Cyanobacteria: how to fix it.

[cbass488]

After trying this lights out with no success and losing 2 fish in the process, a local reefer suggested I try researching sugar dosing. He suggested that excess nutrients are more likely to blame than sunlight. I've dosed twice, and now my skimmer is working at a much much better efficiency and the battle is slowly turning in my favour.

It's also good to note, that this cyano battle is very common with new tanks, and with new tanks, light isn't the major cause.

 

[Sonicboom]

Would the die off of cyano cause some kind of spike? Maybe a large ph swing? If so with out a water change in the process that might kill sensitive fish.

 

[Sydoriakp]

yup my red slime is ugly but I got it down to only on the back glass and on one rock still keeping nitrates at bay and have new 20k radium mh lite in display ive heard that actinics that have been unchanges for a bit more than 6 months loose spectrum and that's what the ugly cyano waits for so keep bulbs fresh ......unlike me

 

[maxter]

hope never get this :/ ........

 

[ExtremeTang]

I turned off my lights for three days and all cyano disappeared.

 

[Allentown]

It seems like Cyano is the mysterous magical thing that comes from all problems.

For me it was a bad RO/DI unit. I tested it and the water had 44ppm in it. Yikes.... The more water changes i did, the worse it got (and now you see why).

What didnt work.
1) Kiling the lights (didnt work)
2) Reducing feedings (didnt work). It would take a hit, never fully go away then come back with a vengence when i turned the lights back on.
3) Getting rid of a cannister filter (didnt help)
4) Adding circulation directly at the area of slime (didnt work, in fact the cyano was growing DIRECTLY on the buisness end of my powerheads for Petes sake!)
5) Increased skimming (didnt work)

It was flat out....bad top off water with a bad RO/DI unit.

One thing that seemd to help "migitgate it": It was some mystery resin by Hagan/fluval that had a brown tint to it like GFO but of which NO ONE on the internet appeard to really know what it was (it was some kind of resin that inclued gfo). I cant remember the name of it. What ever it was, it caused one of my tangs to start having that HLLE look (while everything else in my tank looked great).

 

[SantaMonica]

upflow algae skimmer

I think you mean "scrubber"

im not sure whats causing the cyno

It's always nutrients. Either from food particles setting on the sand/rocks (which extra flow would help), or from pee/urea in the water (which flow won't help), or like was said, from bad rodi. That's one of many reasons I don't do water changes.

 

[JonV88]

I got cyano in my 2 month 30 gal tank I siphoned out the visible cyano and lights out for 48 hours and fixed my problem then I got it again a week later that's when I noticed where sunlight was hitting my tank siphoned 25 % water out to be able to lift and relocate my tank 2 days ago redid my process lights on today no cyano so far

 

[HumbleFish]

...or like was said, from bad rodi. That's one of many reasons I don't do water changes.

I don't get this. You'd still have to use RODI for top-off.

 

[DavidinGA]

I don't get this. You'd still have to use RODI for top-off.

I also don't do water changes on my 210gal; nutrients come from your salt mix not clean ro/di top off.

 

[SantaMonica]

Yes but top offs are minimal amounts, especially now with no-heat LEDs.

 

[TheAquatect]

Thanks to Sk8r and everyone, I have a much better understanding on cyano.

I've battled/learned to embrace my cyano outbreaks. Mine go from green to red depending on the time of year as the tank gets some indirect sun exposure during the summer and fall. I usually leave it be or knock it off with a toothbrush during tank maintenance. I find it cycles on its own too as it consumes the carbon sources. Reminds me of a very slow robo vac!

Recently I made an observation which is leading me to a new theory/approach. I noticed that the cyano does not grow where I've placed coral so I am now trying to cover every square inch of my tank in coral:fun4:

 

[ATLL765]

I'm battling a bit(I mean my whole fuge is coated in it) of cyano in the sump. It's everywhere on the glass, on the rocks, on the macro algae I have down there.

I have no skimmer because I figured with a tank this small, it wouldn't be the best use of funds. My issue has been mitigated by the fact that the cyano hasn't made it to the DT, either because there's not enough light(14W t8 50/50) or I'm lucky?

I figured after reading this I'd try to siphon, scrape and go lights out. Well, it's not as easy as it looks when you're trying to siphon uphill. Would it be a better idea to try to scrape it all off the rocks and glass in the fuge(while return pump is OFF) then just try to siphon out most of the water in the fuge? It's only like 2 gallons at most.

Otherwise my next thought is to scrap and try to painstakingly siphon off the bits as they fall away from the glass.

Someone also recommended to me that I get stronger lighting for the fuge. I thought this was an odd suggestion. I have an 11W CFL in a reflector, similar to the one seen on melevsreef, just smaller. Why would it help to add MORE light?

 

[Sonicboom]

I'm battling a bit(I mean my whole fuge is coated in it) of cyano in the sump. It's everywhere on the glass, on the rocks, on the macro algae I have down there.

I have no skimmer because I figured with a tank this small, it wouldn't be the best use of funds. My issue has been mitigated by the fact that the cyano hasn't made it to the DT, either because there's not enough light(14W t8 50/50) or I'm lucky?

I figured after reading this I'd try to siphon, scrape and go lights out. Well, it's not as easy as it looks when you're trying to siphon uphill. Would it be a better idea to try to scrape it all off the rocks and glass in the fuge(while return pump is OFF) then just try to siphon out most of the water in the fuge? It's only like 2 gallons at most.

Otherwise my next thought is to scrap and try to painstakingly siphon off the bits as they fall away from the glass.

Someone also recommended to me that I get stronger lighting for the fuge. I thought this was an odd suggestion. I have an 11W CFL in a reflector, similar to the one seen on melevsreef, just smaller. Why would it help to add MORE light?

you could turn off the pumps and use a turkey baster to siphon the bits as they float by, then top off with a fresh mix. I noticed some tiny blotches (1" patches) of red slime on a few spots in my 180. checked my RO and i guess my DI resin was shot as i was at 7 ppm which in Florida equals 1 gpd top off for the last few months. replaced my resin and put in a new batch of GFO and GAC and blasted the patches off the rocks. will see if it returns.

 

[Allentown]

For me, making sure I don't get algae is an equal priority as just keeping fish alive. I make sure my Ro/di water is 0ppm. Good skimmer, frequent filter sock replacements, I run carbon, geo, frequent water changes (and vacuum the substrate each time), the old school "tons of live rock/rock wall look", high circulation, clean out the sump once a week. If I have to, I'll run biopellets and if that I still get algae I'll put a refugium on my dry area under my stand. I'll do what ever it takes. Anti-algae = job one.

 

[Sonicboom]

For me, making sure I don't get algae is an equal priority as just keeping fish alive. I make sure my Ro/di water is 0ppm. Good skimmer, frequent filter sock replacements, I run carbon, geo, frequent water changes (and vacuum the substrate each time), the old school "tons of live rock/rock wall look", high circulation, clean out the sump once a week. If I have to, I'll run biopellets and if that I still get algae I'll put a refugium on my dry area under my stand. I'll do what ever it takes. Anti-algae = job one.

+1
I clean my skimmer cup weekly and change socks weekly. During water changes I vacuum the sump area. I slacked on the di resin this time because I thought it was color changing and it wasn't. It won't happen again since the new stuff is color changing.

 

[ATLL765]

you could turn off the pumps and use a turkey baster to siphon the bits as they float by, then top off with a fresh mix. I noticed some tiny blotches (1" patches) of red slime on a few spots in my 180. checked my RO and i guess my DI resin was shot as i was at 7 ppm which in Florida equals 1 gpd top off for the last few months. replaced my resin and put in a new batch of GFO and GAC and blasted the patches off the rocks. will see if it returns.

I tried that, I'd literally be doing that for like 12 hours if that's how I had to do it. I don't have spots, my fuge is about 7x8x8 and it's COVERED in cyano. This is why I thought maybe I should just kill the pump, scrape it off, it'll all collect in the fuge's water and then I'll siphon 90% of that out and hope for the best.

My DI resin was also shot, but I hadn't seen the TDS meter read higher than 2ppm and that was only right at the beginning, it would drop back to 1ppm after a couple mins of operation. Replaced all the filters though and did about a 15-20% water change with the new 0ppm water.

 

[Allentown]

Maybe pull the whole sump out and nuke it? I guess that would be the advantage of having a small simple bare bottom sump in that you could pull the whole thing, hose it out and put it back in less than an hour

 

[Sonicboom]

True, I do that with my 10 gallon qt. Fill a brute, mix in some bleach and vinegar and dump the while thing in after a session.

 

[ATLL765]

Maybe pull the whole sump out and nuke it? I guess that would be the advantage of having a small simple bare bottom sump in that you could pull the whole thing, hose it out and put it back in less than an hour

The fuge area has sand, although I've been debating whether or not to remove all the sand. I'm starting to think it's more hassle than it's worth.

I'm thinking I'm just gonna try to scrape it all off the glass, drain the fuge as much as possible, then remove the cyano on the sand, take the rocks and macro algae out, try to brush it off those and hope that works. Maybe I'll try another 72 hour black out after I do that to discourage it from coming back immediately.