Cyano -help!!!

[waxhawreefer]

My new 55 gallon tank has been up for roughly three months, nitrate-3-5ppm, phosphate-.02-.04(hanna), all other levels in check, 9dkh,cal-430, mag-1375, over the past two weeks i cant get rid of cyano on my sand bed, doing water changes,vacuuming the sand, nothing works, increased flow to a new gyre pump, but no luck, I tried that red slime remover that BRS has in their video, actually nothing the first 48 hours then I added another dose, still nothing, now I bought some of that chemi-clean for cyano maybe that will help, no algae on any rocks just the usual film on the back glass, what could be the problem??? my old 36 gallon tank-I never had an outbreak, any suggestions???? I have two kessils, and two t5's for lights, skimmer, bio-pellets, run gfo and carbon, thx

 

[slief]

Vacuum more and increase flow on the sand bed so that stuff doesn't settle there. Cyano is bacterial and it feeds on waste. Your nitrates refelect the fact that you have stuff in your tank that is breaking down and or you have a lack of denitrifying bacteria to do the job. The red slime removers you are using including the Chemi Clean you are planning on using will further compound the issue. While Chemi Clean will rid the tank of the red slime temporarily, it will return. The bigger issue is that these products are antibiotics that will impact/kill some of the dentrifying bacteria and you could inadvertanly see an increase in nitrates as a result.

The best bet in battling cyano is better husbandry and better flow where the cyano is accumulating. Those are generally the areas of the least amount of flow and areas that aren't getting vacuumed enough. As for your nitrates, I would suspect you are either feeding too much, have too many fish in your system or don't have enough biological surface for dentritfying bacteria. Adding more live rock should help with that.

Lastly, the only other thing I have found that will have a direct long term impact in controlling cyano is a good UV filter. I've done tests and see immediate and conclusive results from UV filtration.

 

[Buzz1329]

Lastly, the only other thing I have found that will have a direct long term impact in controlling cyano is a good UV filter. I've done tests and see immediate and conclusive results from UV filtration.

Thanks slief,

What size/flow/brand UV filter would control cyano on 75 and 180 tanks?

How do you mount it/them into existing filtration system(s)?

No offense intended, but besides your own experience (which is obviously nothing to sneeze at), are there any articles/cites that support your position that UV filters can control cyano?

Mike

 

[mneddy]

Cyano, really loves wrong light spectrum in red range. Check your lights and flow. Nitrates and phosphate probably won't show up as it will be consuming it as well.

 

[slief]

Thanks slief,

What size/flow/brand UV filter would control cyano on 75 and 180 tanks?

How do you mount it/them into existing filtration system(s)?

No offense intended, but besides your own experience (which is obviously nothing to sneeze at), are there any articles/cites that support your position that UV filters can control cyano?

Mike

If it were me, I'd use a 25 watt AquaUV unit. As for articles. A quick google search of " UV Cyano Bacteria" yields all kinds of info and articles. Also, a search of the same term of the forum will yield similar experiences to mine.

My experience isn't just a one off or conjecture. While most of it discusses UV-B destroy or oxidizing the cellular structure of cyano bacteria, a UV filter will do the same only quciker to the bacteria that is in the water column. This on it's own helps to limit the reproduction of the bacteria. UV filters also act as an oxidizer and breaks down nutrients in the water column. It's nutrients like the stuff that inceases nitrites which the cyano bacteria feed on. This too helps to limit the reproduction of the cyano. UV however is just one piece of the puzzle or rater one tool. Like I said before, proper husbandy, nutrient control and flow are all parts of the equation.

Here are a couple scientific articles for your reading pleasure..
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1011134414003042
https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/The_Responses_of_Cyanobacteria_to_UV-B_Irradiation
This one published by the EPA discusses the impacts of cyano bacteria on drinking water and the benefits of the use of UV filters and their role in dealing with the bacteria.
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguid.../nutrients/upload/cyanobacteria_factsheet.pdf

Want more on UV filters and cyano???
http://www.purewaterproducts.com/water-problems/algae-and-cyanobacteria

Shall I keep going...
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2148&aid=2855

This touches on a UV filters impact on bacteria.
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/...mon-sterilization-techniques-full-article.htm

Seach google some more. You will find plenty more to support my statement.

As for how to run it, it can be run on a return pump or closed loop. I run mine on a closed loop in my home tank and off the return pump in my office tank. Its important to match the flow of the pump to the UV filter and the target sterization rate. I tend to run a happy medium between max kill of and water polishing. Right around 60,000 µw/cm..

I will also add that some sand sifting starfish, fighting conchs etc will also help remove waste and stir up the sand but you still need to vacuum better regardless of what you add.

 

[waxhawreefer]

thx for the info, more flow, less food, maybe Ill add some beneficial bacteria, and possibly a uv filter , thx again

 

[slief]

thx for the info, more flow, less food, maybe Ill add some beneficial bacteria, and possibly a uv filter , thx again

Glad to help. Don't forget to vacuum more. This is one of the reasons why I keep my display primarily bare bottom. It's much more sanitary with less places for stuff to settle.

 

[Big E]

Excellent info Scott........

I don't want to take this thread off track but I was interested in this comment--

"UV filters also act as an oxidizer and breaks down nutrients in the water column"

Do you know if there is any info on UV actually making skimmers more effective? I've heard plenty of anecdotal evidence of this, but nothing scientifically factual.

UV companies don't seem to boast or advertise that UV is capable of this. I know Ozone actually breaks bonds, but UV seems only able to sterilize bacteria,ect. so they can't reproduce versus actually killing organisms.

From my understanding the level UV puts out isn't potent enough to break molecular bonds?

 

[PeterHall]

What really helped with my tank was almost doubling the amount of phosphate remover I was using. I was using about a cup of gfo every 3 weeks. Went to about 2.5 cups of phosguard. On 150 gallon tank.

I tried some bacteria in a bottle and never noticed a difference.

 

[slief]

Excellent info Scott........

I don't want to take this thread off track but I was interested in this comment--

"UV filters also act as an oxidizer and breaks down nutrients in the water column"

Do you know if there is any info on UV actually making skimmers more effective? I've heard plenty of anecdotal evidence of this, but nothing scientifically factual.

UV companies don't seem to boast or advertise that UV is capable of this. I know Ozone actually breaks bonds, but UV seems only able to sterilize bacteria,ect. so they can't reproduce versus actually killing organisms.

From my understanding the level UV puts out isn't potent enough to break molecular bonds?

I haven't seen any difference in skimming or at least not enough to pay attention. As for ozone improving skimmer performance, my assumption would be that if you run the ozone though the skimmer, you would notice a difference but if you run the ozone through a reactor, the difference might be negligible. I've run ozone myself but run it through a dedicated reactor and didn't really notice much if any difference in skimming but then again, I wasn't really paying attention to the skimmer.