Cyano, losing the battle, what to do?
- Thread starter vpotts28
- Start date
vpotts28
Active Member
Originally Posted by JudyK
I seem to get red slime in the summer when my tanks are warmer. Has anyone else noticed this? Or is it just a coincidence?
I was told by a very educated (for once) employee of a LFS, that I should lower the temperature of my water. Apparently the warmer the water, the more aid it gives to cyano to grow. It makes sense to me.
I seem to get red slime in the summer when my tanks are warmer. Has anyone else noticed this? Or is it just a coincidence?
I was told by a very educated (for once) employee of a LFS, that I should lower the temperature of my water. Apparently the warmer the water, the more aid it gives to cyano to grow. It makes sense to me.
harris28
Member
Not try to hijack but could I do the same thing for Diatoms. I mean leave the light off for a couple of days and do a good water change? I have no corals yet but I can not keep up with the diatoms. Until I get a cleaning crew and a phosphate kit do you think this will help. I did just up grade to 5-T5's. I have already cut back on feeding and I have 12x turn over for flow. So do you think the lights off idea for 48hrs will work for Diatoms??
N
nereef
Guest
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.
i lost an entire tank by using meds to kill cyano. you have to be careful with the antibiotics.
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.
i lost an entire tank by using meds to kill cyano. you have to be careful with the antibiotics.
jtrzerocool
Active Member
great to hear!
good luch in the future!
good luch in the future!
bluetang66
Member
Chemi-Clean
rbaldino
Active Member
Originally Posted by Murph
It is light dependant.
This is not entirely true. There's a guy on this site - sorry, I can't remember who - who put some cyano in a bucket with a little water, covered it, and within a few days the cyano had completely taken over. If you do a search for cyano, you might be able to find the thread.
It is light dependant.
This is not entirely true. There's a guy on this site - sorry, I can't remember who - who put some cyano in a bucket with a little water, covered it, and within a few days the cyano had completely taken over. If you do a search for cyano, you might be able to find the thread.
earlybird
Active Member
What's up vpotts? I've had my battles with cyano lately as well but I believe that I am finally winning. Here's what I've done in a nut shell with my 29.
Used to have 2 mj 400s plus my return pump. Increased to 1 mj 900 with rotating head and 1 mj 600. I siphoned the sand every other day for one week. All seemed well but it slowly came back so I continued to siphon. In the meantime my phosphates and nitrates are at or very close to 0.0 but no more than 0.1. Siphoning made me increase my water changes to about 10g/week. I reduced my lighting from 8 hours down to 4 hours and I was still having some problems. My cyano wasn't thick and seemed to start as diatoms and them a light tint of red but only on my sand. It's been about 2 weeks and I'm seeing just a little bit of cyano but I believe I'm winning the battle now. I also tried some chemipure and I'm pretty happy with the results.
Used to have 2 mj 400s plus my return pump. Increased to 1 mj 900 with rotating head and 1 mj 600. I siphoned the sand every other day for one week. All seemed well but it slowly came back so I continued to siphon. In the meantime my phosphates and nitrates are at or very close to 0.0 but no more than 0.1. Siphoning made me increase my water changes to about 10g/week. I reduced my lighting from 8 hours down to 4 hours and I was still having some problems. My cyano wasn't thick and seemed to start as diatoms and them a light tint of red but only on my sand. It's been about 2 weeks and I'm seeing just a little bit of cyano but I believe I'm winning the battle now. I also tried some chemipure and I'm pretty happy with the results.
yossaria
Member
I would also like to further champion the argument that cyanobacteria growth can easily be combated by simply turning off the lights. I have a tank that contains green star polyps, xenia, yellow polyps, red goniopora and a bubble tip anemone. I have found that over time, cyanobacteria threads begin to grow on my substrate. When it builds to a level that it becomes a nuisance, I simply shut off all lighting over the course of one weekend. The corals and BTA do just fine as well as the fish. When I turn on the lights on Monday, the cyanobacteria strands are gone. Completely. Wiped out. Obliterated.
I suspect that if I were to adjust my lighting schedule down, I would never develop cyanobacteria in the tank, however I just haven't gotten around to varying the photoperiod yet.
Cheers,
Yoss
Cheers,
Yoss
golgi aparatus
Member
I have read that Chemi-Clean must be used with an airstone. Is this true? Also, what is an airstone and how does it work? Do I just add it into the tank, or does it need to be connected to a powerhead?