Cyano Questions and Answers

[MSU Fan]

You know the other LFS guy told me it can't be Cyano because Cyano doesnt go on your rocks only your sand.

Yep, put that guy on your list of people to avoid asking advice from. :snicker: EVER.

 

[Mya]

Ya, thats the sad thing. You never know when you go in a LFS who is going to give you some crap advice. I was debating heavily about taking a rock out of my tank...and taking it down to him... and asking him.. WHAT IS THIS?!?!

But honestly its not worth my time. Im not interested in him being wrong... Im interested in just getting my stuff right.

I'm telling ya, I just need to overhaul everything. Really. Just upgrade everything and get better stuff. Btw, when I get my snails this week I'll be getting the snails for the frag tank in the same load. So.. Horray!

 

[Mya]

Well, I opened up the tank today. Cleaned everything realy good and the lights are on. I had no red stuff come off any rock or off any of the glass. I ran the vacuum over the top of the rocks and sand.

Nothing.

Tank still looks very red as it did before.
Where do I go from here?

 

[beaslbob]

woopsies

 

[softiegirl]

people say its a quick fix without getting to the real problem. But a maracyn tablet should knock it out.

 

[Mya]

I don't know if my post was clear... When I said nothing I meant...

No Cyano anywhere to clean up. Tank still looks exactly the same. As red as ever...

 

[laskopyre]

If it's still there, and it's difficult to get off, it could be red turf algae. So....you can scrape the glass and get a couple Mexican Turbo Snails. They are the big snails. 2 or 3 would work. You can also try urchins.

 

[Mya]

I guess I will try and grab a couple big turbo's then.
I had a spiny urchin for a long time and he never moved except at night and obviously never touched that stuff. Time to get some big Mexican's then.

Thank you very much for the suggestions.

 

[starfish]

If you want to get rid of the cyano do all that has been suggested and you must get as much out manually as possible, use a tooth brushand turkey baster and fish net to catch it out of the water column. Do not let it float around your system and settle in filter or sump whatever you have to do to remove it. Tooth brush ought to get it off the rock if it won't then must be coraline algae but it looks like cyano. Change your filter media often. Check your phosphate levels that will tell you alot also. The longer you allow it in your tank the longer it will take to get rid of it and it can become a chronic problem.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

+1 for flow if you have a sump I always had cynao but always stayed in my refuge as the flow is slower there out of site out of mind. I would clean from there on my weekly maint. plan...... but I am an over feeder i like my fish fat and happy plus I have a eel that I do not want eating my other fish and or shirmp & clams that I have in the tank. when I test I test from the display as my test in the fuge are always off the charts as in Nitrates and trites would be in the hundreds lol but in my display everytheing reads like it is supposed too.

I would up the flow slowly to get everything that you have in the tank aclimated to the chages. and run gfo. that will help with the nitrates and ph04 skimmer also has a big part to play in it as it will get all that bad stuff out faster. and or run a ozone if you have one I would run on a timer when display lights are off as it will help also with the ph balance. I got my orp to 375 and ran just a air stone and my orp stayed with in 320's with out using it anymore......

 

[Mya]

Well the reason I couldn't get it off and why the lights out and flow didnt work... is because it wasnt cyano!

It's red turf. I got some snails and they have so far cleaned off a rock almost completely. The tang and other fish keep it groomed short but only the snails have been able to remove it completely. Ill post up some before and after the snail pics soon.

Thanks again everyone for the help.
Next topic.. Skimmers!

 

[makingbubbles]

The best way to get rid of cyanobacteria in a sand bed (normally where all the nutrients build up to start the outbreak) is to get a spider conch. I have tried red slime removers and had minimal success. The spider conch was able to clean my 75gal in 2 weeks (half the tank being sand bed). Now i have to feed him algae flakes, cause he eats to darn much. The rest of my clean up crew (5 blue leg hermits and 10 cerith snails) took it off the rocks in a mater of days. cyanobacteria outbreaks typically start from having to many uneaten or decaying nutrients in the sand bed (where most food falls) Stirring your sand bed will help your filter catch some of the decaying mater, but your best bet is to buy cleaners for your sand bed. I chose the spider conch over sand stars because you never see the stars and the spider conch is up during the day out in the open eating. As for people saying that you need more flow, its horse crap, i had it in my tank that has way too much flo. Its cause by having to many nutrients in your tank ( phos, nitate, and other nutrients). Also cyno likes any form of light. so you dont have to change your bulbs you just need to find a way to lower your nutrients (less feeding, skimming, adding chaeto algae to your sump, or buying sand stirrers that eat poo and decaying matter.