Cyanobacteria

[nvmycj]

Anyone know how to get rid of Cyanobacteria? I've got an established take and it suddenly appeared. No change in lighting.

 

[snakeblitz33]

How old are your lights? How long do you keep them on every day? How much and what do you feed? What are your water parameters? What kind of water do you use to top off your tank with? What temp does your tank run at? Can you post a picture? Can you describe your filtration to us? What is your internal flow rate? What is your substrate?

 

[nvmycj]

My PC's and actinics are about 7 months old;
lights are on about 8 hours a day;
I feed them enough, that all there food is gone;
I top off with RO/DI water
temp runs about 72 degrees
I'm using a oceanic protein skimmer with bioballs and a filtration pad
LS & LR as my substrate

 

[btldreef]

Cut back on lighting and feeding to start and try to change the direction of flow in the tank. That looks like a BioCube. I have my powerhead on the opposite side of the tank from the return, but at the front/side corner. This will help create more turbulence /water flow.
Cyano is almost always caused by one of two things:
1) lack of flow
2) too much nutrients
What inhabitants are in the tank? What do you feed and how often?

 

[siptang]

I will tell you something funny until this year, I thought those were coraline algae.
I have them on my tank. Just on the rocks though, I have reduced the feeding a bit changed the lighting schedule and tonight will be adding couple of new pumps towards the bottom for more flow. Hopefully that will cure my problem.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Turkey baster. Water changes. Red slime remover, follow directions. Add another strong powerhead. Keep water quality high.

 

[nvmycj]

Do I suck it up with the turkey baster, or like I've been doing,...blowing it off the sand and rock? Should I do like every other day water changes for a while? I've got a Nano powerhead and stock pump in there now. My flow is pretty good, as evidenced by the waving of my frogspawn and xenia. The weird thing is,...the place with the strongest flow, is where it's growing and where the flow is weakest, there is none to be found.
Is red slime remover hard to come by? Is it coral safe?
Thanks!!

 

[nvmycj]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Siptang http:///t/388654/cyanobacteria#post_3429478
I will tell you something funny until this year, I thought those were coraline algae.
At first,...I did too!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Red slime remover is a cyanobacteria antibiotic. It's coral safe only if you have a small amount of cyano, and if you follow the directions to the letter. Adding an additional powerhead will really help.

 

[siptang]

Hmm I might consider that too... I have been noticing after I got everything in prestine condition, my cyno bacteria covered rock slowly turned yellow then flaked off when I put a power head over it. I'm adding 1 more korailia on my tank for the rocks, let's see if I can do this without adding any more chemicals.

 

[nvmycj]

I'd hate to add another powerhead, simly because I've got no room. If I put it on the opposite side of my other one, directly under the stock return nozzle, it'll blow right into my frogspawn. I don't think he'll like that very much.
I'll find some red slime remover, do some more water changes, and go from there. Thanks for the tip!

 

[btldreef]

Start with cutting back feeding and lighting. I don't think an extra powerhead is going to make a difference in that small of a tank. I really believe it's too much nutrients.
Go to Red Slime Remover as a absolute last resort, especially in a nano. There's no room for error

 

[nvmycj]

all this cautious talk about the red slime remover is making me NERVOUS. I think I'll pass on using that...
This stuff grows OVERNIGHT!!! I'd clean it out in the morning and it'd be right back the next day! ARGHHHHHH!!!!

 

[meowzer]

Quote:
Originally Posted by NVMYCJ http:///t/388654/cyanobacteria#post_3430603
all this cautious talk about the red slime remover is making me NERVOUS. I think I'll pass on using that...
This stuff grows OVERNIGHT!!! I'd clean it out in the morning and it'd be right back the next day! ARGHHHHHH!!!!

The cautiousness is because MOST of us HATE the idea of using chemicals....I am one....BUT....I HAD to use the red slime remover in my 10G......Just follow the directions, and DO NOT use any other chemicals...
I added an airstone the day before use.....and kept it in there for a few days after also

 

[snakeblitz33]

Red slime remover can crash a tank ONLY if you don't follow the directions, and if your tank is COMPLETELY filled with cyano. Heck, I think red slime remover is a wonderful tool to use in the aquarists tool box, but only if you use it properly and use proper husbandry guidelines to keep it from coming back again.