Cyanobacteria

[peterkay]

Hi does anyone know of a fish that eats Cyanobacteria?.. I'm having a terrible time getting rid of the stuff. I've tried everything. I have a 15G currently housing 2 ocellaris clown, 1 watchman goby, 3 red leg hermits and half a dozen snails.

15g FOWLR
skimmer
AquaClear 30 filter
2 MJ400 powerheads for current

cheers,
Peter

 

[papagimp]

none that I know of. Cyno shows up for a reason. Usually when there is an increase in Phosphates and Nitrates. Both will fuel cyno nicely. Have you tested your water recently? Do you overfeed by chance?

for a quick fix, I'd recommend Chemi-clean. it'll get rid of the cyno, but not the problem causing it. Which means without further corrective actions, it'll come back eventually.

 

[reeftanker04]

Low flow also contributes to cyano from what I remember.

 

[fareforce]

Rather than adding another fish to eat it, you should find out what is causing it. If you add another fish to that small of a tank, the extra fish waste is just going to fuel my cyno growth.

Here are a few common reasons why you might have cyno:

1) Lack of flow. It seems that your flow should be okay, but maybe you should try to readjust your flow. Try aiming it more twords the problem areas.

2) Excessive nutrients. This is most commonly from over feeding your tank. The second most common reason is from people using tap water. Tap water almost always has excessive phosphates in it. Phosphates = algee growth. Sometimes hair algee, sometimes cyno, sometimes other algee.

3) Bad tank maintainence. How often do you do water changes, and how big are they? And no, top off water doesn't count.

4) It could be a combination of any of these, or it could still even be something else. Lets start with these, and work from there.

 

[andrewsmart]

high flow works wonders for cyno

 

[CaptRon]

cyano is just a stage with new tanks. If your tank is new, it's normal. If you tank is over 4-6months, it is most likely excess nutrients fueling the growth. cut back on feedings, increase flow, and siphon it off during waterchanges. I had some success with phosban in getting mine under control when i started my tank. I just might have burned itself out though in the week that I treated.

 

[peterkay]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies. I really do appreciate them

Here's the info you all asked for:

I change water once a week.. approx 15-20%. I only use R/O water that is premixed with Instant Ocean salt at least 3 or 4 days prior to changing.
My nutrient levels (ammonia, nitrate(ite), phosphate) are all 0.. although someone suggested that my phosphate is at 0 because the cyano is using it all up. So 2 weeks ago I threw a puch of Phos-Zorb in my filter.. but no help.
I've also tried moving my jets in different areas of the tank but it hasn't made much of a difference.
I already have 3 powerheads (2 for current and 1 feeding my skimmer) so I'm running out of room in my tank. I don't know how else I could up my flow. I'm open to any suggestions.

And CaptRon: I've also read that cyano IS just a phase.. but it's driving me nuts!! It's been like this for close to a month now which gives me the impression that it's not just a normal phase... My tank has been up and running since about mid-october...

Happy Easter all,

Peter

 

[reeftanker04]

How much turnover do you have with your 3 powerheads?

 

[CaptRon]

I dug up an old thread that I posted about a year ago on another board after I had my war with cyano. My tank was about 3 - 4 months old at the time. Here's the text from the thread:

I'm just getting over a war with the stubborn stuff. I had to add phosban and do smaller more frequent water changes (10% every 2-3 days instead of 20% each week) with reduced feedings for fish (every 3 days as opposed to everyday). I also added filter floss that was changed daily to catch the stuff I blew off 3-4 times a day with a turkey baster. A lot of work for three weeks, but for the most part, it's pretty well gone.

things that didn't work:

• Increased flow (Added 2 more MJ900's to total 4 and two small HOB filters in a 20g)
• Carbon
• Astrea snails & blue-legged hermits (both of which I was told would eat the junk)
• Reduced lighting (If the sun was up the cyano would grow. no, the tank is not in direct sunlight. heat control is bad enough in the summer here.)

One more thing too.... Testing for phosphates and nitrates is a waste of time. This stuff will absorb them so fast you'll never get a reading on a test.

 

[Sepeku]

Mid october? That's a bit long for cyano.

My (210) tank has been up since December and it has bouts of cyano.

I'd keep running a phosphate removal agent and kill all the lights in the tank. Feed sparingly if at all. I've done this for a few days to great effect.

But alas its never gotten rid of all of it. I'm going to go for a longer dark period this time.

Do a water change after its gone just to get rid of the nutrients floating around.

For an added effect, you might want to try an antibiotic at the end of the "dark period".

 

[coraladdict]

Have you tried turning the lights out?

Have a look at this:http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532&highlight=cyanobacteria

 

[sunfish11]

After going through this a couple of times it seems like the best cure is not worrying about it so much. When I left it alone it went away on it's own. Hey, I made a rhyme

Seriously, this seems to work on most issues better then throwing chemicals at them. Keep up good husbandry and water params and siphon it out if you don't like it. It will exhaust its food source and disappear almost as fast as it arrived.

Lisa

 

[TomRep]

I just had an outbreak of the crap as well in my 120. For me, I was syphoning it out once a week with a 20-30 gal water change. It kept growing back withing the week so I did daily water changes, syphoning it out, for about 3-4 days and it was gone. I still have very few areas (behind my closed loop manifold) that has some on the glass, but for the most part it is gone. And just for the info, freshwater Molly's acclimated to a saltwater environment are supposed to eat it very well, as well as hair algea. Good luck!
Tom

 

[rick s]

Mollies. Click here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=992144