Need advice on cyano algae cleaners

[CoralShnak]

Hey guys, I am looking for some advice on clean up crew suggestions to help with a minor cyano algae problem I get time to time. The tank is a 65 gal and has quite a bit of live rock and also a sand bed. Earlier this year I fought the algae on the sand and got a Diamond Goby and wow- best cleaner in the tank and havent seen the algae since! I know every tank is different and there are lots of variables so Im not sure what info I should post. Just a few small spots on some of the LR and near Coral does the cyano algae grow and none of the snails seem to clean it. I do a 10-15 gallon water change every two weeks and in my drain/brute trash can I made a pedistal in the middle with a filter pad to lay rock on and wash it. I have a nice sized fluid transer pump in the bottom of the trash can and a hose attached to it so I can rinse things off which cleans the surface but Im sure some of the algae is in the porous areas of the rock and I just cant seem to be rid of it and within a week or two it has spread back on the surface of the rock.

The tank cleaners in our tank-

Royal Urchin
10-15 snails assorted
2 cleaner shrimp
Sally lightfoot crab.

The tank also has a Reef Octopus skimmer which between that and the Diamond Goby helped a lot early on. I had none of the cyano algae for about 6 months then a small spot started up again.

The snails and urchin do a good job cleaning algea on the tank walls but only the urchin seems to do much for the LR. The problem I seem to have ran into is when the algae grows enough to get short strings on it- if I am not careful a small piece gets blown elsewhere in the tank and becomes a new battle to fight so I would like to put something in the tank that can do a good job on the LR to keep this at bay. It is not a huge problem but annoying and when it starts spreading it is hard to get rid of.

I can provide more info if needed and do test a handful of water parameters to keep it in check to keep the Fish and Coral happy.

I have done several searches on here and never really found a clear answer or anything specific to this on cleaning the algae on LR so any help would be greatly appreciated on what I could add to help!

 

[ssteal]

Chemiclean works good for cyano. I used it once with no ill effects

 

[CoralShnak]

Something else I should add is that the LR that this starts on also has Coral attached to it so Im not sure how cautious I need to be.

Thanks for the Chemiclean tip, I have read about it and wasnt sure how safe it was to use with Coral on the rock.

 

[thebkramer]

cyano is a bacteria (cyanobacteria) There are no critters that eat it. You need to find the cause root of your problem or it will just continue to keep coming back! How are your nitrates? phosphates? your water flow? how old are lights? what skimmer are you running? how much and how often do you feed? these are just some of the questions need answering.
I personally don't believe in using chemiclean and other products that are only quick fixes. If you don't figure out the reason for cyano in your tank.. it will only come back. Nothing happens fast in this hobby with great results in the long run!!!!!
cyano, if not dealt with properly, can overtake a tank quickly!!! trust me.. I know

Sk8r and some other reefers have some great info about cyano and how to defeat it.. Good Luck!!!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1969115
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147010

also great info in Capn's Log:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1786183

yours doesn't sound too bad right now.. you may just need a few adjustments and be done with it!

 

[CoralShnak]

Thanks for the info. I will check out those links. I did a water change a day ago and will recheck parameters and post up if I remember.

The original problem I felt was due to lighting from what I read and not keeping an eye on water close enough but has since been fine. I have a 10K and Actinic T5 HO bulb along with White/Blue/Natural Blue LEDs on a custom heatsink mount.

The skimmer was mentioned in my first post and is a Reef Octopus and sits in the sump under the tank.

LEDs are on 10 hours a day and the T5s are on about 7-8 hours with LEDs lead/exit time about an hour and I havent changed the time settings since summer as it seemed to work well.

I feed a small amount of vegi flake food in the morning after lights come on and then in the eve I feed a little more flake and small thawed cube of mysis shrimp. Both feedings the food is devoured quickly. We have a healthy sized Sailfin Tang and he has a bottomless stomach so food doesnt stay in the water too long!

Suprisingly the algae is growing where water flow is high and just under a spout from the return pump that points downward near the main trouble rock. One spout points across the top of the water and towards a Tunze powerhead on the opposing side of the tank. There is decent flow across the tank and any small debris in the water you can clearly see get moved around in circulation. Poor flow was another problem I read early on that will allow the algae to grow so I tried to lay it out to keep everything in good flow.

I know this algae can get out of hand quickly and was very frustrating the first few months we had this tank set up! It was an established tank when I got it and didnt have algae in it but also sat without light several days and no coral at the time. Was very happy to see it gone and suprised to see it return.

 

[Jooce01]

10-15 snails also isn't enough for a 65 gallon tank. Check out reefcleaners and see how many they recommend, not that you have to order from them, but it should give you a guide.

 

[rhdoug]

10-15 snails also isn't enough for a 65 gallon tank. Check out reefcleaners and see how many they recommend, not that you have to order from them, but it should give you a guide.

IME, 10-15 snails is actually too much for a tank that size for any length of time, unless you have a lot of algae. My 58 gal tank will not support any more than 2-3 medium to large snails for more than a year. Any time I add 5-10, I end up with only 2 or 3 within a year, which then live for several years with no problem. Most places that sell them will "over-recommend" anyway. Not that the vendor mentioned does.

 

[wrott]

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/UL-SLI.html

works best IME. No WCs needed, take cup off of skimmer the first 24-36hrs, then skim dry for a couple of days as your cup may over flow while you are not home, when the skimmer will start to generate more foam (not as much or anthing as bad as chemi-clean, which you have to do WCs to rid of the product).

 

[jlanger]

Cyano sucks!!! I feel for you.

Back when I needed to battle a big outbreak of cyano due to a lighting timer failed "On" when we were gone for a weekend, I used gobies, snails, crabs, more powerheads and chemicals (Red Slime Remover). Although all of these helped to some extent, it never got rid of it entirely. Small pockets would still persist on the sandbed.

Until I added Vortech water pumps.
I think that the wide undertow that comes from these water pumps eliminated the smallest of dead spots on the sand bed. Going on almost three years, I have yet to see it come back. (Knocking on wood.)
I just upgraded that system into a new 120gal. After the first few days diatoms started showing up on the sandbed. Once the smaller system was completely torn down and the Vortechs were added, the diatoms cleared up in just a couple of days. I know there are many factors that contribute to algae blooms and clear ups, but (for me) I start with making sure I have enough flow to keep any and all detritus from settling in the system.

I also agree that the recommended clean up crew numbers are exaggerated.
Your system can only support as many members as it can. The rest tend to starve out.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

-JASON

 

[NYCBOB]

make sure u r using ro water. do water change and feed less. when changing water, make sure to siphon as much cyano as possible. after 2-3 months, u should see a whole lot less cyano.