Cyano or Dino’s

[yanni]

Hey all,

I’ve been facing some cyano recently, seems pretty persistent and grows on my sand and rock. I just finished a flux treatment, and it started to appear in the end of my week 3 of treatment. It doesn’t hold any oxygen bubbles like Dino’s seems to typically, just grows over sand and rock like a blanket, and has these long stringy parts of it that flow off it (still no oxygen bubbles).

I’ve been doing water changes to combat it, turkey basting it into the water, and sucking most out. But it tends to regrow fairly quick, and it tends to thin out at night, and come back strong at lights on.

Does this look/sound like cyano, or Dino’s? Very red colour as well, not brown at all.

Phos 0.07-0.12 most days
Nitrate around 10-15ish
Higher nutrients since my tank is softies only now.

 

[glb]

That looks like cyano to me. If manual removal doesn’t work, Chemi-Clean will knock it out. Just make sure to follow the directions carefully. I had cyano this bad and the Chemi-Clean cleared it up in a matter of days. Good luck!

 

[yanni]

That looks like cyano to me. If manual removal doesn’t work, Chemi-Clean will knock it out. Just make sure to follow the directions carefully. I had cyano this bad and the Chemi-Clean cleared it up in a matter of days. Good luck!

I don’t have a skimmer which is my only issue. Worry depleting my o2 too much and suffocating the fish

 

[glb]

I don’t have a skimmer which is my only issue. Worry depleting my o2 too much and suffocating the fish

If you throw in some airstones it will oxygenate the water. And you could put a power head at the waterline to agitate the surface.

 

[yanni]

If you throw in some airstones it will oxygenate the water. And you could put a power head at the waterline to agitate the surface.

Ah okay fair fair. I’ll see what happens. Give it a bit of time for it to clear up naturally, if not, chemiclean

 

[glb]

Ah okay fair fair. I’ll see what happens. Give it a bit of time for it to clear up naturally, if not, chemiclean

Good plan. I’ve been able to get rid of small outbreaks with manual removal. Keep us posted!

 

[yanni]

Good plan. I’ve been able to get rid of small outbreaks with manual removal. Keep us posted!

Thanks for the help man! Will do

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey all,

I’ve been facing some cyano recently, seems pretty persistent and grows on my sand and rock. I just finished a flux treatment, and it started to appear in the end of my week 3 of treatment. It doesn’t hold any oxygen bubbles like Dino’s seems to typically, just grows over sand and rock like a blanket, and has these long stringy parts of it that flow off it (still no oxygen bubbles).

I’ve been doing water changes to combat it, turkey basting it into the water, and sucking most out. But it tends to regrow fairly quick, and it tends to thin out at night, and come back strong at lights on.

Does this look/sound like cyano, or Dino’s? Very red colour as well, not brown at all.

Phos 0.07-0.12 most days
Nitrate around 10-15ish
Higher nutrients since my tank is softies only now.

be careful with chemiclean which is an antibiotic and can work or have adverse effects.
Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high. Its important to find out the cause and not just attack it with chemicals.
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 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 them off for 3-5 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 5 days, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

 

[yanni]

be careful with chemiclean which is an antibiotic and can work or have adverse effects.
Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high. Its important to find out the cause and not just attack it with chemicals.
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 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 them off for 3-5 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 5 days, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

Already have a high WC frequency, and high flow. I think dissolved nutrients from dying GHA triggered it. On a current black out for a few days. Got some GFO running, and tbh why nitrifying bacteria? I’m worried abt peroxide due to my nems, and won’t the peroxide just swirl around and be filtered out?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Already have a high WC frequency, and high flow. I think dissolved nutrients from dying GHA triggered it. On a current black out for a few days. Got some GFO running, and tbh why nitrifying bacteria? I’m worried abt peroxide due to my nems, and won’t the peroxide just swirl around and be filtered out?

Peroxide acts as an oxidizer for the bacteria. GFO can act too quickly- monitor your po4 and no3.
The bacteria competes with the bad bacteria and overpowers it.

 

[yanni]

Peroxide acts as an oxidizer for the bacteria. GFO can act too quickly- monitor your po4 and no3.
The bacteria competes with the bad bacteria and overpowers it.

I’ve only got a small amt of GFO, just enough to take the edge of phosphate creep

Fair fair. I only really have access to Dr Tims, is that suitable?

 

[glb]

Thanks for the help man! Will do

I’m a chick, lol. Happens all the time.

 

[yanni]

I’m a chick, lol. Happens all the time.

Ah I’m sorry, my bad

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ve only got a small amt of GFO, just enough to take the edge of phosphate creep

Fair fair. I only really have access to Dr Tims, is that suitable?

It should

 

[Schulks]

@vetteguy53081
I am having a cyano outbreak too. It is in a nano tank and I believe was caused by reduced flow and high nutrients.

I'm planning to improve the flow and do a few water changes.

I only have zoa's, clove polyps, and a few fish in the tank. Would chemipure Blue nano packets be ok in place of elite?

 

[vetteguy53081]

@vetteguy53081
I am having a cyano outbreak too. It is in a nano tank and I believe was caused by reduced flow and high nutrients.

I'm planning to improve the flow and do a few water changes.

I only have zoa's, clove polyps, and a few fish in the tank. Would chemipure Blue nano packets be ok in place of elite?

Yes on Chemipure blue . Low flow yes will be a contributor and for sure elevated phos mainly

 

[MLHale]

I’ve read all of the responses on this thread and feel like I’m missing something.
- We “feed” lean - maybe once every 7-10 days for the fish
- All of the measurements for water health test perfect
- added increased flow to the water
- Twice manual removal of the algae
- Chemiclean seems to have no impact

And this stuff completely covers the tank within days. What else do I do?

 

[yanni]

Thanks everyone!! Didn’t have to add chemicals at all! Ended up adding a skimmer, upped my flow, and did a big siphon of my sand it besides a few odd patches, it seems to be disappearing, and almost completely gone!

 

[Pickle_soup]

The first thing I always look for with cyano are dead spots and detritus on rocks. I never had major issues with it, and it often resolves itself with minor adjustments. You can mechanically remove some of it, and turkey baster the crap out your live rock to make sure detritus is just no sitting there.

 

[yanni]

The first thing I always look for with cyano are dead spots and detritus on rocks. I never had major issues with it, and it often resolves itself with minor adjustments. You can mechanically remove some of it, and turkey baster the crap out your live rock to make sure detritus is just no sitting there.

Yeah exactly. My daily routine now is dose phyto, feed fish, turkey baste rocks while the fish eat, then empty skimmer. Super simple, but has helped immensely