cyanobacteria Q's
- Thread starter cj_build
- Start date
spanko
Active Member
Red Slime (Cyano Bacteria)
Cyano grows on top of nutrient rich areas of low flow. There are a number of things that need to be correct or possibly corrected to combat this without the use of chemical additives. The biggest thing is to get rid of the extra nutrients.
1.Evaluate your feeding. If you are feeding more than can be eaten in about 1-2 minutes it is too much and the remainder of it is falling to the rock and sand and becoming nutrient.
2.Evaluate your flow. If you have areas in the tank where there is little to no flow this can be corrected by adding power heads or repositioning the ones you already have. You don’t need to create sand storms just have water moving over the area to keep detritus suspended in the water column for removal by your filter – skimmer.
3.Evaluate your water changes. The solution to pollution is dilution! You want to continually remove unneeded nutrients as well as replace those things that are used by the system. 10% weekly is a good change schedule. Some do 20% every other week and some vary the schedule from there, but a good start is 10% per week.
4.Evaluate your lighting schedule. About 10 hours of daylight is all that is needed.
5.If you have a cyano outbreak do the above 4 items andh:
a.At water change time siphon off the cyano first. It will come up easily almost like a blanker.
b.After siphoning stir the affected areas a little to suspend any detritus for the water change and filtering - skimming removal.
c.Use a turkey baster now and at every water change in the future to again suspend the detritus for removal by the water change and your filtering – skimming.
Keeping nutrient levels low to non-existent will help to avoid cyano outbreaks and any algae outbreaks as well as keep your tank and you happy happy.
Hope that helps.
Cyano grows on top of nutrient rich areas of low flow. There are a number of things that need to be correct or possibly corrected to combat this without the use of chemical additives. The biggest thing is to get rid of the extra nutrients.
1.Evaluate your feeding. If you are feeding more than can be eaten in about 1-2 minutes it is too much and the remainder of it is falling to the rock and sand and becoming nutrient.
2.Evaluate your flow. If you have areas in the tank where there is little to no flow this can be corrected by adding power heads or repositioning the ones you already have. You don’t need to create sand storms just have water moving over the area to keep detritus suspended in the water column for removal by your filter – skimmer.
3.Evaluate your water changes. The solution to pollution is dilution! You want to continually remove unneeded nutrients as well as replace those things that are used by the system. 10% weekly is a good change schedule. Some do 20% every other week and some vary the schedule from there, but a good start is 10% per week.
4.Evaluate your lighting schedule. About 10 hours of daylight is all that is needed.
5.If you have a cyano outbreak do the above 4 items andh:
a.At water change time siphon off the cyano first. It will come up easily almost like a blanker.
b.After siphoning stir the affected areas a little to suspend any detritus for the water change and filtering - skimming removal.
c.Use a turkey baster now and at every water change in the future to again suspend the detritus for removal by the water change and your filtering – skimming.
Keeping nutrient levels low to non-existent will help to avoid cyano outbreaks and any algae outbreaks as well as keep your tank and you happy happy.
Hope that helps.
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Remember when you do kill the Cyano you will spike your nitrates
cj_build
New Member
About answer 1. I have an overflow bow made into the tank and when I feed flake (most of the time) it gets sucked down there quickly. How can this be prevented. I've tried to put sponges around the holes but the water rises hence water on ground ner electical big nono.
answer 2. I have 2 70gph and a 20gph powerhead in the tank (its a 58 show) and I can see the cyno swaying with the current? It seemed to minimize it but not cure it.
answer 3. I never have been good at water changes. I do about 25% bi-weekly to montly and I'm out of salt right now ya im lazy and need to get to the store lol.
answer 4. I have the atinics on 12 hours and 12ks on for 10. Is that to much?
answer 5 The turkey baster is a great idea.
The tank is only 3-4 months old but I alrdy have coraline growing up the glass. Will the cyno just die off after the newness wears off also? Maybe just one of the cycles?
TY Spanko and Joe I look forward to helping others in need as I can.
answer 2. I have 2 70gph and a 20gph powerhead in the tank (its a 58 show) and I can see the cyno swaying with the current? It seemed to minimize it but not cure it.
answer 3. I never have been good at water changes. I do about 25% bi-weekly to montly and I'm out of salt right now ya im lazy and need to get to the store lol.
answer 4. I have the atinics on 12 hours and 12ks on for 10. Is that to much?
answer 5 The turkey baster is a great idea.
The tank is only 3-4 months old but I alrdy have coraline growing up the glass. Will the cyno just die off after the newness wears off also? Maybe just one of the cycles?
TY Spanko and Joe I look forward to helping others in need as I can.
reeftanker84
Member
i had a really bad case a while back so i did a 90% water change and added 4 turbo snails and have not had a problem since,the turbos do a great job with the ciano,do not add any algae killer it will make your tank do i mini cycle
tracymace1229
Member
When my tank was about 10 months old, I had a bunch of the red slime algea starting everywhere.
After reading a bit, I took up one suggestion. I turned off all aquaria lights for 3 days. I still turned on the refugium light at night.
It was gone...I mean...all gone!
I think I have some coming again after 10 months without any. So I am on my 2nd day of no tank lights of the 3 day set.
just my experience
After reading a bit, I took up one suggestion. I turned off all aquaria lights for 3 days. I still turned on the refugium light at night.
It was gone...I mean...all gone!
I think I have some coming again after 10 months without any. So I am on my 2nd day of no tank lights of the 3 day set.
just my experience
spanko
Active Member
Originally Posted by cj_build
http:///forum/post/2949702
About answer 1. I have an overflow bow made into the tank and when I feed flake (most of the time) Flake food is usually part of the problem as it does contain some phosphates. Look into some good frozen foods. Also better for your fish.it gets sucked down there quickly. How can this be prevented. I've tried to put sponges around the holes but the water rises hence water on ground ner electical big nono.Try turing off the pump while feeding.
answer 2. I have 2 70gph and a 20gph powerhead in the tank (its a 58 show) and I can see the cyno swaying with the current? It seemed to minimize it but not cure it.
answer 3. I never have been good at water changes. I do about 25% bi-weekly to montly and I'm out of salt right now ya im lazy and need to get to the store lol.Reef tanks require maintenance. When we don't do it bad things can happen.
answer 4. I have the actinics on 12 hours and 12ks on for 10. Is that to much?Not in my opinion.
answer 5 The turkey baster is a great idea.
The tank is only 3-4 months old but I already have coralline growing up the glass. Will the cyano just die off after the newness wears off also? Maybe just one of the cycles?Not without some good husbandry procedures.
TY Spanko and Joe I look forward to helping others in need as I can.
You are welcome.
Originally Posted by gmann1139
http:///forum/post/2957486
Spanko, I noticed you didn't include absence of light as a treatment.
Is that because you prefer to treat the root cause (excess nutrients), rather than attempting to attack the cyano directly by removing light and phosphates from the tank?
If we can agree that excess nutrient is one of the main factors in cyano growth why not treat that? By the way Phosphate is a nutrient to some things. As you can see tracymace1229 tried the lights out thing, and while it worked because I believe heshe did not attack the root cause and is now experiencing a resurgence of cyano.
http:///forum/post/2949702
About answer 1. I have an overflow bow made into the tank and when I feed flake (most of the time) Flake food is usually part of the problem as it does contain some phosphates. Look into some good frozen foods. Also better for your fish.it gets sucked down there quickly. How can this be prevented. I've tried to put sponges around the holes but the water rises hence water on ground ner electical big nono.Try turing off the pump while feeding.
answer 2. I have 2 70gph and a 20gph powerhead in the tank (its a 58 show) and I can see the cyno swaying with the current? It seemed to minimize it but not cure it.
answer 3. I never have been good at water changes. I do about 25% bi-weekly to montly and I'm out of salt right now ya im lazy and need to get to the store lol.Reef tanks require maintenance. When we don't do it bad things can happen.
answer 4. I have the actinics on 12 hours and 12ks on for 10. Is that to much?Not in my opinion.
answer 5 The turkey baster is a great idea.
The tank is only 3-4 months old but I already have coralline growing up the glass. Will the cyano just die off after the newness wears off also? Maybe just one of the cycles?Not without some good husbandry procedures.
TY Spanko and Joe I look forward to helping others in need as I can.
You are welcome.
Originally Posted by gmann1139
http:///forum/post/2957486
Spanko, I noticed you didn't include absence of light as a treatment.
Is that because you prefer to treat the root cause (excess nutrients), rather than attempting to attack the cyano directly by removing light and phosphates from the tank?
If we can agree that excess nutrient is one of the main factors in cyano growth why not treat that? By the way Phosphate is a nutrient to some things. As you can see tracymace1229 tried the lights out thing, and while it worked because I believe heshe did not attack the root cause and is now experiencing a resurgence of cyano.
shyfish
Member
Originally Posted by Reeftanker84
http:///forum/post/2955443
i had a really bad case a while back so i did a 90% water change and added 4 turbo snails and have not had a problem since,the turbos do a great job with the ciano,do not add any algae killer it will make your tank do i mini cycle
Hi,
I thought I might pass this along.
I got worried about a small ammonia spike (0.25) I always thought any ammonia was deadly. I did a 50% water change.
I was told afterward that 50% is way too much of a water change. That it was almost like resetting the tank. I should never do more than 30% at one time...I figure if 50% is way too much than 90% is not a good idea.
I had cyano a while back and it was so thick it was like a blanket coming off the rock. I was over feeding.
The advice from Spanko makes the best sense to me. A wise man once said to me..."if you do the same thing you have always done, you will always have the same thing going bad again"
So my advice is to evaluate what caused the problem in the first place. I got rid of my red slime by physically removing as much as I could, (turkey baster is a great tool, mark it fish only) and used red slime remover. Then I changed my habit of over feeding, my problem was solved.
http:///forum/post/2955443
i had a really bad case a while back so i did a 90% water change and added 4 turbo snails and have not had a problem since,the turbos do a great job with the ciano,do not add any algae killer it will make your tank do i mini cycle
Hi,
I thought I might pass this along.
I got worried about a small ammonia spike (0.25) I always thought any ammonia was deadly. I did a 50% water change.
I was told afterward that 50% is way too much of a water change. That it was almost like resetting the tank. I should never do more than 30% at one time...I figure if 50% is way too much than 90% is not a good idea.
I had cyano a while back and it was so thick it was like a blanket coming off the rock. I was over feeding.
The advice from Spanko makes the best sense to me. A wise man once said to me..."if you do the same thing you have always done, you will always have the same thing going bad again"
So my advice is to evaluate what caused the problem in the first place. I got rid of my red slime by physically removing as much as I could, (turkey baster is a great tool, mark it fish only) and used red slime remover. Then I changed my habit of over feeding, my problem was solved.
gmann1139
Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2957492
If we can agree that excess nutrient is one of the main factors in cyano growth why not treat that? By the way Phosphate is a nutrient to some things. As you can see tracymace1229 tried the lights out thing, and while it worked because I believe heshe did not attack the root cause and is now experiencing a resurgence of cyano.
Agreed. I'm not advocating just using the 'lights out' method, as I'm sure the cyano is able to survive a couple days without light.
I guess I'm a believer in using all the weapons in your arsenal, and if you are trying to remove cyano, attacking its other food source (light) at the same time would seem to give the best chance for success.
http:///forum/post/2957492
If we can agree that excess nutrient is one of the main factors in cyano growth why not treat that? By the way Phosphate is a nutrient to some things. As you can see tracymace1229 tried the lights out thing, and while it worked because I believe heshe did not attack the root cause and is now experiencing a resurgence of cyano.
Agreed. I'm not advocating just using the 'lights out' method, as I'm sure the cyano is able to survive a couple days without light.
I guess I'm a believer in using all the weapons in your arsenal, and if you are trying to remove cyano, attacking its other food source (light) at the same time would seem to give the best chance for success.
ryancw01
Member
CJ, I think you need more flow in there. You should have enough total flow in your tank to turn it over 10-15 times per hour...minimum. Your return pump should only make up 3-5 of the total 10-15 times per hour. You only have 160 going through the inside of your 58 right now so I would think that is not enough. For example, I have a 65 gallon so I have a Koralia 3 on one side of the tank and a 1 on the other. The 3=850gph and the 1=400. That is about 19 times per hour just on the inside of the tank. Are you using RO/DI water? Did you buy live rock? Did you cure it yourself? Just so you don't worry though, cyno is extremely common with new tanks...I went through a battle for sure when I started out and was using good ol tap water.