purple algae cyanobacteria bloom

[Deserter23]

I have had cyanobacteria blooming in my tank for about a month. Does anyone know how to cure this pesky stuff? As far as I know, I cannot get a protein skimmer because my 24 gallon nanocube will not support it. Could this constant blooming be a waterflow issue? Maybe I dont have enough live rock (I have about 15 pounds right now).

I feel this is really hurting my tank right now. I have had an anemone, royal gamma, and clown fish die in the past week. The clown was healthy for about a month and recently got ich and died today. Now I just have a coral banded, cleaner, and peppermint shrimp, as well as one fish, a green chromis. Nitrate tests have shown that my nitrate levels don't seem to be out of control, but who knows. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[-=Zepplock=-]

try to increase a flow!

 

[sfsuphysics]

Waterflow is an issue for the stuff settling and for keeping nutrients in the water column to be skimmed out.

 

[pepe.king.prawn]

If you can't use a skimmer on that tank, I would suggest you really try to keep up on frequent water changes. Cyanobacteria is easily remedied using a product called ChemiClean. It's an antibiotic and works every single time, mind you it kills it, it does not cure the problem. All algaes grow as a result of excess nutrients, so try to feed less, change more water and keep up on general maintenance like cleaning filter pads.

 

[MorandiWine]

I agree with everyone here. More flow, make sure that there is not a single dead spot in the tank and dont forget BEHIND the rock. Probably more water changes, and make sure that your lights are not too old (6-9 months) poor light will also "help" the cyano establish.

tyler

 

[otterpop510]

in addition to checking/modifying your flow, lighting and feeding schedules make sure you do regular water changes, especially if you don't have a skimmer running. also, if you tank is relatively new, it could still be cycling. another way would be to try to run some carbon and phosban or phosphate remover to lower nutrient, etc levels in your tank..

 

[Psionicdragon]

i have never heard or seen purple cyano.. does he/she/you mean red slime algae ?

 

[pepe.king.prawn]

even if you lower nutrients (which I recommend you do for the long haul via water changes etc.), cyano seems to stick around. Hence I recommend using chemi-clean to knock it out once you've taken care of the cause of the bloom.

 

[Deserter23]

Thanks for all the replies. The tank light in my nanocube is on a timer from 10am-9pm. Could changing this light schedule reduce the cyano blooms?

Also, will chemi-clean kill off other organisms in my tank, like polyps for example?

 

[pepe.king.prawn]

You could shorten your photoperiod a little bit if you wanted, and it may help with future algae outbreaks. The chemi-clean will not harm corals or other living things, only the cyano which is a primative algae/bacterium. It is somewhat pricey, so you may want to ask around the club. It doesn't take much, and you do a big water change 48 hours (i think) after to dilute out any remaining treatment.

 

[-=Zepplock=-]

I think you need a skimmer.
Prism is very easy to install.

 

[GreshamH]

Chemi-Clean won't kill your animals, but it will kill the benificial bacteria. IMO high DKH/ALK and better flow, with several months of water changes, you'll be golden again