cyano question

ric maniac

ric maniac

Active Member
in my new tank i have a bit of cyano bacteria. not a lot but it will spread. i got al my levels normal because they were out of wack. i was wondering two questions: what inverts (preferably snails) eat cyano and how well does chemi clean work? thanks
 
shrimpi

shrimpi

Active Member
I dont think inverts will eat cyano. Not completely certain, lets wait and see what people have to say.
 
farslayer

farslayer

Active Member
If cyno is real bad, there is medicine you can add. You will need to do a 25% water change 48 hours after you first use it, and you can do a second treatment right away if need be. Also, reduce your lighting considerably for a short period of time (like a week or so) so that the cyno is starved to death.
 
dueces

dueces

Member
use the cyano medicine and do weekly 5-10% water changes for a 3-4 weeks. Everyone gets cyano at some point and it can become a problem. Check your temperature and make sure it is not to high. I always used to get a breakout of cyano in the summer months. I hate the stuff, looks gross and spread on everything!!
 
rusting

rusting

Member
Originally Posted by ric maniac
in my new tank i have a bit of cyano bacteria. not a lot but it will spread. i got al my levels normal because they were out of wack. i was wondering two questions: what inverts (preferably snails) eat cyano and how well does chemi clean work? thanks

You may need more flow at the bottom of your tank. Try adding some small power heads, and cut back on feeding. Are you using RO/DI water, and doing weekly water changes?
 
ric maniac

ric maniac

Active Member
yes im usind di water and i got another powerhead. im going to use chemi-clean and do water changes then see what happens.
 
mujtba

mujtba

Member
well i know "they" say do not use chemicals to remove cyano red slime and to tackle the source... well after trying to do water changes and what not for 6 months, the slime just NEVER went away... it made my tank so ugly
SO i decided to use chemi-clean. I put 5 spoons in my 75g tank.. the next day, no slime was there..
you HAVE to turn off any skimmer or it will skim the crap out of it. you can keep it ON, but do not put the collection cup. the bubbles remain for few weeks..
do a large water change after 48hours and you should be good.
some of my corals at first didn't open up fully.. but after a few days it was fine and now it all seems fine.
hopefully that red slime bacteria is gone.
well thats my 2 cents.
 
ric maniac

ric maniac

Active Member
thanks! i wont have to worry about corals or a skimmer because i dont have em, in fact i dont have anything in this tank but lr and ls lol. but thanks, ill mix some water and get some chemi clean tommorow. oh and your avatar reminded me, how is your hippo tang doing after the clam incedent?
 
farslayer

farslayer

Active Member
I think that the reason people say to tackle the source is because cyno CAN be an indicator of other problems. But, if everything else is good, there's no reason not to use medicine. I've had outbreaks before and the medicine takes care of it. You do have to be aware, however, that cyno is a bacteria, not an algae, so chemi clean is putting antibiotics in your tank. These can kill the beneficial bacteria as well, so you have to follow the directions to the letter. A guy I used to work with had a massive outbreak, but instead of following the directions he just dumped the container in the tank: nothing survived. If you follow directions it seems to work very well, I use it maybe once a year if I have an outbreak.
 
ric maniac

ric maniac

Active Member
ok, i dont have to worry too much about benificial bacteria becasue this tank is really new but ill still be carefull. ugh i havent been able to get to my lfs yet
 
farslayer

farslayer

Active Member
Actually you need to worry more about your beneficial bacteria or your tank, being new, will cycle again :( Just follow the directions and you'll be just fine, I use the stuff and have never had problems. Of course, shutting off all my equipment (skimmer and filters) is a pain in the...uh...neck...yeah....that's it.
 
sjimmyh

sjimmyh

Member
Its true that almost everyone gets cyano with a new tank. Thats because its actually part of the normal process. All the extra crap that is created during a cycle is what's causing it to grow. It will eventually even get so that you can barely control it by cleaning rock and glass. Just wait out the cycle completely... then do a large water change. Most of the time this is all that is required. For the time being... join my cyano bacteria club, cause I just started a 75 gal reef tank a month ago and the stuff is all over my tank. My cycle just ended though and I plan to do my large water change this weekend sometime. I started my tank with uncured live rock though and I still have some minor die off going on within the rocks. I may end up having to do another water change. If you have cured live rock you prob wont have to. (other than normal water changes)
 
trippkid

trippkid

Active Member
Agree with Farslayer, you keep beating me here, good advice though. You can increase flow, do water changes, use Phosban or whatever PO4 control till your blue in the face and it can still be present. The Chemi-clean really works. Just follow directions
 
sjimmyh

sjimmyh

Member
I think you guys recommending additives are talking about red slime algae. I was under the impression he is having the brown slimey cyanobacteria bloom that is usually associated with a newer tank. Now I am not sure what his issue really is.
 
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