What is on this polyp

[xREEFINaintEZx]

Hello everyone, tank rescue is going on about 8 months. Everything has been going way better then expected untill now.f from the beginning I have been fighting different types of algae, aiptasia, and water parameters. leathers, Duncan's, and plates corals have all done great, green polyps were growing and still are but now have this. The black stuff started growing on a batch of polyps and one piece of rock about 1 month ago. Water parameters as of 1-2 month ago

Ammonia 0. Nitrite 0. Ph8.2. niTRATE was 0 but 1-2 month ago jumped to 10-20 and won't budge with my water changes(packed a reactor full of niTRATE sponge waiting for results). Phos 1.0. Calcium 450. KH 9. Mag unknown.

Thanks everybody.

 

[shadowmonster]

If it's growing on both a rock and some polyps then it might just be Cyanobacteria. You might want to use a soft brush and see if it will come off easily. Increasing the circulation in the tank might help as well.

 

[xREEFINaintEZx]

Put a rock in tub of tank water. Brushed off easy, then dipped in ro. For the rock I can't take out do you advise scrubbing it in the tank?

Looked black untill I hit it with the brush...dark dark green. Any thoughts on red slime remover?
Thanks

 

[mcgyvr]

I can't see what you are referring to in the picture.. Just out of focus,etc...

 

[xREEFINaintEZx]

When I get home I'm going to get a better pic. The polyp dead center has black/green slime growing up it. I'm doing more cyano research right now. With what I'm finding I thinks that's it. I just want make sure it's not some kind of coral disease.
Thank you

 

[shadowmonster]

Put a rock in tub of tank water. Brushed off easy, then dipped in ro. For the rock I can't take out do you advise scrubbing it in the tank?

Looked black untill I hit it with the brush...dark dark green. Any thoughts on red slime remover?
Thanks

As long as you do this before a water change I don't think you'll have any problems scrubbing the rock in the tank. You can try that red slime remover if you want, but being that you are willing to do the work you might want to see how that works out first. I've never really been a big fan of adding chemicals to a tank even if they are safe to use. The link below goes into some detail about dealing with this stuff. (Cyanobacteria/Blue Green Algae)

http://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

 

[mcgyvr]

Don't overreact on one little spot yet..
No need to do much if anything now.. A little cyano can be normal.. It can come and go..

 

[Dkuhlmann]

It could also be encrusting sponge. I've never seen black cyano

 

[xREEFINaintEZx]

As long as you do this before a water change I don't think you'll have any problems scrubbing the rock in the tank. You can try that red slime remover if you want, but being that you are willing to do the work you might want to see how that works out first. I've never really been a big fan of adding chemicals to a tank even if they are safe to use. The link below goes into some detail about dealing with this stuff. (Cyanobacteria/Blue Green Algae)

http://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

99%sure it is the blue green cyano. That site is the best one I found.

I think I'm going to have a buddy hold the siphon right at the infected area wile I scrub and do it at time of a WC.
Yea I don't like chemicals but alot of people seem to like that one. More importantly fixing the source. I don't want it to keep coming back.
Going slow is the key, I think that's why I have gotten this far.
A good starting point would be manual removal? Getting niTRATE and phos to zero? Possibly a 3 day black out?
Any advice welcome

Thanks all!

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Cyano is going to run it's course no matter what you do. The life cycle of the bacteria is usually 6-8 weeks.

What I found was that I only removed it once a week and did a WC at the same time. I would use a plastic fork and roll up the algae like rolling up a rug and then remove it. Was very easy to do it this way. Then I would vacuum the other bits to make a 20% wc every week.

There really isn't much you can do to kill the bacteria that is Cyano other than the chemicals. So if you don't want the chemicals then you just let nature run it's course and maintain stable water parameters.

 

[xREEFINaintEZx]

better pics

better pics

hey everybody, got a few more pictures. this does look like the blue green cyano to you guys?

 

[xREEFINaintEZx]

Cyano is going to run it's course no matter what you do. The life cycle of the bacteria is usually 6-8 weeks.

What I found was that I only removed it once a week and did a WC at the same time. I would use a plastic fork and roll up the algae like rolling up a rug and then remove it. Was very easy to do it this way. Then I would vacuum the other bits to make a 20% wc every week.

There really isn't much you can do to kill the bacteria that is Cyano other than the chemicals. So if you don't want the chemicals then you just let nature run it's course and maintain stable water parameters.

thank you for the tips. I'm just goig to stay on top of my water for the moment. Did you end up using chemicals, and if so what did you go with?

 

[ColoReefer970]

Looks like it

 

[Dkuhlmann]

thank you for the tips. I'm just goig to stay on top of my water for the moment. Did you end up using chemicals, and if so what did you go with?

I never used the chemicals. Like I said in my post it went away as fast as it started once it ran it's course of 6-8 weeks.