Will Cyanobacteria clear up on its own?

[Reefer911]

I’ve had a little Cyanobacteria show up over the last couple of months or so and at one point I had 0.00 nutrients. NO3 now reading 6.3 and PO4 0.03, after dosing NeoPhos during the weekend.

My question is, with nutrients looking better, will the cyano simply go away? It’s not too bad and I only notice it in the sand.

 

[brandon429]

If we took time to search out 100 cyanobacteria threads, I estimate 3 of them self abated

=3% chance. Does occur sometimes, but not as often as we hope


edit

I think it’s 1%. Upon cursory search of that key term here I didn’t find any that self corrected but surely there’s a few out there. given a few hours I won’t be surprised if six people type here theirs went away without any controls, even though I found none on searches

 

[doubleshot00]

I had Cyano in my sand for months. I was proactive at sucking the sand bed every two days and kept adding Dr. Tim's Refresh and Waste-Away. Did it work IDK . I also was actively pulling sand out also and was planning to pull the sand bed completely but I do not have any cyano anymore but have read it will most likely come back.

IMO using chemiclean is not the way to go unless its the last resort effort after months of cleaning and patience.

 

[Jekyl]

Dosing live phyto seemed to work for my minor algae and cyano. Could also have just been cured by time though I guess.

 

[Floyd-]

My cleared up on its own. The ONLY thing I did directly towards it was suck a little out during the weekly WC but I never dosed chemicals or anything to help rid it out.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

If we took time to search out 100 cyanobacteria threads, I estimate 3 of them self abated

=3% chance. Does occur sometimes, but not as often as we hope


edit

I think it’s 1%. Upon cursory search of that key term here I didn’t find any that self corrected but surely there’s a few out there. given a few hours I won’t be surprised if six people type here theirs went away without any controls, even though I found none on searches

Had an infestation in my tank, didn't touch the sandbed and in a few months it completely disappeared. All I added was pods. I now have a white sandbed

 

[brandon429]

called it

 

[Salty_Northerner]

I’ve had a little Cyanobacteria show up over the last couple of months or so and at one point I had 0.00 nutrients. NO3 now reading 6.3 and PO4 0.03, after dosing NeoPhos during the weekend.

My question is, with nutrients looking better, will the cyano simply go away? It’s not too bad and I only notice it in the sand.

If you're concerned and not wanting to chance it I'd highly highly recommend grabbing a bottle of PNS ProBio. That purple non sulfur bacteria will consume the cyano like nobody's business, plus will feed the corals so it's a win win

 

[Reefer911]

If you're concerned and not wanting to chance it I'd highly highly recommend grabbing a bottle of PNS ProBio. That purple non sulfur bacteria will consume the cyano like nobody's business, plus will feed the corals so it's a win win

I will check that out, thanks.

Coincidentally, and just this week I repopulated my pod population and I dose live phyto so hopefully that will help.

 

[Reefer911]

If you're concerned and not wanting to chance it I'd highly highly recommend grabbing a bottle of PNS ProBio. That purple non sulfur bacteria will consume the cyano like nobody's business, plus will feed the corals so it's a win win

I just read up on it and I’m not sure about using it at the moment since my PO4 is so low, and not knowing how much it will reduce it (as well as NO3)

 

[A-10reefer]

I recently went through a cyano outbreak on a newer tank build. I first tried to battle it by siphoning it out, I kept seeing that its a new tank syndrome, so i wanted to see if it would clear up. This battle went on for months. I had someone watch my tank while i went on vacation and came back to it over run. Decided to give dr. Tims waste-a-way a try. After siphoning out about 90% of the cyano and 3 doses of waste away, all cyano has disappeared and never returned. I didnt do the refresh treatment. With the dosing, i went super conservative, 10ml the first time, and 2 20ml doses for about 75g of total water volume

 

[Reefer Matt]

I used to try natural methods and also "waiting it out". After waiting six months, I added Chemiclean and it was all gone in two days. Fast forward five years, cyano comes and goes. It seems seasonal as other Reefers in my area get it at the same time. I add the Chemiclean as needed, and go on with my life. I am completely comfortable with my tanks, so this works for me, and may not for others. I have never had a loss of life due to Chemiclean, as I always follow the directions as printed.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

I just read up on it and I’m not sure about using it at the moment since my PO4 is so low, and not knowing how much it will reduce it (as well as NO3)

You're not going to see a drop in your nutrients. I spoke to Ken himself and he said it can lower nutrients but that's using it consistently all the time. Also you don't need to follow the instructions on the label. I would just recommend adding half the recommended dosage just as the lights are turning on. Dose and make sure you kill the UV for 24 hours and the skimmer will remove the decaying cyano.

@Kenneth Wingerter maybe you can guide this fellow and give him a quick rundown on the ProBio as he's concerned about his already low nutrients.

 

[Reefer911]

You're not going to see a drop in your nutrients. I spoke to Ken himself and he said it can lower nutrients but that's using it consistently all the time. Also you don't need to follow the instructions on the label. I would just recommend adding half the recommended dosage just as the lights are turning on. Dose and make sure you kill the UV for 24 hours and the skimmer will remove the decaying cyano.

@Kenneth Wingerter maybe you can guide this fellow and give him a quick rundown on the ProBio as he's concerned about his already low nutrients.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[jsargent1]

I personally have dealt with cyano, tank is 7 months old and I never really had an ugly phase, noticed my cyano show up shortly after I bottomed out nutrients. Dosed np plus to get them up and then bactobalance to keep it where it needs to be. I clean my sand once a week with water changes with my python, through out the week I blow it around as much as I can and remove my filter socks every 3 days. I increased my flow and started washing my frozen food before I fed. I also laid back on my coral frenzy because I would see a huge growth of cyano after feeding. I’m not sure what cured it but now I only see it in a few tiny spots. I have chemo clean on hand but have been waiting to see if it went away on its own.

 

[jda]

It can come and go in established tanks but more rare in newer ones. If you remove it with an antibiotic be ready for dinos or something to replace it.

 

[joanropi17]

I had Cyano in my sand for months. I was proactive at sucking the sand bed every two days and kept adding Dr. Tim's Refresh and Waste-Away. Did it work IDK . I also was actively pulling sand out also and was planning to pull the sand bed completely but I do not have any cyano anymore but have read it will most likely come back.

IMO using chemiclean is not the way to go unless its the last resort effort after months of cleaning and patience.

I did the same thing and it go away but it came back. I added more sand, I'm dosing PhosGuard and it is getting better.

 

[apb03]

I have a huge cyano outbreak in my QT tank. No fish or inverts are in there, so I've been leaving it alone. Been about 2 months and the cyano is going strong. I even turned the lights off for 2 weeks straight, but still, cyano remains.

So probably unlikely it will go away on its own.

 

[leon.1980]

If we took time to search out 100 cyanobacteria threads, I estimate 3 of them self abated

=3% chance. Does occur sometimes, but not as often as we hope


edit

I think it’s 1%. Upon cursory search of that key term here I didn’t find any that self corrected but surely there’s a few out there. given a few hours I won’t be surprised if six people type here theirs went away without any controls, even though I found none on searches

I suspect that, while they may not realize that the people who’s just seem to “go away on its own” unknowingly introduced to bacteria that pushed out the Siano. In my opinion dosing, a bacteria I suspect that, while they may not realize that the people who’s just seem to “go away on its own“ unknowingly introduced to bacteria that pushed out the Siano. In my opinion dosing a bacteria is the best way to get rid of Siano. All Siano is is another type of bacteria that of course we don’t want in our tank. Choke out the bad bacteria with good bacteria. it may take longer, but keep in mind that chemicals like Kemah, clean or not bacteria specific. They will kill both good and bad bacteria, which in my opinion will cause more problems than solve.
The best things in a reef tank do not happen fast. They take time. Don’t take the easy way out. Those chemicals if you don’t have to. This is the way.

 

[Boehmtown]

They can , but it will probably take a bunch of changes that a dose of chemi clean can take care of. Also it's slower but kz cyano clean and reef snow combo worked for me. Just disappeared one day. After like a month of daily use