Cyanobacteria Outbreak!! Could use some advice.

sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
So, I have been battling cyano for a bit now. I thought I had it mostly under control but I was WRONG. Now it is starting to cover and smother some of my corals. I am a bit embarrassed having let it get this out of control, so take it a bit easy on me. LOL.
I am not sure what made it go so crazy, the only change I had was I removed my HOB power filter (i was running some carbon in there too). I went with out for a week, then I added a canister filter (used, this might be the issue). I cleaned the heck out of the filter and replaced all the sponges and put in brand new media, some GFO, and chemi-pure elite. Then a week later it looks terrible in my tank. I have stringy brown/red algae all over the glass and over rock and covering some coral. There are also a ton of bubbles coming up from this stuff.
I did a 5 gal W/C on Monday. I started mixing 10g last night for another change tonight. I plan on cleaning out my skimmer and doing lots of cleaning of the rocks when i suck out water for W/C.
What other things should/could I be doing to help fight this? I am not happy that I let it get this bad as while doing research I am finding that it can be a super pain to get under control.
Thanks
Ryan
Oh BTW. it is a 29g and I need to test levels tonight.
 
mrdc

mrdc

Active Member
You kind of have to investigate everything to see what is allowing the cyano to thrive. How much are you feeding? How is your water flow? How old are your lights? What sort of water are you using? You will also need to cut back on the amount of time your lights are on while you are working to get it under control. I don't suspect your skimmer or filter as being the problem unless they aren't functioning properly. I would constantly siphon all I could regulary and replace with good distilled water. You need to get the excess nutrients down. Good luck!
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Reduce the nutrients you're putting in your tank (fish food) and increase nutrient export (skimming, etc)
Turn your lights off or reduce the amount of time that they're on.
Increase flow.
With a cyano outbreak, I usually recommend rinsing your filter floss/pads/sponges daily in RO or water change water. Doing a small daily water change can help. Siphon as much off rocks, corals and other hard surfaces as you can.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdc http:///forum/thread/385142/cyanobacteria-outbreak-could-use-some-advice#post_3376593
You kind of have to investigate everything to see what is allowing the cyano to thrive. How much are you feeding? How is your water flow? How old are your lights? What sort of water are you using? You will also need to cut back on the amount of time your lights are on while you are working to get it under control. I don't suspect your skimmer or filter as being the problem unless they aren't functioning properly. I would constantly siphon all I could regulary and replace with good distilled water. You need to get the excess nutrients down. Good luck!
I don't think that I feed too much but maybe. Flow should not be an issue, its a 29g and I have 2 koralias and 1 maxijet, along with the output for the fluval canister filter (sand used to blow around but with the cyano it is not anymore) I just got my own RO/DI unit and use that for W/C's and topoffs. I did however fill the tank at first with tap water like 9 months ago, but used RO water from the store ever since the initial fill up. Do you think that might have something to do with it?
As far as lights go, they are new in Dec 2010. It is an Odyssea fixture with a 250w MH and 4 24 w actinics. I know the bulbs are crap, and plan on replacing them in the summer. I will be tuning down the light schedule and might just leave them off for a day or two while I work on getting this under control. Could this light be too much for the 29g tank??? Or is it all about the spectrum of the bulbs?? I have a coralife T-5 31watt each bulb two bulb fixture that I was thinking about putting on the tank for a bit if needed.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/385142/cyanobacteria-outbreak-could-use-some-advice#post_3376595
Reduce the nutrients you're putting in your tank (fish food) and increase nutrient export (skimming, etc)
Turn your lights off or reduce the amount of time that they're on.
Increase flow.
With a cyano outbreak, I usually recommend rinsing your filter floss/pads/sponges daily in RO or water change water. Doing a small daily water change can help. Siphon as much off rocks, corals and other hard surfaces as you can
Reduce the lights.... Check!!! Reduce the food.... Check!!. Flow... Maybe I need to change the position of the powerheads ( I literally don't think that I could fit one more in the tank... LOL). Right now I have one Koralia on the left and one on the right of the tank. The left one is towards the top and points towards the surface for the boiling effect, the one on the right is a bit lower and pointing down and towards the front glass. The Maxi-jet is lower left pointed behind the rocks to get flow back there.
I can make the commitment to rinse the filter sponges daily in RO. By using W/C water do you mean the water that I suck out of the tank and usually dump in the toilet?? I could do that too, it will save on the RO water I use.
By small daily water changes are we talking 5g or less? And when I am siphoning the sand I am losing lots of sand. Is that Okay??
Also, I have this kind of greasy film on the water surface that showed up with this outbreak. I tried siphoning it off, and of course it breaks the siphon when I try to do that. Any advice on a way to get rid of the film?
Thank you so much BTLD and mrdc for your help.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/385142/cyanobacteria-outbreak-could-use-some-advice#post_3376609
What inhabitants are in your tank? What and how much are you feeding?
I have 1 CB, and 2 clowns. All three are kinda of small, the CB is maybe 2.5" and the clowns are under 2". Then I have some snails(10 astraea 4 nassarius and 1 turbo) and a few hermit crabs (can't wait for them to all die out, I don't like the crabs anymore).
I feed frozen (emerald entree, and some other brand I forget the name maybe like Joe's), and use maybe 1/2 cube every other day. I still have not gone thru a whole package of frozen. On the other days I don't feed frozen I do put a few pallets in there maybe 10 small ones, less then 1mm in diameter size. algae sheets for the CB too.
I am thinking that maybe I cut out the pallets??? Will the fish be okay with only eating every other day?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Definitely cut out the pellets.
1/2 a cube of emerald entree every other day and algae sheets daily is more than enough.
Is the other food Rod's? Rod's food is full of nutrients and can quickly "contaminate" water for a lack of a better way of explaining it. Don't get me wrong, it's great food, but can be tough to control and monitor in a nano.
Aim your powerhead towards the area where the cyano is really building up as well.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
The thing I found that works best for me is raising the salinity. If my salinity is even a LITTLE low, I will start getting cyano blooms. Make sure your salt levels are good and high. As a last resort they make additives which can kill cyano but they can also harm other things such as corals as well.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/385142/cyanobacteria-outbreak-could-use-some-advice#post_3376684
Definitely cut out the pellets.
1/2 a cube of emerald entree every other day and algae sheets daily is more than enough.
Is the other food Rod's? Rod's food is full of nutrients and can quickly "contaminate" water for a lack of a better way of explaining it. Don't get me wrong, it's great food, but can be tough to control and monitor in a nano.
Aim your powerhead towards the area where the cyano is really building up as well.
Pellets are out then. You got it, it is Rod's. Would you recommend when feeding the Rod's, feed a bit less then what I would feed with the Emerald Entree? And I will reposition the powerheads and aim those suckers right at the problem.
Good new!!! When I got home yesteday from work the tank looked better, all the corals were open and looked happier (I had left the MH light off the whole day and just went with the T-5 actinics). Although I did not get a chance to do the W/C. That will be the first thing I do tonight.
I have a question about using the turkey baster. Am I looking to just blast off the cyano off and have it suspended in the water colum then siphon water out? Or try to suck it out with the baster? I am finding that the baster has trouble sucking up the stuff because it is really stuck on there (this is when it is on the rocks and glass, when it is in the sand it comes up easier). Any advice?
Thanks.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sly http:///forum/thread/385142/cyanobacteria-outbreak-could-use-some-advice#post_3376726
The thing I found that works best for me is raising the salinity. If my salinity is even a LITTLE low, I will start getting cyano blooms. Make sure your salt levels are good and high. As a last resort they make additives which can kill cyano but they can also harm other things such as corals as well.
I keep my salinity at 1.025 and this is after top offs. It is probally a bit higher before I top off each night. Would you recommend going up higher?
I think you are right about the last resort for additives. Lets hope that I do not need to get that deep into it. Thanks for the advice!!
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Yes, I would also recommend getting your tank in order with the lighting schedule, feeding and cleaning before trying other things. Once you've gotten your tank stabilized, if it still doesn't look like the cyano is going away then you might try raising your SG slightly. But only after doing the other things first.
For me, the turkey baster only worked once the cyano had stopped spreading. In other words, if you are still seeing new outbreaks, then using the turkey baster may only spread the cyano around. But if you see no new outbreaks and some of it even seems to be separating from the rocks and trying to recede, then using the turkey baster is one of the best ways to get it out of the tank.
 
kender

kender

Member
You can also look into an inline uv sterilizer. Since most of your beneficial bacteria are not in the water column and reside on the surfaces of your tanks filtration this will help control and eventually remove cyano since it populates by floating place to place.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Just juming in...I hope you use RO water not tap.
I have found phosphates, overfeeding and water flow are the main causes. Doing a phosphate test will just give you a false negative reading, but I assure you that you have phosphates because cyano feeds on it.

If you don't address the cause it won't stop, no matter how many water changes. A film on the top means you are not getting enough agitation to the surface. Koralias lose their power after a bit and get weaker. The water surface should be constantly in motion...make it look like it is boiling..And if you have a top on the tank remove it. You have a canister filter now...add a spray bar for the surface, which will help tremendously.

What I would do is siphon out all the cyano I could, increase the surface movement with a spray bar and then use red slime remover (follow all instructions) That way you will be able to get rid of it all at once, stop the constant battle, and win the war. Afterwards do your water changes and be very careful to not overfeed. Go for frozen cube foods and rinse it first before feeding the fish, never put another pellet or flake in the tank.
I am all for not using chemicals but at some point you just have to get the upper hand.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
Kill your lights until the cyano dies off. The resume with less lighting and feeding and adjust until cyano stays away.
If you don'[t have a refugium with macro algaes then add one.
my .02
 
tannersmith200

tannersmith200

Member
hey man
sorry about your cyano outbreak.
I have had this too.
Two things for the cure.
1) increase water flow - add an extra power head if needed.
2) keep up with water changes and keep water parameters in good standing
the water flow thing is what did it for me.
 
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