Will keeping Lights off solve this issue?

[chaaban]

Hey everyone, Im having a small problem and I would like to figure out a solution before it ends up getting worse.

There seems to be a thin layer of algae growing onto of my sand bed on one part of my tank only"¦. heres some pics:

What can i do to get rid of it?

Thanks again

 

[shesacharmer]

Lucky you...looks like you have a case of green cyano. https://www.google.com/search?q=gre...i=LsVBVOjOApK0yATQz4LwDw&ved=0CDsQsAQ&dpr=0.9

 

[swhobbie1]

just out of curiosity... does anyone know if this green cyano is more likely to show up in tanks using carbon dosing ? Seems like more people are posting pictures of this green cyano lately... carbon dosing ? LEDs? Just wondering if there is something that is making this more common these days.

 

[chaaban]

Lucky you...looks like you have a case of green cyano. https://www.google.com/search?q=gre...i=LsVBVOjOApK0yATQz4LwDw&ved=0CDsQsAQ&dpr=0.9

Thanks, so will keeping the lights off for 3 days and feeding less help solve this issue?

Thanks

 

[chaaban]

???

 

[Tarawa]

not sure with green, worked with my brown/rust colored cyano tho. Its worth a try imo, wont hurt anything.

 

[Dan_P]

just out of curiosity... does anyone know if this green cyano is more likely to show up in tanks using carbon dosing ? Seems like more people are posting pictures of this green cyano lately... carbon dosing ? LEDs? Just wondering if there is something that is making this more common these days.

Some cyanobacteria can take on different colors in response to the light they receive. Referred to as complimentary chromatic adaptation, cyanobacteria will be green under red light and red under green light. Nitrogen source can also play a role in coloration. When the nitrogen source is ammonia, less red pigment is produced. It is proposed that since ammonia requires less energy to use compared to nitrate, cyanobacteria might be down regulating energy produced by photosynthesis by turning greener and absorbing lower energy light. How might this be related to carbon dosing?

Some (most?) cyanobacteria are mixotrophic, they can assimilate carbon from CO2 or from organic compounds. It will require less energy to assimilate carbon from organic compounds and maybe induces cyanobacteria to down regulate the energy obtained from photosynthesis. All wild conjecture though!

 

[shesacharmer]

Yes three day lights out will help but repeat monthly for several months and remove with a turkey baster frequently in between. You should beat it eventually but it's not a quick solution. Some people try Chemi-Clean and have good luck others crash their tanks with it so I haven't tried it.

 

[chaaban]

Thanks everyone!