how to get rid of red algae or diatomsor cyano

[joesfiddy]

i have red stuff growing on the sand and on some of my rocks looks like brown diatoms but its all red. how do i get rid of it i think some said it might be cyano or something need help please

[Brandon M]

Try this link for good Cyano information

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1240837

[jamiep]

Hi! How old is your tank? Are you running phosban or have you a fuge with some chaeto in it? What is your water source? How long is your lighting cycle? Could you upload a pic?

[steri]

I would check one of three places if not all for algae control:

1) Phosphates; make sure they are at zero

2) Lighting; consider shortening your lighting cycle

3) Flow; it water is slow or stagnant in an area of your tank, the chances for algae growth goes up. Considering adding another powerhead to gain some more flow.

Hope that helps.

[TomZogas]

I used to have alot of trouble with cyano in one of my tanks. I upped flow, ran new phosban daily, and turned the lights off for three days once. Nothing worked. The owner of my LFS finally convinced me to try this product called Red Slime Remover. It is a powder that you dilute into tank water and introduce into the display. I ended up using it in 2 tanks, one was FOWLR and one was a reef, with suns, ricordeas, mushrooms, and polyps. None of my corals had any reaction to it, and it worked great. Kills the cyano, making it very easy to siphon out. It's made by UltraLife Reef Products. Anyone else have any experience with this product? I'm not calling it reef safe, but it worked for me.

[scotmc]

if your tank is new under six months old. I would not worry about it. It's pretty normal. I would do all the things mentioned in the thread. It will go away. I would not use red slime remover. I am not a fan of dumping chemicals into a tank, to try and correct the natural process.

Why would anyone change their phosban daily?? Total waste of money.

[mg426]

Red Slime remover may work but it is only a bandaid. Unless you get the source of the excess nutrients cyano will return.

[tmz]

Red,green,brown slime is cynobacteria. This organism is everywhere on the planet and many believe it made life possible. It uses CO2 and light to produce the sugar it needs to live and then it uniquely takes athmospheric nitrogen and creates compounds useable by living things,including;amonia,nitrite and nitrate in sort of a reverse denitrification(cycle of life).

To control it you need to control CO2. Some advocate light control. I don't since I believe it's less stressful for the other photosynthetic organisms in your system to reduce the CO2. Also if you turn out the lights for several days and reduce the cyno,it will come roaring back when you turn the light on unless the CO2 issue is brought into balance. Balance meaning that there is enough CO2 for desireable organisms(corals ,coraline) to use without excess for the cynobacteria.
Cynobacteri outbreaks in aquariums seem to occur more frequently in the fall but I don't think that has much to do with the sun but rather the fact that many homes get less air exchange at this time of year than they had been getting during preceeding months. Since the athmospere in your aquarium equilibriates with the air,if the air around it is higher in CO2 than usual the CO2 in the tank will be higher than usual and it might take a period of time for organisms to use it up leaving the leftovers to the opportunistic cynobacteria.

There are a number of things that can be done to control CO2 before resorting to lights out or an oxidizing chemical such as Chemi Clean.
Remove waste via agressive bubbly skimming this will also blow off CO2. Remove any dead animals or rotting material( CO2 is ultimately produced in the breakdown). Improve air exchange with good flow particularly at the surface. Clean any filter media to remove decaying material. Suck out the cyno mats with a turkey baster. Puff off your rock to put decaying detrius into the water column for export by your skimmer.Likewise ,gently puff the very top of your sand ,if any. If the air in your home is high in CO2, consider running fresh outside air into your skimmer intake. Consider dripping limewater at night it uses CO2 to produce bicarbonate needed by corals.
Good Luck

[tmz]

Afterthougt, Don't overfeed but don't starve your fish either. If you are using frozen foods thaw and rinse them thouroughly in tap water to remove the packing water which is loaded with nitrate and phosphate.

[mg426]

Wow, that is a well written response, I never knew all that about cyano. thanks

[mg426]

Wow, that is a well written response, I never knew all that about cyano. How big of a part does phosphate/ nitrate actually play in the growth of cyano???

[tmz]

First ,thankyou very much for your compliment.
I don't think phosphate plays a role unless somehow it contributes CO2.
Cynobacteria don't consume nitrate they produce it. As they grow on sugar(made from water and CO2 plus light releasing oxygen in the process)) they create cells within the structure called heterocysts which contain an element called nitogenase. The heterocysts are an anerobic(oxygen free zones). Since nitoregenase is inhibited by oxygen,these cysts enable the nirogenease to work its magic drawing pure nitrogen from the athmosphere and turning it into bio useable compunds like amonia,nitrite and nitrate. I'm not clear on the chemistry of nitrate and wether or not it directly contributes CO2. I do know that decomposition of organic nutrient does.

[mg426]

Fascinating.

[tmz]

Originally posted by mg426
Fascinating.

I think so too. Everything goes around. Denitify and nitrify or in other words create the stuff for new life from the decomposing life forms ,the athmosphere and light. Cynobacteria is a key link.

[mg426]

You learn something every day in this hobby.