Puzzling Algae or Cyano Problem

[redfishblewfish]

I’ve got an unknown algae or cyano problem I can’t solve…..:help: It’s a head-scratcher because it is only on one side of the tank.

I have a very simple tank with simple plants and simple fish. Everything was just fine until my dwarf puffers acquired a taste for tail. They started eating the tails of my fancy guppies. At first I set up two 55g tanks, one for the guppies and one for the puffers (and tetras). This lasted about 3 – 4 months until the spouse told me one of the tanks had to go. So I put all the fish back into a 75 with a mess divider….guppies on the right side, puffers and tetras on the left side. The tank shares one Fluval filter with the uptake on the puffer side and the outflow on the guppy side. Here’s what it looked like shortly after it was set up:

Now for the problem…about two months later it looks like this:

The puffer side (on the left) has this nice florescent green growth on everything…the plants, the glass, the rocks…everything. The guppy side is just fine. And again, it’s all the same water separated by a plastic mess.

Here’s a shot of the problem side:

And here is a close-up of THE growth on plants and decorations:

When it started I turned off the bubbler that was on the left side and added a small powerhead to produce flow on that side…but no luck. This stuff just kept on growing.

In addition, the water surface on the puffer side has a cloudy film on it, as you can see in this picture that divides the left from the right:

I do weekly water changes and actually filtered the surface water two times. It just comes back in a week or so.

:help: HELP! :help:

 

[bushwhacker]

thats cyano, tho why its not goin thru that mesh i dont know..order some maracyn (erithromicin) do half doses for 4 or 5 days it should clear it up, but keep some on hand cause it can come back

 

[inkyjenn]

you may also want to check your water flow on the side with the cyano. increasing the current/water flow on that side will help keep the cyano from coming back

 

[bushwhacker]

what are your parameters? low nitrates can cause cyano growth, i have to dose kno3 every other day to keep my levels up to around 10

 

[Canuck]

Yea, I'll go with low nitrate too. Are you adding any fertilizer?

 

[jm1212]

250 mg per 10 gallons for 48 hours worked great for me and had little effect on the biological filter. i used maracyn.

 

[redfishblewfish]

Thank you for responding to this post and verifying that the stuff I had was cyano.

I also appreciate the Maracyn (erythromycin), suggestion, but I ended up going another route. I was a bit concerned using erythromycin and it killing the good bacteria in the tank and filter. All that I read stated it could kill the good guys as well. Anyway, I found sites that claimed the use of hydrogen peroxide (3%) at 2 ounces per 10 gallons would kill the cyano, but not the good bacteria. Cyano supposedly has either thin walls, or missing some cell wall, or something different from regular bacteria, making it susceptible to oxidation.

So I dosed the tank using a small turkey baster squirting it directly on the heavy infestations of cyano. After a short period of time you could see the micro bubbles rising up from the cyano. Unfortunately I did end up losing one of the neon tetras…it swam right into the area I had just squirted with peroxide. The following day I did a 50% water change and here’s what it looks like now. Oh, I also started the bubbler again because a couple sites stated that that helped control cyano as well.

In regard to fertilizer, I was dosing with Hagen’s Nutrafin Plant Gro, but stopped after the cyano showed up. I was under the impression that the nitro in there was adding to the cyano problem. I started dose with the fertilizer again.

I plan on another 50% change next week. One last note…the smell…its like a cross between a chemical-like smell of a pesticide and moldy socks. After the water change it was greatly reduced…and hopefully after the next it will be gone.

Thanks again. :headbang2:

 

[redfishblewfish]

Well I’m a fool. My little ‘speriment with hydrogen peroxide looks like it didn’t fully work. It certainly cleaned up the tank so that it was looking good. But it now appears that the blue green color has re-appeared on the bottom rocks.:swear: I’ve just placed my order for Maracyn (erythromycin). Now the only question, since I’ve got two recommendations for use of Maracyn, is the dose? What recommendation do I go with?:

• Half dose (100mg/10 gallon), dosing every day for 4 to 5 days.
• 250 mg/10 gallon (single dose) for 48 hours.

With either one, what do I do after the dosing period? Do I do a massive water change? Run a carbon reactor? Nothing? Or something else??

Again, the other concern I have is that I’m dosing the tank (and filter). Do I have to worry about the tank recycling and possibly getting ammonia and nitrite spikes?

Thanks

 

[rocker92]

i would do a large WC

 

[bushwhacker]

half doses for 4- 5 days but watch out that crap can come back order 2 boxes if you see it dump in another pack it happens in my tank i just add one pack and it stops.... yeah do a massive water change after and run some carbon for a week or two to clean it out but keep the meds on hand