Still dealing with cyano

[Natman2]

I wouldn't shy away from using Red Slime Remover. I used it back in the day without issue. Had to keep it on the downlow back then too because the "all natural" people were as bad as the tang police back then. It did no good to try and explain to them that there was nothing natural about keeping fish and coral in a glass box either.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

have you tried coral snow with some microbacter in it yet? works amazing

I have used both, but very recently read about actually mixing them together, letting it sit a few minutes, then put in the tank. Is this what you are talking about? I want to try that.

 

[saltyfins]

have you tried coral snow with some microbacter in it yet? works amazing

I have used both, but very recently read about actually mixing them together, letting it sit a few minutes, then put in the tank. Is this what you are talking about? I want to try that.

Yes, that’s exactly it!

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Do you put the microbacter in the same container as the coral snow and pour in the tank together? I am also dealing with something on my sandbed.

This is what I want to know as well. I just last week read something about just that, but I can't find it now.

 

[docaquarium]

Use bacteria against bacteria. I have tried red slime remover so many times. While it does work great, red slime will always eventually come back. Lately I have been trying Dr Tim’s refresh for saltwater or reef tanks. In my experience, using it over several aquariums, I have found it actually slows the growth down and allows the good bacteria to win. I use it on tanks like in the photo. I attached his recipe as well. Good luck

 

[Airedale Reef]

This is what I want to know as well. I just last week read something about just that, but I can't find it now.

Is this what you were looking for? I found a video on YouTube from reefsite.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I was not successful with bacteria or powdered calcium carbonate, but the antibiotic tylosin in Chemiclean ultimately did an excellent job on cyano. It may or may not have contributed to a magnifica anemone problem, however.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Use bacteria against bacteria. I have tried red slime remover so many times. While it does work great, red slime will always eventually come back. Lately I have been trying Dr Tim’s refresh for saltwater or reef tanks. In my experience, using it over several aquariums, I have found it actually slows the growth down and allows the good bacteria to win. I use it on tanks like in the photo. I attached his recipe as well. Good luck

Yeah I have been dosing Microbacter clean and Microbacter 7 daily. I agree that bacteria vs bacteria is the best, safest way. It's working, just slowly. The instructions on Microbacter clean say it takes 8 to 10 weeks to clear it up. I think I am going into week 4.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I was not successful with bacteria or powdered calcium carbonate, but the antibiotic tylosin in Chemiclean ultimately did an excellent job on cyano. It may or may not have contributed to a magnifica anemone problem, however.

Thank you for the input Randy. I have read that Chemiclean is indiscriminate about the bacteria it kills, so I have really shied away from that. IS this true?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you for the input Randy. I have read that Chemiclean is indiscriminate about the bacteria it kills, so I have really shied away from that. IS this true?

It kills some bacteria species and not others. Mostly Gram-positive species.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

I dose coral snow (recipe it's simple) I believe Randy has the amount to mix and microbacteria clean. I dose the snow immediately followed by microbacteria. I also have sand sifters and lots of flow. Sacrificing some sand may be necessary. You can always add a bit at a time back. Don't recover the sand though just sprinkle a bit here and there. Lol or take a scoop to a small area you syphoned and mix a bit. I dose clean daily after feedings. I have also used chemipure but notice my tank gets weird with to much phosphate dropping and algae starts to take off more after about a week or 2. Your tank may do something completely different and respond differently. But for me snow and bacter has helped.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I dose coral snow (recipe it's simple) I believe Randy has the amount to mix and microbacteria clean. I dose the snow immediately followed by microbacteria. I also have sand sifters and lots of flow. Sacrificing some sand may be necessary. You can always add a bit at a time back. Don't recover the sand though just sprinkle a bit here and there. Lol or take a scoop to a small area you syphoned and mix a bit. I dose clean daily after feedings. I have also used chemipure but notice my tank gets weird with to much phosphate dropping and algae starts to take off more after about a week or 2. Your tank may do something completely different and respond differently. But for me snow and bacter has helped.

Yeah I am a big fan of coral snow. I usually dose that after every water change. Thank you for the input.

 

[Dom]

Hey everyone! Happy Sunday! So as the title says, I am still dealing with cyano. I know patience is the key, and I am good with that. It is getting better. But my question is, when siphoning it off the sand, it doesn’t siphon well, so I always revert to getting it all into a pile, and netting that pile out. But in doing so, I am also getting quite a lot of sand. Is there a way to just get the cyano? I don’t like losing a lot of sand.

I don’t know what the diameter of your siphon tube is.

Im thinking a larger tube will create more siphon.

Are you using a python or similar product?

 

[EricR]

Lots of good feedback already so just what seemed to work best for me:
-- DIY Coral Snow
-- PNS ProBio (((tried MB7 for awhile but didn't seem to be helping)))
-- Manual removal (of course) - did lose sand like you mentioned but didn't worry about it (((turkey baster to blow under the cyano mats and scoop out with net was best I came up with)))

*I know many mix bacteria with their coral snow but I purposely did NOT due to comment on here (somewhere) by PNS cultivator noting that high pH in the calcium carbonate mix could potentially harm the bacterial strains <-- that was related to PNS strains and was more of a thought than hard fact but I ran with it

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I don’t know what the diameter of your siphon tube is.

Im thinking a larger tube will create more siphon.

Are you using a python or similar product?

I can't remember the brand, but the siphon i use has a primer ball and a 2 inch tube in the tank. I am thinking it may have an air leak somewhere that might explain the lack of strength to just pick up the cyano only.

 

[Michael Hughes]

Skimmed through here and surprised to see no one suggest Stomatella snails. It takes time in larger tanks since they have to breed and produce a bunch of babies first, but they will absolutely destroy cyano.

A single  Stomatella cleaned a severe cyano outbreak in my 2.5 gallon pico tank in about 2 weeks. Haven't seen any since.

In my 14 gallon frag tank an explosion of stomatellas is currently working it's way through some leftover cyano as well. Easily the most utilitarian part of my CUC.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

This is what I want to know as well. I just last week read something about just that, but I can't find it now.

Thread 'Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/extreme-water-clarity-and-cyano-eradication-made-easy.916381/

 

[docaquarium]

Dr Tim’s ReFresh contains a high concentration of bacteria that are isolated which produce a bacteriocin against cyano and certain types of algae.
Hydrospace PNS bacteria is great for feeding corals and establishing a true saltwater bacteria.
The snow approach is interesting. Although you should be turning off your skimmer and UV when dosing bacteria. I can see how the snow will have a negative impact on bacteria as well. Their approach is the snow binds with organics and detritus then use heavy skimming to remove it. I would assume you will be removing the bacteria you dose with the coral snow.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

Dr Tim’s ReFresh contains a high concentration of bacteria that are isolated which produce a bacteriocin against cyano and certain types of algae.
Hydrospace PNS bacteria is great for feeding corals and establishing a true saltwater bacteria.
The snow approach is interesting. Although you should be turning off your skimmer and UV when dosing bacteria. I can see how the snow will have a negative impact on bacteria as well. Their approach is the snow binds with organics and detritus then use heavy skimming to remove it. I would assume you will be removing the bacteria you dose with the coral snow.

The updated instructions for use, unfortunately, are confounded in the post with the original version, but if you read through the entire post you can see where he recommends running circulation pumps only (no skimmer, no other filtration) for the first hour after dosing. This reportedly allows time for the bacteria to establish on solid surfaces within the tank before turning on filtration, including skimmer, to clarify the water.
Anecdotally, I followed these directions for two water changes (including turkey-basting rocks, scraping glass, and removing visible cyano from the sand bed) and have seen a significant reduction in cyano already, and it is clearly not reestablishing itself on the sandbed nearly as quickly as it had been before treatment, when I was already using the same water change/tank cleaning routine otherwise.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Thread 'Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/extreme-water-clarity-and-cyano-eradication-made-easy.916381/

Thank you