Cyano

[intenseimage]

Tank was setup on March 18th so this Saturday will be 1 month running ... my diatom bloom has come and gone but now I have some serious cyano going on along the front wall. Everything else is doing GREAT -- clowns love it, shrooms are huge, hammer is growing like a weed, same with the xenia.

Lately Ive had some probs with temp swings - 79 at night to almost 84 during the day. I think ive finally got it stable at 80

BakPak2R is doing its job ...

Doing a 5 gallon weekly water change using premix from the LFS and daily topoff with RO

Is cyano part of a normal cycle or should I be trying some other options in the tank. I want to increase flow (not sure about the output of the stock pump) but cant drill the tank now since its filled so im thinkin about a split return from an MJ 1200 over the wall to accompany the stock return (also upgraded to a 1200)

Any other ideas or just see if I can wait it out?

 

[mr pink floyd]

how big is the tank?

lighting schedule?

livestock?

 

[intenseimage]

22 gal ... actinic on at 10, daylight on at 11 ... daylight off at 10, actinic off at 11 ... tank does get some sunlight coming from a nearby window as well

Livestock ... few corals (2 rics, 1 shroom rock, couple zoos, small hammer) and 2 clowns

 

[mr pink floyd]

the MJ idea might work, just scrape it off and try to keep it from floating in the water, liek scrape and siphon if possible

try to keep the temp down, tha tcan also help algae grow IMO

 

[steelhealr]

Cyanobacteria is an old bacteria that goes back millions of years. It's tough to eradicate. Usually arises secondary to poor water conditions, either elevate nitrates or phosphates or high nutrient levels. Cyanobacteria are not dependent on a photoperiod, so lighting is not the issue. Don't let anybody sell you on the low flow theory either. Once established, redirecting flow on it will simply blow it around the tank.

The answer is to improve nurtrient export and decrease nutrient import. Control feeding, do water changes. Are you using RO water? Siphoning it can help reduce the volume only in the short run as this bacteria has one of the fast doubling times...under 8 hours. Good luck and keep at it. SH

 

[mr pink floyd]

wow, i was waaaayayyyyyyy wrong!

i never has a cyano problem (knowkc on wood)

 

[fraggin]

i'm curenntly battleing the cyno now too
i have 2 fish and a peppermint in it right now
was wondering about if removing the fish would help ,ie. no more feeding
diy skimmer is currently broken til i get out for some epoxy this weekend
is JB weld ok for salt?

 

[ipiniowa]

Chemiclean! Put it in do a 20% water change and never have the problem again. I had the same problem at the start. Tank was 3 months old and still wasn't right. I think it had to do with not letting the tank cycle right to start.

 

[jaynel78]

I second the Chemiclean...the best 12 dollar investment you can make.

 

[ipiniowa]

Holycrap! I got screwed. I paid $21 at the LFS

 

[louist]

Cyanobacteria are not dependent on a photoperiod,

This is not right. Cyanobacteria is photosynthetic, in fact, phylogenic evidence has it that modern day photosynthetic chlorophyl evolved as a result of cyanobacteria's symbiotic relationship with "higher" host. (Chlorophyl has its own set of DNA , independent of the plant, and it shows great similarity to cyanobacteria's).

Cyanobacterial growth is phosphate limiting since they can fix atmospheric nitrogen. In addition, cyanobacteria likes warm water, thus a combination of higher temperature and phosphate will mean good growth condition for them.

 

[fraggin]

i noticed when i put my old 5500k halide bcak in the cyno slowed down,then i put my 10k back in after a week and the cyno exploded in one day