Can’t get rid of cyano

Spare time

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 12, 2019
Messages
12,037
Reaction score
9,671
Location
Here
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am having an issue with what I think is cyano. I have researched and took the advice from them but I still can’t get rid of it.
I have lowered my white intensity on my lights, increased flow and got all of my chemicals in check but it just won’t go away.
Please help.
2 year old tank
125 gallon tank
UV sterilizer
Skimmer
Radion gen 2 lights
Carbon reactor
Chemicals:
Alk 8.8
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Ph 8.13
Nitrate 2.37 was lower with the same outcome
Phosphate 0.028 was lower with the same outcome

7155CF2F-E826-44BA-B81B-50CC57DBA7D3.jpeg


UV may make cyano worse.

White light has nothing to do with the strength algae growth. This is a myth. I don't know where this comes from but anyone who says white light causes more algae clearly has never looked at the wavelengths for photopigments found in marine algae species.

Have you tried chemiclean or similar?
 

Tim McLellan

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 15, 2021
Messages
131
Reaction score
196
Location
Albuquerque
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I had cyano which looked a lot different than your pic. Mine was a darker maroon slime over the rocks which was really stressing me out. Nothing on the glass, a little on the sand, but my diamond watchman goby does an awesome job of keeping the sand really clean. I used Chemiclean and it worked great over 48 hours and really cleared it from the rocks. I still get small spots, but it's easily brushed off and filtered out.
 
OP
OP
Freemason1970

Freemason1970

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 5, 2014
Messages
38
Reaction score
21
Location
Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
UV may make cyano worse.

White light has nothing to do with the strength algae growth. This is a myth. I don't know where this comes from but anyone who says white light causes more algae clearly has never looked at the wavelengths for photopigments found in marine algae species.

Have you tried chemiclean or similar?
I have tried chemiclean and within a few months it came back
 
OP
OP
Freemason1970

Freemason1970

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 5, 2014
Messages
38
Reaction score
21
Location
Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
First thing to address is, , what caused it ?
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn lights off for 5-days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.
What does the hydrogen peroxide do?
 

damsels are not mean

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 14, 2021
Messages
1,952
Reaction score
2,151
Location
Chicago
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am currently trying to nutrient control for some GHA. Mind elaborating or why you think it is a waste. I enjoy different takes on the subject.
I've seen tanks with low low sometimes even unreadable nutrients and tons of GHA. I've seen tanks with high nutrients and no GHA. Clearly something else is going on when it comes to algae control. I have a high nutrient tank and haven't seen GHA since the cycle 10 years go in there. What I do have in there is a lot of microfauna and a neurotic tang who chomps everything edible. There are a couple patches where cyano grows sometimes but it always dies out and disappears soon after growing. I also siphon it out if it's there when I do water changes which are maybe every 2 weeksish depending on when I have time.

I am of the opinion that you cannot create an environment where corals thrive and algae won't grow unless

a) something is competing with the algae
b) something (a fish, a snail, a nudibranch, a siphon tube, a toothbrush etc.) is removing the algae
c) you keep your tank completely nutrient-less through some hardcore filtration or water changes and target feed every coral and fish enough to keep them alive (not sure if anyone has ever done that and it sounds like an awful lot of work)
 

DannoOMG

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
May 23, 2021
Messages
495
Reaction score
438
Location
NH
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Whatever the nutrient levels in your tank, the gha thrives in ocean water with much less.

So I guess the only thing I can do is try and pull the stuff out and hope the clean up crew gets the rest.
I've seen tanks with low low sometimes even unreadable nutrients and tons of GHA. I've seen tanks with high nutrients and no GHA. Clearly something else is going on when it comes to algae control. I have a high nutrient tank and haven't seen GHA since the cycle 10 years go in there. What I do have in there is a lot of microfauna and a neurotic tang who chomps everything edible. There are a couple patches where cyano grows sometimes but it always dies out and disappears soon after growing. I also siphon it out if it's there when I do water changes which are maybe every 2 weeksish depending on when I have time.

I am of the opinion that you cannot create an environment where corals thrive and algae won't grow unless

a) something is competing with the algae
b) something (a fish, a snail, a nudibranch, a siphon tube, a toothbrush etc.) is removing the algae
c) you keep your tank completely nutrient-less through some hardcore filtration or water changes and target feed every coral and fish enough to keep them alive (not sure if anyone has ever done that and it sounds like an awful lot of work)

Right now I have something competing with it. A small reefugium in my nano tank. That is my attempt to make it want to grow in the back of the tank rather than the front. I have an Urchin, a sand sifting cuc that just sits around, some hermits, 2 turbos and a snapping shrimp for my CUC.

I have no fish in the tank. But I put in phytoplankton every other day. AB+ every other day and reef roids twice a week (super small amount) I do turn off the pumps and spot for and let them snack for 5 minutes. Once a week I put in a teeny tiny amount of mysis shrimp in there and feed my snapping shrimp. He comes right out and grabs it.

It has only been running for 1 year but I have changed the filtration set up a couple times since then. Now I am on something I think gives me stability.

Thanks for responding.
 

Spare time

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 12, 2019
Messages
12,037
Reaction score
9,671
Location
Here
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have tried chemiclean and within a few months it came back



In that case, you might want to simply add a varitey of bacterial blends such as PNS Probio (one of my favorites), waste away, and such and possibly some green hermits. I think copepods might munch on it. Keeping phosphate in the right range and some amount of nitrate above 0 helps. I would consider doing this without the UV, that way you add a heck of a lot more competition in the water column (setting a skimmer on a timer helps with this too). I would also avoid dosing any amino products at the time.
 

CanuckReefer

Simple...Salt, Water, LR, Lighting and Flow.
View Badges
Joined
Nov 18, 2020
Messages
2,451
Reaction score
3,855
Location
Port Perry Ontario
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I suggest u get a microscope to see what are u fighting, for me it does look more dinoflagellates.
This^^^ from the start of thread we 'think likely ' Cyano....but.... if you think you are fighting one and it's the other, well that's an uphill battle for certain.
 
OP
OP
Freemason1970

Freemason1970

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 5, 2014
Messages
38
Reaction score
21
Location
Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
First thing to address is, , what caused it ?
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn lights off for 5-days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.
So I am 4 days into your recommendations and it looks to be getting better. Thank you for your information.
I am planning to go and get more clean up crew this weekend.
the question I have is, do I stop with dosing the bacteria and hydrogen peroxide after the week of treatment is over?
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,815
Reaction score
200,022
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
So I am 4 days into your recommendations and it looks to be getting better. Thank you for your information.
I am planning to go and get more clean up crew this weekend.
the question I have is, do I stop with dosing the bacteria and hydrogen peroxide after the week of treatment is over?
You can but can go as much as 10 days. Glad to hear of improvement
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top