What is the actual cause of Cyanobacteria ?

[DE FISH]

It’s 2021 nearly 2022 and yet I’m still unable to find a definitive answer on what causes a Cyanobacteria many answers on the web include….

Low flow
Low nitrate
High phosphate
Low phosphate
High dissolved organics
Redfield ratio
Carbon dosing
Detritus
Introduced from another system
Lack of bio diversity
Over feeding coral foods/aminos
Low oxygen

And the list goes on and on

surely there is an exact cause which attributes towards a cyano bloom feel free to chime in……

reef keeping has become so advanced but yet the same old info above is battered back and forth

 

[vetteguy53081]

Many refer to this as an algae or bloom. It is actually a combo of algae and bacteria giving it - its name. Cyano is a common photosynthetic organismfound in an array of colors such as green, purple and black. Like us human when we consume high levels of sugar, oyur waste begins to bloom - same happens in your tank when concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
So as for cause, some typical items are :

- Not Enough Air Bubbles: Typically, a protein skimmer 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
- Too Much Reef Food: Overstocking / overfeeding your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Premature Live Rocks :Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which becomes a breeding ground for red slime algae
- Infrequent Water Changes: If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes will dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank clear
- Poor water Source: Using water source which contains nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out a welcome mat for cyano
- Slow running water will run Red: Inadequate water flow is one leading cause of cyano bloomsas slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for red slime algae development

 

[DE FISH]

Many refer to this as an algae or bloom. It is actually a combo of algae and bacteria giving it - its name. Cyano is a common photosynthetic organismfound in an array of colors such as green, purple and black. Like us human when we consume high levels of sugar, oyur waste begins to bloom - same happens in your tank when concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
So as for cause, some typical items are :

- Not Enough Air Bubbles: Typically, a protein skimmer 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
- Too Much Reef Food: Overstocking / overfeeding your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Premature Live Rocks :Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which becomes a breeding ground for red slime algae
- Infrequent Water Changes: If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes will dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank clear
- Poor water Source: Using water source which contains nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out a welcome mat for cyano
- Slow running water will run Red: Inadequate water flow is one leading cause of cyano bloomsas slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for red slime algae development

Thanks for your reply So we are still at multiple issues that attribute towards Cyanobacteria there isn’t one primary cause behind random blooms in an established system ? From your post you seem to be pointing towards flow and nutrient import export issues which are the primary causes providing you have adequate oxygen levels and 0tds ro water ?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for your reply So we are still at multiple issues that attribute towards Cyanobacteria there isn’t one primary cause behind random blooms in an established system ? From your post you seem to be pointing towards flow and nutrient import export issues which are the primary causes providing you have adequate oxygen levels and 0tds ro water ?

AND LIGHT AS IT IS PHOTOSYNTHETIC

 

[DE FISH]

AND LIGHT AS IT IS PHOTOSYNTHETIC

Of course the air bubbles show it is clearly photosynthetic so a black out will have a positive benefit towards eradicating it at the expense of the corals receiving no light for a number of days. It seems chemiclean or a product similar is still the go to for most reefers but that in some cases can lead to dinos as cyano can be the bridge between a Dino outbreak.

 

[Timfish]

Thanks for your reply So we are still at multiple issues that attribute towards Cyanobacteria there isn’t one primary cause behind random blooms in an established system ? From your post you seem to be pointing towards flow and nutrient import export issues which are the primary causes providing you have adequate oxygen levels and 0tds ro water ?

Flow and nutrient cycling are major causes but as pointed out above we're dealing with a large number species in different phyla and with different requirements. There's never going to be a single variable to explain blooms.

 

[Schraufabagel]

I've experienced it the most when nitrates or phosphates bottom out causing an imbalance

 

[Tamberav]

Imbalance and debris. Now obviously more flow means less debris built up and things like carbon dosing feeds bacteria so it can feed cyano. So all these can play a role which is why it’s not just one thing.

Still I mostly see if if I slack in keeping the tank clean or sand turned over or if something fails like when my ATO got stuck on.. it tossed my tank out of wack and in came the green cyano.

I noticed green is more low nutrients or imbalance and red is more high nutrients and debris.

 

[snorklr]

back when i was dealing with it people were claiming that insufficient light would cause it....if you were running T5s it was time to change your bulbs...no idea if thats actually true or enough people are running LEDs that its no longer considered an issue

 

[Flame2hawk]

So confusing. Some say too much nitrate caused by overstocking is the culprit. Then others say too low nutrients is the cause. Others say use nopox i others say no. Some say use H2o2 treatment at 1ml/10 gallons,. Others say H2o2 doesn’t work on cyano but does on Dyno…on and on..

Good water quality, meaning less nitrates and phosphates, and less light will hopefully work. I’ll try H2o2 also.

 

[DE FISH]

So confusing. Some say too much nitrate caused by overstocking is the culprit. Then others say too low nutrients is the cause. Others say use nopox i others say no. Some say use H2o2 treatment at 1ml/10 gallons,. Others say H2o2 doesn’t work on cyano but does on Dyno…on and on..

Good water quality, meaning less nitrates and phosphates, and less light will hopefully work. I’ll try H2o2 also.

This is exactly what I’m saying there is no clear clarity on the issue amongst reefers

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

well, I guess I'm just guessing, but my guess is that since cyano is a bacteria (its not an algae), bacteria covers everything all the time, and bacteria can change depending on environment (hotter, colder, ph change, oxygen change, etc...). Bacteria is in all our tanks, so depending on certain conditions, certain bacteria will form into cyano. Thats what I think.

A lot of the newer youtube videos (about how to fight cyano) show that adding bacter7, or some other bacteria, will help fight the cyano, since the bacteria's will compete for the available surface space. Which to me makes sense. I havent tried it yet but I intend to.

 

[Lovefish77]

One other anecdotal observation is the food you feed the tank. I always fed a lot of nori and frozen DIY (high-grade) food and never had cyano. Last 2 month i shifted (or added rather) to pellets (Formula one) and i have cyano in my three tanks. I never had it before.

 

[Pistondog]

During summer months, the sun hits the tank at certain times of fhe day thru the skylight. Cyano is usually the result.
Light is the aggravator in my case.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Cyanobacteria has the same requirement as dinoflagellates it requires Dissolved organic nutrients, minerals and light. Both will bloom under zero nutrients or what most would call zero nutrients as only organic nutrients are available in those occasions.

 

[Dan_P]

It’s 2021 nearly 2022 and yet I’m still unable to find a definitive answer on what causes a Cyanobacteria many answers on the web include….

Low flow
Low nitrate
High phosphate
Low phosphate
High dissolved organics
Redfield ratio
Carbon dosing
Detritus
Introduced from another system
Lack of bio diversity
Over feeding coral foods/aminos
Low oxygen

And the list goes on and on

surely there is an exact cause which attributes towards a cyano bloom feel free to chime in……

reef keeping has become so advanced but yet the same old info above is battered back and forth

The reason there is no definitive answer might be because there is none.

We make the mistake of viewing nuisance organism blooms as a single organism gone wild from a cause. This model of nature is too simple and has little explanatory power. Organisms are part of complex community of organisms involving many interactions. There are dozens of abiotic and biotic conditions acting at once. All the things you list are a subset of these dozens and dozens of factors.

This hobby has many narratives to explain cyanobacteria and taken together they might be forming a crude understanding of cyanobacteria growth and in turn might be useful in developing strategies a subset of the blooms. The other fraction of blooms goes away regardless of the cure.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The reason there is no definitive answer might be because there is none.

I totally agree.

It's like asking what is the exact cause of a monkey or an elephant.

An easier question might be why sometimes they are not present, but still it's a hard question that may not have a singular answer.

 

[Dan_P]

I totally agree.

It's like asking what is the exact cause of a monkey or an elephant.

An easier question might be why sometimes they are not present, but still it's a hard question that may not have a singular answer.

Here is an example where I thought we did have a singular answer. Diatoms grow when silica is present, but remove the silica and diatoms disappear.

I inoculated a microscope slide with organisms in aquarium water and let them grow on the slide in Instant Ocean with 20 ppm nitrate and 2 ppm phosphate. The thing to note in this experiment is that I do 100% medium change (0.2 L) every two days. Pretty much nothing becomes depleted. And just like when setting up a new aquarium, the glass became covered with diatoms in a few days, a nice golden-brown film. Under the microscope, the diatoms were packed together like a can of sardines.

Here is the surprising thing. By day 14, the diatoms were gone and a species of fine filament cyanobacteria dominated the surface. I think the diatoms dispersed from the biofilm after it became crowded and settled on the container surfaces the slide was in. The container was replaced with a clean one with the medium change. Now I am wondering whether the disappearance of diatoms in an aquarium is dispersal and loss of habitat with time and not only silica depletion.

 

[ReefGeezer]

The varying causes of Cyanobacteria may be due to the organism itself and the different Cyanobacterium that could be present in a system. If I remember correctly, not all Cyanobacteria are the same. While they are phototrophs, some can use CO2 for its carbon needs, & others need organic carbon. Some use inorganic phosphate, some can use the phosphate bound in an organic compounds, and others can use the phosphate bound to the substrate. If this is true, it would be impossible to find one cause.

 

[sfin52]

I've experienced it the most when nitrates or phosphates bottom out causing an imbalance

Thats my experience as well