Cyano

[deraticus]

after doing much research, and having it a few weeks i came to find out i have cyano in my tank. I have a 24g nano tank. Well we bought some chemi clean first so when I get that thats the first thing im putting in. I used a turkey baster to get alot of it out. Now i have the the original setup for the tank as it came and i read i need a skimmer and more water flow. Now for this size tank do you have any suggestions? My lid is connected and just flips up as you know but my tank looks so much better without it, many shades of red, green and orange were forming before the cyano. I just need help getting it fixed and some suggestions.

 

[autofreak44]

2 questions... how much do you feed? what is your water flow?

 

[deraticus]

feed about once or twice a day, flakes and small fish pelletes for my clown and goby and gamma. Plus my green stuff for my anenome i cant remember. Water flow i cant really remember, ide have to look up the kit and find out i dont think its alot to tell u the truth u cant feel it that well but again it is a fish tank so you prolly dontt want alot

 

[perfectdark]

The post above that says red slime... I post the product i used to get rid of mine. EM tabs Erythromycin its an antibiotic that is used for eliminating and controling cyano. I just used it for my tank it works very very well. I actually do not know why more people dont use it when this happens. It is completly safe wornt harm anything and rids your tank of cyano in 24 to 48 hrs.

 

[reefkprz]

forget light, if you cut back your light cyanno will just out compete things that require more light like regular algaes that compete for the same nutrients. I would rather have hair algae that something will eat than cyano bacteria that nothing will. forget lighting. check your alk, ph, phos, and other parameters. I took cyanno and put it in a bucket with no flow no heat and no light. it grew anyway, without light. the final straws in my battle against cyanno were 2 back to back 50% waterchanges as well as bringing my PH and alk back to normal because they were low. I dont know wich of the three factars did the trick but it worked.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
The post above that says red slime... I post the product i used to get rid of mine. EM tabs Erythromycin its an antibiotic that is used for eliminating and controling cyano. I just used it for my tank it works very very well. I actually do not know why more people dont use it when this happens. It is completly safe wornt harm anything and rids your tank of cyano in 24 to 48 hrs.
Erythromicin is a broad spectrum anti biotic wich mean s it kills all(most) kinds of bacteria not just cyanno bacteria more people dont use it because it can Flog up your whole bacterial colonization in your tank. leading you into a crash.

 

[deraticus]

Well i just got a skimmer, and hooked that up and my chemi clean is on the way. Im going to re-arrange my rock plus do 50% water change once i put the chemi clean it after the cyano clears up. Because I gotta see if my mandarin is still alive because i havent seen it.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
Erythromicin is a broad spectrum anti biotic wich mean s it kills all(most) kinds of bacteria not just cyanno bacteria more people dont use it because it can Flog up your whole bacterial colonization in your tank. leading you into a crash.
Although it will kill good and bad bacteria in your tank the likelyhood of it killing enough to throw your levels that far off, to where you will have a dangerous nitrate or ammonia spike is very very unlikely especially if you dose only once or twice. You may and should expect a slight elevated level in your nitrates but thats why you do a water change right after. You have litterally billons and billions of micro bacteria that live everywhere in your tank bio balls or L Rubble and your LR. If you were to dose for a couple of weeks straight I would agree, but not once or twice.

 

[mushroomss]

anything that kills good bacteria in your tank sounds like a recipe for disaster 2 me.keep up on your water changes and if you use frozen food strain the juice out of it before you use it.THe juice is like fertalizer to nuisance algae.If you do these 2 things like me your problems will go away naturally.not by dumping unneeded chemicals into your tank.my 2 cents!

 

[perfectdark]

Of course its a matter of prefrence, but they wouldnt sell it specifically for the treatment of cyano if the end result was going to crash your tank. Your talking of billions of micro bacteria it takes no time at all to rebuild what the EM tabs would kill. I treated my tank and not even a nitrate spike when it was done.

 

[clay12340]

They'll sell anything they think that they can make money by selling. If it is capable of killing a widespread colonization of cyanobacteria it seems reasonable to assume that it could do the same with other bacteria.
Cyano feeds on excess nutrients in the water. Solve the nutrient surplus and your cyano goes away. Skimming, more frequent and larger water changes, less feeding, and less ammonia producing livestock will all help cut this out.

 

[perfectdark]

I am by far not saying that EM Tabs are the only way to clean your tank. It is however the only way to kill the cyano bacteria because you never get rid of the bactera spores that will again propagate in your tank.
Yes they do sell things just to make money however, there is a thing called false advertising and a product sold to do a certain task whos result is devistating to your tank is hardly a product that would still be available and still be used by not only the consumer but by FS's to treat their own tanks. Not to mention it could have some serious legal ramifications especially to very large and expensive tanks
All i am saying is that its an option that works, its not harmful to the tank if you follow the directions, and its easy.

 

[mushroomss]

sorry perfect i have to agree with clay

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by mushroomss
sorry perfect i have to agree with clay
Thats fine, I am not trying to tell anyone that they are wrong. People post on here for advise and help based on what other people have done. So, for that, we tell what we have done. I dont flame what other people say about their proceedures, to give your opinion of what some one else has done that has worked for them is ignorant especially if you cannot post viable evidence that this process does indeed harm a tank rather than help. IMO. Give me a source that tells me in x amount of circumstances where the perameters were equal this applications failed so many times. Now I will agree, quite to the contrary there have been as many people who have used the EM Method as well as the alternative method where both have worked. Thats why we call it advise or opionion needed.

 

[deraticus]

Ok here is my plan, We ordered the chemi clean. Im going to put that in and let it set for like 2-3 days and see what happens. The when that is done Im taking all my LR out cleaning out the sand and doing a 50% water change. And my wife bought an air bubble thing not a skimmer so im going to buy a fission skimmer and some coepods because coepods eat up left over food and stuff which is also a source of cyano. Does that sound like a good idea?

 

[nolatrav]

I have used chemi clean a few times. it worked great in my 72 bow, however had little effect on my 10 gal nano. i dont know why either. i ended up taking the whole tank down, putting the LR in a sealed bucket with water for a week to kill everthing on it.
My suggestion is to try the chemi clean if youve already ordered it, increase your water flow, and add a skimmer for sure. all of these should help with your problem. i dont know if pulling the LR out and cleaning the sand is necessary. i also think the pods are a good idea.
good luck. hope everything works out.

 

[clay12340]

I've not used a fission personally, but the reviews on it have been pretty brutal. Feel free to give it a shot, but do some research on the reviews first. Finding a useful skimmer that will fit inside a hooded nano is a real challenge.
No comments were directed at you PerfectDark. They were directed at a method. Use what you will, but when your opinion is questioned don't get defensive. Claiming that it is ignorant to refute something without lab tests is strikingly similar to claiming something works without lab tests.

 

[earlybird]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Of course its a matter of prefrence, but they wouldnt sell it specifically for the treatment of cyano if the end result was going to crash your tank. Your talking of billions of micro bacteria it takes no time at all to rebuild what the EM tabs would kill. I treated my tank and not even a nitrate spike when it was done.
There might be long term affects. I personally prefer to keep my tank as natural as possible. Cyano is some crazy stuff but can be maintained just takes time. I'd rather take the time than risk any chemicals. Like you said it's a matter of preference.

 

[mushroomss]

earlybird you said exactly what i wanted 2