Cyanobacteria help!!!!

[Nu2SW]

OK so I went thru the diatom stage and I guess I've read around that everyone goes thru a Cyanobacteria stage. I believe it is Cyanobacteria "red looking algea" did a search on wetweb and this is what came up, saw a picture and looks just like it. " I was out of town and the lights were off for about a day and a half and I totaly got a diatom bloom again also, Sand turn dark brown" on that note how you guys keep your sand looking so clean????

I was wondering if anyone here has and how they got rid of it. I did get a multi-directional attachment for my PH and made sure that corner is getting alot of flow. I read that it thrived in a low flow area, but im not sure if it is working.

I have been feeding about every night small portions to the fish, they seemed to be getting skinny on every other day feeding. I feed cyclo and frozen mysis. About twice a week I feed my GBTA shrimp. I dont know if it could be from over feeding, that I dont think I do. The fish eat up everything in 2-3 minutes.

any suggestions would be great?

Thanks

 

[westin]

a sand sifting goby would do it.

 

[funman1]

what are your trates and Phosphates at?

 

[Nu2SW]

Have one he doesnt touch that corner for a little while now.

I dont have a phosphate test kit at the moment, so i have no idea.....If someone would like to let me test a sample of mine LMK

everything else is 0, calc at about 450, alk at 11 & dkh just above 5, PH 8.0-8.2 temp swings anywhere from 79 at night to 81 in the day.

 

[Justin74]

I know with the frozen foods it is almost absolutely necessary to rinse with pure water before putting in. The water thats used to pack the foods is fairly high in nutrients after it mixes with the food before flash freezing. This includes brine,mysis,krill,squid,shrimp etc.

Assuming thats not your problem remember to replace any pad filters,sponge, floss, etc. every 3 days because after that, whats been collected will decay and leach amonia/nitrites,nitrates,phosphates, back into the system making food 'o plenty for hair and cyano among other nuicant algaes.

Done this already? Then buy a phosphate test kit and get yourself some Rowaphos and watch your phosphates disintagrate The kit will show the drop then its on you to sustain a .0-.05 ideal range. The kit will help show you what works from your efforts and what doesnt with consistant testing, and ultimately help you know your system's tolerances and weaknesses.HTH.

-Justin

 

[djultra]

If your water perimeters are right and your not over feeding it might be a flow issue. You could also get a Phosban reactor to help with the phosphates. You could also go the chemical route and use slime away.

 

[Fragmented]

My new tank just went through the cyano period. I syphon it out every 3-4 days with a small water change at first then let it go for a week and repeat. As the cyano decreases the time between increases. It just takes time and patience.

 

[Nu2SW]

I was thinking flow, because when i watched that area for flow it did look a little slow.

So Ill see if the flow changes anything.

Frag, so all you did was water changes how many gallons is your tank and how much did you take out?

 

[Fragmented]

The tank is about 40 gallons. I syphoned out 3-5 gallons each time. Just enough to get most of the slime out. I already had good water quality and flow. I set up this tank with water from my mature tank to give it an easy start. I used the same method years ago on my main tank and it never came back.

 

[boviac]

If your tank is relatively new this could possibly be normal. I had a problem of brown then red algae when I first started then with patience both went away on their own. (I do have sufficent snails, crabs, and a sand sifting goby) I agree with water changes and siphoning. You also could try to stir the sand up yourself. I've ended up just siphoning up a small section of sand that had red slime reoccur after two chemical treatments. It too was a lower flow area.

Patience - I've heard some people have one thing go wrong only to whack out other parameters trying to fix said initial thing... then again those people are not here learning and finding out information. Cheers to rinse/drain frozen solutions as I belive that was the cause of my hair algae source and proliferation. I too run a phosban reactor on my tank to help with phosphates in addition to using filter pads that are said to also remove phosphates and silicates (POLY filter pads and PURA filter pads.)

Good night and Good Luck!

 

[Nu2SW]

I dont run any type of filter or pads or socks.... so I know that isnt a issue.... could be phosphates, not sure. It was jsut a little section of the tank, but now its spreading to about a 5 inch area in the corner.

 

[fragaholic]

Have you gotten a RO/DI yet. If not then thats definaltly adding to the problem. If you have then I would bump up the flow a bit and try to feed less. It should go away over time.

Maybe try skimming wetter too.

 

[Nu2SW]

I am using RO water, NO DI at the moment..... SKimmer is wet It picks up lots, I dump it 1-2 times a week....

 

[dots]

I went through a patch and did some research, most do not have a definate explanation where it comes on and why. Most will say to limit the phosphates as already mentioned.

Flow has a great deal to do with it and mine went away after adding more. I played with my powerheads to get the sand to move just a little but not blow it around. Of course I have the coarse CaribSea mix rather than fine sand.

I think its kinda a stage in the maturation of the tank, and if the intakes of nutrients are controlled, and it is not allowed to propagrate, that it will eventually pass like the others.

If its gets too bad, you can always try Chemiclean.

 

[Nu2SW]

SO upping the flow seemed to help a bit, I havent seen any new areas, just whats already there, which I will have to clean myself.

MY computer is gonna be down for a bit, I have to partition the drives and maybe reinstall windows.

AS our governor says "I'LL BE BACK"

 

[Nu2SW]

Does anyone have any chemi clean they may be willing to loan/let go of ? John is all out and he wont have some till next week.

That i may be able to pick up at the meeting?

 

[RxBandit]

I'm not going to be able to make it to the meeting, but I am planning on cutting out of work early, so if you need some let me know, I can run it up to you.

 

[funman1]

I'm picking some up tomorrow (Friday) at Ost.
They have 4 bottles right now.
I'm having the same problem with major cyano breakout

I could bring you some.
~Steve~

 

[funman1]

I picked up a new bottle today at Ost for like 20 bucks

How much water do you have total and I can measure out the right amount for you.

It's one scoup per 10 gallons.

I will bring it tonight with all the instructions and such.

~Steve~