Positive identification of cyanobacteria

twilliard · Aug 25, 2016

Hi all and thank you!
My final is still stored here in the laptop as I build this information.
H2o2 has been found to be harmless to inverts and other bacterial life.
I have not had a chance to study the life of nitrifying bacteria. All testing was based on ammonia level changes. No increase of ammonia was recorded.
A lot of questions have been asked about why or how h2o2 breaks down the proteins of cyanobacteria but is harmless to the nitrifying bacteria.
This comes down to the makeup of the outer layers of the individual cells. H2o2 breaks the bond of cylindrospermum cells. Now in the case of spirulina there are no individual cells to break down hence the huge survival rate against h2o2.

Here is the 2 common types of cyano

This is what h2o2 does to the cell bond

Now a shot of spirulina

Notice the spiral shape hence the name Spirulina

H2o2 is proven beyond a doubt to kill cyano other than Spirulina

fab · Aug 25, 2016

What are your plans for publishing? Where will you be publishing your findings? Any idea how soon?

Thank you very much for sharing your work in increments as you have progressed.
fab

twilliard · Aug 25, 2016

I am working through editing and layout. Also looking into copyright protection. I have been slacking on this I know.. school starts september 19th!

pastelball · Sep 4, 2016

So I have the red mat did the test. This is what I have.
The second picture was after about an hour. The third is about 4 hours later.

twilliard · Sep 4, 2016

pastelball said:
So I have the red mat did the test. This is what I have.
The second picture was after about an hour. The third is about 4 hours later.

That would be spirulina

pastelball · Sep 4, 2016

Ok, thanks. Did the chemicleanalready and didn't work. Some maybe I will do a bigger dose.

Neil Fox · Sep 4, 2016

Neil Fox · Sep 4, 2016

Great post BTW!!!

Reeferhigh · Sep 9, 2016

Have you run any tests on Lyngbya? I doubt the method of identification would be applicable to this? Thanks

twilliard · Sep 9, 2016

Reeferhigh said:
Have you run any tests on Lyngbya? I doubt the method of identification would be applicable to this? Thanks

I have seen this just a few times under the microscope. I have not refined a test for this genus.

SandJ · Sep 18, 2016

Looks like I have Spirulina and Cyanobacteria (and a few other things I have not identified lol)

This is what is growing on the sides of the tank (don't know what the orange "worm" things are):

twilliard · Sep 18, 2016

that is in the family of cylindrospermum and not spirulina.
next is a shot of diatoms

SandJ · Sep 18, 2016

You are saying one of these is cylindrospermum?

twilliard · Sep 18, 2016

SandJ said:
You are saying one of these is cylindrospermum?

you are correct
A is spirulina and B is a genus of cylindrospermum cyanobacteria

SandJ · Sep 18, 2016

So can B (cylindrospermum Cyanobacteria) be killed with H2O2?

And do I use chemiclean for the spirulina?

Thanks for your help! I would love to eradicate this stuff!

Sean Warden · Sep 19, 2016

Just a quick question regarding the I.D. of Cyanobacteria. I have a small area that is green in appearance. So I took a sample and used the H2O2 approach for identification. Is it safe to say that if, like the red, the solution turns green then it is of the cylindrospermum variety?

Thanks!

mcarroll · Feb 6, 2017

What if I took a sample and just left it in a cup of saltwater?

That does the same thing as H2O2 in these pics. (Pink water. De-colored cyano.)

Is the H2O2 actually doing anything in these tests?

Is the saltwater test the same then since the results seem the same?

Thanks!

twilliard · Feb 7, 2017

SandJ said:
Looks like I have Spirulina and Cyanobacteria (and a few other things I have not identified lol)

This is what is growing on the sides of the tank (don't know what the orange "worm" things are):

I am working on finding an ID for the bottom picture. That stuff is relentless.

mcarroll · Feb 7, 2017

mcarroll · Feb 7, 2017

That's after a few hours just sitting in saltwater in the dark....it had been exposed to air for 2 or 3 minutes while I decided to find a cup to put it in for the experiment. I never made it to the H2O2 and this is how I found it when I came back to get a new chunk of cyano to start with.

"Test complete" even though I didn't really do a thing.

Any thoughts? Still a valid test of cyano type?