more water changes than usual but ultimatley I had to use the tabs to get rid of it. It has worked twice for me and my test results are proof that my tank does not go so far out of whack when I am treating. Just my 2 cents

 

[trippkid]

I agree with that. That is basically what I'm trying to say without stepping on toes here, sometimes you can do all of that other stuff till you're blue in the face and you still have it, sometimes you may need a little help.
Originally Posted by PerfectDark
I think people get nervous because using chem clean or EM tabs is basically dosing your tank with an antibotic and like all antibioics their main purpose is to kill bacteria. But IMO the amount of bacteria that live in your tank literally billions and the amount the chem clean kills a fraction of that amount wont deplete your tank of the nitrifing bacteria used to help filter it.
Another reason for people not liking the chemical cleaners is they say its only taking care of the symptoms and not curing the problem. My issue with this is, if you know the problem and its out of your control. I have had 2 outbreaks of cyano in my tank. They both came from an outside source. I purchased 2 pieces of coral for my tank at 2 different times and the display tank that had these pieces in it had cyano in it. So when I bought them I brought home some cyano. I tried to scoop it out and do more water changes than usual but ultimatley I had to use the tabs to get rid of it. It has worked twice for me and my test results are proof that my tank does not go so far out of whack when I am treating. Just my 2 cents

 

[dude23455]

I had a horrible cyano problem for 2 months and here's what i did to kill it.
I used no chemicals on the tank.
I turned off the lights completely for 2 days and on the third day I ran actinics only.
This almost completely wiped out the cyano on the sand. Only a little bit was left on the rocks.
2 weeks later I did the same thing again. My tank is now cyano free.
during this time i also ran lots of carbon and phosban. and skimmed heavily (wet skimmate)
I would definitly try this before I tried to chemically treat your tank.

 

[renogaw]

personally wouldn't use em tabs since they are a very strong bacterial killer, including beneficial bacteria.
if you have 1) increased flow 2) cut back on feedings and 3) re-evaluated your light schedule (including turning off your lights for upwards of 48 hrs if you have no corals) then as a final last resort use chemiclean or redslime remover. the RSR worked insanely well for me, just remember to turn off your skimmer.

 

[vpotts28]

The only coral I have is a Xenia. I have a TON of flow in the tank. I have two mj900's, also have a modified mj900. I have no idea how this stuff is sticking because it is like a tsunami in the tank. I know Beth said give the coral at least 3 hrs of light per day. Is there anyway it survive if the light is off for more than a few days? I use all RO water. I can't remember exactly when this started happening. I started using Oceanic salt a couple months ago, wonder if I got a bad batch. Also added a T5 to the tank instead of the standard hood lights about 3-4 wks ago, since then it has gone nuts. I may try the red slime remover before trying the other stuff. I had a few cerith snails in the tank before today and for some reason they are eating the hair algae on the glass, so I went out and bought 10 more today.
Thanks to all so far, greatly appreciated.

 

[renogaw]

well, you answered your own question
your new lights are going to send your system in a whirlwind until it gets used to the lights. how long are you running your lights and what size tank is it? also, just for giggles, get a TDS meter to check your RO water.

 

[murph]

It is light dependant. Cut off your lights for a few days. I do this once a month with no harm to my corals. IMO we are putting far to much light on our tanks. I have read that the natural reef receives 85 days a year of overcast/low light conditions. That works out to just under two days a month. Makes sense huh.
Intense lighting I.E. high noon conditions exist for only 3 or 4 hours a day on the natural reef.
If you have some ambient light reaching the tank from the fish room this will simulate overcast conditions perfectly.
IMO the only thing that benefits from the unatural light cycles that exist on most home aquariums is the nusience algea and the people who sell the light bulbs.
For extreme cases you could even move corals to spare tank or rubber maid container and provide light for them there and cut off artificial light to the tank for a more extended period of time.
Skim as much as possible and after the cyano is gone do a good size water change.

 

[vpotts28]

Originally Posted by renogaw
well, you answered your own question
your new lights are going to send your system in a whirlwind until it gets used to the lights. how long are you running your lights and what size tank is it? also, just for giggles, get a TDS meter to check your RO water.
The Cyano outbreak started on the back glass with the standard hoods, once I put the Nova Extreme 4bulb T5 on it went nuts. Its a 55g. I am running the lights about 5 1/2 hrs per day. I don't know why I settled on that number, was just to lazy to change the minutes on the timer. I do want to check the RO water, it is from WalMart, a Culligan Machine, and I really don't trust it all that much. They say its RO water, but is it really?

 

[vpotts28]

Originally Posted by Murph
It is light dependant. Cut off your lights for a few days. I do this once a month with no harm to my corals. IMO we are putting far to much light on our tanks. I have read that the natural reef receives 85 days a year of overcast/low light conditions. That works out to just under two days a month. Makes sense huh.
Intense lighting I.E. high noon conditions exist for only 3 or 4 hours a day on the natural reef.
If you have some ambient light reaching the tank from the fish room this will simulate overcast conditions perfectly.
IMO the only thing that benefits from the unatural light cycles that exist on most home aquariums is the nusience algea and the people who sell the light bulbs.
For extreme cases you could even move corals to spare tank or rubber maid container and provide light for them there and cut off artificial light to the tank for a more extended period of time.
Skim as much as possible and after the cyano is gone do a good size water change.

Murph I have my tank in my living room directly across from the main window, so light will make it to the tank to simulate the overcast days. I also have a QT tank, that I can transfer the xenia to, while I turn out the lights for a few days. Thanks to all, great info.

 

[golgi aparatus]

Will turning off your lights for a few days to kill cyano have an effect on coralline?

 

[murph]

Originally Posted by Golgi Aparatus
Will turning off your lights for a few days to kill cyano have an effect on coralline?
No. In nature coraline can be found deep and growing under overhangs that get no direct light at all.

 

[georgev845]

When my cyno prob broke out i was not using RO water... I immediatley used some Chemi-Clean about 3 little spoons of it for the 2 days then did a 40% water change... After about a week cyno was completley gone...
now im combating green hair algae =( i did NOt turn my light source off for any days thus i shortened my lighting periods from 12hrs a day to 7-8ish my corraline,anemones and corals r dooing great

 

[dude23455]

This is why instead of using chemicals and antibiotics to kill the slime you should instead find and eliminate the source of the nusiance algae.
When you killed of the cyano your tank had excess nutrients which is what caused the hair algae outbreak.
Originally Posted by georgev845
When my cyno prob broke out i was not using RO water... I immediatley used some Chemi-Clean about 3 little spoons of it for the 2 days then did a 40% water change... After about a week cyno was completley gone...
now im combating green hair algae =( i did NOt turn my light source off for any days thus i shortened my lighting periods from 12hrs a day to 7-8ish my corraline,anemones and corals r dooing great

 

[doktorj99]

you said it was in front of a main window??...i had the same problem a few years ago and someone told me to draw the shade and put a black sheet around the tank for a week and cut back the light schedule....i never had a problem again.....if it's getting to much light from outside then that will reek havoc on your tank.....once the light from outside hit the glass in your window it becomes junk uv.....you can give it a try it work for me...sorry for the long post....good luck