Cyano help

[kreblak]

My show tank has a real problem with cyanobacteria. I get huge sheets of green cyano on the glass, some red in certain low flow areas, and I now have a new color. On my front glass I now have purple something growing. I say something because I'm hoping that it is corralline algae. Given that my showtank has circulation issues (I'm busily working on powerheads) I doubt that I have managed to grow corralline on my glass. I do get some good growth on my LR. Is there such a thing as purple cyanobacteria? What do I have on the glass?

[OrionGirl]

Well, here's a pic of our FO with serious cyano coverage--sort of a purple color...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1562701

Flow, and alkalinity were our problems. Once we corrected those, the cyano just melted away.

[BrianH]

I have pink & purple coraline growing on all surfaces in my tank (except sand) including the glass. As for the cyano, along with the increased flow, I would reduce feedings, increase water changes and use RO/DI water for top offs and water changes.

Brian

[kreblak]

Can you tell the difference in corralline and cyano by just looking?

[OrionGirl]

Not by looking (though I've never seen wavy coralline), but definitely by touching. Cyano will come up as chunks, and is velvety soft. Coralline is always a rocky, hard surface, that comes up in flakes, and with a bit of effort.

[Guy W]

If you have a serious cyno problem you can use a product called chemi-clean. I had it real bad before I switched to RO/DI water. Once I determined that my water source must be the problem I hit my tank with one dose of chemi-clean and the cyno disolved in 2 days. I did a real big Ro/Di water change and use that water exclusivly now, and I've not had problems with it again.

All my research has show than chemi-clean is totally safe for a reef tank, and while I have limited corals it didn't harm any of them. Also crabs, stars, and snails all did fine with it.

So if you know why you have the problem, but you don't want to wait a month for it to go away naturally, this is a quick way to clear it up. But it will come back if you haven't found out why you have it in the first place.

Guy

[mogurnda]

I agree with the others about the nutrient and flow issues. What are your nitrate and phosphate levels? It seems to be a problem with newer tanks that have passed through the initial cycling stage but haven't completely settled down.

If you have little patches, scarlet hermits will eat the stuff. Probably not their first choice, but they will make it go away.

[cathy]

as a newbie I'm still trying to identify all this stuff. I have had some growth of filmy red/purple stuff. Acted like algae in a way, but I was aware that some of the stuff that grows this way is actually bacteria. Could this be cyanobacteria?
I am keeping it under control. Increasing circulation in the tank, increasing my hermit crab population, a couple of voracious urchins, plus.... daily housekeeping on my part. I wipe off whatever I can reach w/o totally disrupting things, then leave what I can't reach to the critters.
Its sort of a pain, but it seems to be working... the amount of new growth actually decreased significantly with a little persistance. Hey, its better than real housework!
PS I have no nitrate, but do have a minimally elevated phosphate of 0.25. My values were verifed by my LFS.

[g. mcclean]

First please clarify--bacteria or algae. Another forum refers to it as algae and here it is referred to as bacteria. In addition to water flow and phosphate, nitrate levels, they suggested using a turkey baster to lift it off the surface of the sand. This seems to disrupt the sand much less than syphoning. We added a Zoo-medic wave maker to increase water flow, and almost immediately the algae/bacteria turned brown. My question is now how to get it out of the area between the front glass and the sand. Any suggestions?

[kreblak]

It is bacteria. "Algae" is often used to describe anything growing in the tank, the same way that all soft drinks are often referred to as "cokes." Brown "algae" is really diatoms. Red slime algae, green slime algae, etc., are cyanobacteria. They grow where the water flow is low or stagnant. They are also quite ugly.

Corraline algae is actually algae, and a good one at that.

To remove crud from the area between the sand and glass, I just turned my scarlett and bluelegged hermits loose on it. They churn up my substrate pretty well.

[Triggerman]

Kreblak
You can dose one time with Marycyn 2 to rid your tank of cynano.
It will kill it.
You will lose a small amount of nitrifying bacteria,also.
Not enough to destabilize the system at all.
Triggerman

[Triggerman]

Kreblak
How's the cyano situation?
I dosed my tank with marycyn 4 days ago and all of my cyano is gone.
I have increased water flow and am a happy camper for now.

[kreblak]

I am working on increasing the water flow, and have cut feedings way back. This is helping a little. I am anticipating an end to my problems once I get a hold of some RO/DI water. My LFS's RO equipment broke, so I am waiting on my neighbor to get the equipment he ordered online. He has promised me he will keep churning it out as long as I am willing to pay 25 cents a gallon.

[Triggerman]

I use distilled water exclusively and have had cyano for about six months.I feed very sparingly,2x per week.I don't think cyano is prejudiced.Even the hard core hobbyists with superior equipment get this stuff.
I have a Sears distiller and it is always going.Takes five hours for one gallon but it is way worth putting in the purest water available.
I am looking for a r/o unit to install.
Tap water will poison your system.
The live rock and sand will absorb all of the heavy metals and undesirables and even when you switch over to good water your problems may linger for a good while.

[cathy]

Can I poll those following this thread about the use of Macyryn?

Is it truly safe for inverts?

I am reluctant to use additives like this; sometimes side effects are worse than the disease!

[Triggerman]

It is an antibiodic.
My snails actually perked up.Crabs are fine.Cleaner shrimp is also fine.
I was very hesitant to put anything in my display tank also.
Just couldn't stand the red cyano anymore.

[BrianH]

I've used red slime remover with great results and no losses in my 50gal reef in the past.

Brian

[cathy]

Brian, is the red slime remover you used Macyrn or some other product?

[Triggerman]

Cathy
There is a better course of action to rid yourself of it.
Proper amounts of sandbed infauna will keep it it's place.It is very hard to keep the population of these guys in our tanks at the numbers that are in the oceans.I have two sets of sandbed infauna on order.Still don't think that will be even near what I need.Dsb's are a pita.But they seem to work well enough.
Cyano is always present in our tanks.

[cathy]

thanks for the info, Triggerman. At the risk of confessing my state of ignorance, can you explain the statement "DSB's are a pita". And I am assuming that sandbed infauna are creatures that live in your substrate that will eat this stuff... a natural and appealing solution. I bought a few snails that live in the substrate, encounter them occasionally as I do my "housecleaning". Are these infauna, or are you referring to other species? what are they?

Physical removal seems to be helping my personal situation. I have a sponge on a stick that I use to clean glass, and I also swipe the surface of rocks and macro algae to dislodge the cyanobacteria where its visible. This sets this stuff swirling around my tank, then while its "in solution" I use a net to capture the larger masses. I get everything I can into the net.Then hope my filter, skimmer, and critters will get the rest. After a week of this process the growth rate of the cyano seems to be slowing down. This is the second cycle I've gone through, hopefully I am nearing the end. And hopefully it will be a while before the next one! My skimmer was particularly gross tonite; even though I am careful about feeding amounts. My water chemistries are good, have a slightly elevated phosphate (0.25) and just replaced some absorber for that purpose. Oh well. Its better than cleaning the bathroom!

[Triggerman]

Hi Cathy
Infauna are different species of worms,copepods,amphipods etc.
Our sandbeds are quite short of these populations.Yes they will actually eat the debris and fish waste,not to mention stir up the whole sandbed.
I have some dead spots that are turning black.Hopefully the infauna kits will take care of those trouble areas.
Pain in the a## ,we must maintain our dsb's or they just won't work properly.I have a fish only system and there were other options available.
Alot of people are pulling their dsb's and trying other avenues.
Don't get me wrong dsb's will work if they are properly maintained.My sandbed is not as healthy as it should be ,thus the cyano outbreak.
At least I've never had an outbreak of hair algae.That's probably next.

[cathy]

thanks, Triggerman. I came home today, expecting another carpet of cyanobacteria to disrupt and clean, when to my pleasant surprise, very little had regrown. This is what happened during the last cycle... with diligent removal, the growth tapered off eventually. But the idea of adding infauna as a natural control is still very appealing to me. Did you order this through your LFS, or on the internet.