Spirulina

[StrangeDejavu]

I'm starting to see Spirulina appear in my tank. It's not bad by any means, but I would like to educate myself on this organism in the mean time. Do we know what it feeds on primarily? Light? Nitrate or Phosphate? Detritus and/or organics? Would GFO inhibit it? And is it toxic like other forms of cyanobacteria? Info on this stuff seems to be scarce with Google searches leading to fish food and dietary supplements.

 

[bowen1022]

Hi Strange! I too had this in my tank and gained some insight on it from fellow reefer Twilliard (Very knowledgeable guy about all types of algae). The organism is a bacteria. It feeds off of nutrients like N and P if I remember right. If you are looking to get rid of it, Chemi-Clean works great just a one time treatment and you should be good to go.

As for the Google search, it kind of stinks that there isn't info on it. I searched a lot for info about it but it all kept pointing me back to fish food lol

Edit: Here is what Twilliard said when I asked him what causes it and how to prevent it. Hope this helps!

"I only know how to get rid of it.
Like any cyanobacteria it has to be introduced
I have not done a lot of study with spirulina as it is a beneficial bacteria to tank life.
The problem is when they grow out of hand and create anaerobic conditions spiking sulfides.
Proper qt and coral dipping for new additions helps keep this at bay.
You will hear that this is naturally in the water, this is incorrect. They are naturally on what we put into our tanks."

 

[StrangeDejavu]

Hi Strange! I too had this in my tank and gained some insight on it from fellow reefer Twilliard (Very knowledgeable guy about all types of algae). The organism is a bacteria. It feeds off of nutrients like N and P if I remember right. If you are looking to get rid of it, Chemi-Clean works great just a one time treatment and you should be good to go.

As for the Google search, it kind of stinks that there isn't info on it. I searched a lot for info about it but it all kept pointing me back to fish food lol

Edit: Here is what Twilliard said when I asked him what causes it and how to prevent it. Hope this helps!

"I only know how to get rid of it.
Like any cyanobacteria it has to be introduced
I have not done a lot of study with spirulina as it is a beneficial bacteria to tank life.
The problem is when they grow out of hand and create anaerobic conditions spiking sulfides.
Proper qt and coral dipping for new additions helps keep this at bay.
You will hear that this is naturally in the water, this is incorrect. They are naturally on what we put into our tanks."

Yeah I messaged him first and he advised Chemiclean as well and thought it might be coming from the frozen food I feed my fish. The problem with Chemiclean is if this is true and it's coming in on my food, then what stops it from blooming again and again? I'd like to think it was coming in on frag plugs from my LFS. Since this is still a young tank (4 months), i'd just stock it with all the coral I wanted then do the treatment and that'd be that. Again, there's only small amounts in my tank, maybe 2 patches an inch across down inside a rock opposite of my MP10. I was hoping maybe there was something natural that could be added to outcompete this bacteria- be it good bacterial additives, carbon dosing, grazers, etc before it had a chance to become a problem. I'm curious if it's thriving on something in my salt mix too. I just recently made the switch from IO to Reef Crystals, and it seems like I started seeing it very shortly after.

 

[twilliard]

Carbon dosing will feed it.
It comes down to understanding what bacteria like this needs to thrive.
Nutrients, light, sulfides and carbons

 

[StrangeDejavu]

Carbon dosing will feed it.
It comes down to understanding what bacteria like this needs to thrive.
Nutrients, light, sulfides and carbons

Good to know. So no carbon dosing, no H2O2. I guess it's a waiting game then because i'm almost certain I got it from my LFS. Treatment now would be silly since i'm still stocking my tank with coral from that store.