Cyanobacteria - red to yellow?

arkman

arkman

Member
Ive had a cyano bloom going on for about 2 weeks now - I've been dong moderate harvesting and did replace a light so I'm not fighting it that aggressivly - but I just noticed that some of it, at the core is turning yellow. I'm wondering if anyone has any expereince with this, what does it mean (stronnger/weaker?) - and does anyone knowwhat color cyano is toxic?
Thanks in advance!
 
iceburger

iceburger

Member
hmmmm...not sure what color cyano is toxic...or if there is a toxic cyano...
but there are many many different forms of cyanobacteria... for example, caulerpa is a type of cyano... i've had it from green to red to orange... hopefully i won't get it with this new tank i'm starting... "knock on wood"
 
nacl-h2o

nacl-h2o

Active Member
Cyano can change color if you change your lighting. It can come in a lot of colors and none are waeker than the other. It can be dark red, bright green, yellow, brown, orange and black. Caulerpa is not cyanobacteria and I haven't heard of any being toxic.
 
iceburger

iceburger

Member
hmmmm as i recall in a post about a month or two ago richard rendos had stated that there was a college ( cannot remember the name of the college) had discovered that caulerpa was in fact a form of cyanobacteria and he also theorized that keeping caulerpa may affect the groth of cyanobacteria in the aquarium...
but...i may be wrong...?
 
quazi

quazi

Member
a college ( cannot remember the name of the college) had discovered that caulerpa was in fact a form of cyanobacteria and he also theorized that keeping caulerpa may affect the groth of cyanobacteria in the aquarium...
Clearly, caulerpa is a maco algae, a simple plant, not a bacteria. This is unbelievable :rolleyes:
 
arkman

arkman

Member
hmm...didn't meant to start anything up, but I have to agree with Quazi (15 year old reef!!!! - more information PLEASE!!!) that Calurpa is macro algae, and cyanobacteria was mistakenly id'ed as blue-green algae (it is neither - although sometimes blue-green I guess)...
I'm going to jump to a concusion that the updated lighting is the cause of the change...I'll let y'all know what happens next...
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Seems like this is the season for cyano! :( Everyone seems to be having problems lately, including me!
 
arkman

arkman

Member
tis the season all right --- it's beginning to look like a christmas light display in there.
So it started with a nice deep red, almost maroon...then it starts to go yellow. now at the very center of the "jungle" the yellow is turning chartruse (super bright yellow) and some green (possible real algae?) is starting to kick up...
I'm tempetd to just let it go, it is pretty intereting to watch, but its starting to spread to my LR....:(
nex post I may be asking for advice on which "slime away":eek:
 
j21kickster

j21kickster

Active Member
trust me- you dont want to let it go- it can be a pain in the ask to fix- i would act asap- you will be glad you did
 
mersonly1

mersonly1

Member
yep same problem.....bright red to brown to yellow.........patchy tho and almost gone thks to turbos and such
 
arkman

arkman

Member
more info on the "and such" please. none of my cleaning crew seems really interested...
Kickster - whats your best method of removal?
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
has anyone ever used anti-red by aqua medic? i picled up a bottle of this while over at their distribution center, and i am gonna use it on my little outbreak in my 20!
good luck
jon
 
j21kickster

j21kickster

Active Member
had good luck with chemi clean- most people will say remove the source of nutrients to fix- well if you corals are being over run by it- that can take weeks that you dont have..
 
dive1

dive1

Member
Red Slime algae is really bacteria (cyanobacteria). This is not caused by phosphates. The natural way of ridding the tank of this is to first skim off as much as you can. Then do a 50% water change. Several smaller water changes will not work. You will never get the bacteria down low enough to catch up.. I expect the tank is less that a yr old and I has not matured all the way yet.. After the water change cut lights back to 4hrs a day for 4-5days then start bringing the lights up 1hr a day till back to normal. Also cut back on feeding some. Another suggestion is make sure you have a deep sand bed of at least 3-4in. This will let enough good bacteria grow to help prevent this problem..If you just cannot wait You can use a product called chemi-clean by boyd enterproses, inc... you can do a search on the internet for thier phone # or where to purchase. After using wait 2days then do the water change...Their are no short cuts...good luck...
 
j21kickster

j21kickster

Active Member
just giving you crap- but if cyano is bacteria then why does keeping your lights off help-as you said it isnt algae so why does it matter?:D
 
snowbear

snowbear

Member

Originally posted by j21kickster
just giving you crap- but if cyano is bacteria then why does keeping your lights off help-as you said it isnt algae so why does it matter?:D
Can I guess? - please correct me if I'm wrong 'cause it's been Forever and a year since I finished my degree -
Since it grows better with the better lights, can I conclude that Cyano is photosynthestic bacteria?
 
arkman

arkman

Member
Great links...
The ideal combination for blue-greens to grow is: high DOC (dissolved organic carbon = dissolved organic protein = dissolved organic matter and the decay of that organic matter), high dKH levels and over saturation of CO2. The latter can occur if and when the carbon dioxide is not degassed properly from the water through the overflow leading to the sump, or when the water enters the sump by falling down in it in small streams.
yep, got that and old lamps too!
As I mentioned I really only updated one of my lamps and there seems to be a substantial shift --- the brightest parts of the mat are now clear!:D
I'll upgrade the others and that shoud do the trck! Thanks eveyone for your help!
 
j21kickster

j21kickster

Active Member
snowbear- you are correct! thought that was a harder question since most people wouldnt consider bacteria to be photosyenthetic- but you nailed it:D
 
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