ID please!
- Thread starter outsdr2
- Start date
spanko
Active Member
Cyanobacter is called bluegreen algae but we mostly see red color in our tanks. Not toxic but can irritate coral if it covers it. The biggest concern you have here is not that you have the cyano but that you have the excess nutrient and or lack of flow that allows it to grow.
Here is my take on getting rid of Cyano.
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.
[hr]
Henry
Here is my take on getting rid of Cyano.
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.
[hr]
Henry
outsdr2
Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3061200
You may be correct Ren, it sure does wave a lot though. Maybe a tunicate? outsdr2 can you take a picture before you try anything with the flow turned off in the tank?
I can. but I believe it not to be a tunicate. it is a stringy blob that reacts to photosynthesis. but I prefer to err on the side of caution. I will take a picture with less flow. it was non existant this morning and as the light cycle progressed it seemed to bloom. thanks for any help.
http:///forum/post/3061200
You may be correct Ren, it sure does wave a lot though. Maybe a tunicate? outsdr2 can you take a picture before you try anything with the flow turned off in the tank?
I can. but I believe it not to be a tunicate. it is a stringy blob that reacts to photosynthesis. but I prefer to err on the side of caution. I will take a picture with less flow. it was non existant this morning and as the light cycle progressed it seemed to bloom. thanks for any help.
ophiura
Active Member
amorphous blobs of goo are often mucosal feeding nets or even egg cases of some sort...
It does not look like there are any other patches of cyano in the tank, and that is an area of relatively high flow from the looks of it. So I would be a bit surprised, but it is really hard to know for sure.
It does not look like there are any other patches of cyano in the tank, and that is an area of relatively high flow from the looks of it. So I would be a bit surprised, but it is really hard to know for sure.