will cyano die out eventually?

[dubluv]

i'm so tired of this cyano bloom in my 36 (tank started in feb). i feed ever so sparingly, and have been using ro/di for top offs and changes since early May. ph 8.0, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, no phosphate detected by my kit, and virtually no nitrates. 8 hours light (130 watt pc, 10K and actinic). i've been using rowaPhos in the HOT filter for about 3 weeks also. each time i do a change, i siphon as much of it as possible. 2 small ocellaris, one small yellow tang, blue damsel and royal gramma make up the fish population. 50 lbs of LR, and 2" sand. i also have about 15 blue legged hermit, 10 margarita snails and one octospawn coral, and a few assorted mushrooms. eveyrone is healthy, and the mushrooms are reproducing nicely. the cyano is covering new coralline algae, which is really ****ing me off. i did start this tank with tap water, which i'm sure contributed to the cyano problem. i've made 3 changes of 25%, and will do another shortly. is this continuing problem related to the initial tap water startup?

[Twinkies]

In my experience, cyano outbreaks are most often caused by lack of adequate circulation or lighting issues.
What kind of water movement do you have going on?
How long are your lights on?
If you have no coral in your tank, then the fastest way to kill it off is to leave your lights off completely for about 3-4 days. Once it is gone though, you will need to find a happy medium with lighting and water movement or it will be right back.

[cpage3]

in theory, yes it will go away if you leave it alone, but since its a closed system and not the ocean you can't just leave it alone or your tank conditions will deteriorate. Chances are that whatever nutrients that are fueling the growth of the algae, will not stop being produced. Either by organism life functions or the addition of water through water changes the nutrients will be added. There seems to be alot of people lately that have the same problem with this algae becoming a problem when tank levels don't reflect poor water quality.
IMO I don't think we know what exactly makes this stuff tick, so I am suggesting a quick fix that so far has caused no problems in my tank and worked very effectively for me. There is a product called chemi-clean, that will take care of it. It is reef safe

[Dz99ls]

im afraid not it is more likely to take over the whole tank! you\ll need to correct the problem not just let it go

[aquaman67]

When you get to that point, and you'll know when you're there...Ultralife Red Slime Remover. Two days and it's gone...

[VoidRaven]

Ah, yes...Red Slime Remover. I carry two vials of it at all times just in case. Wonderful stuff. I highly recommend it as a last resort.

Up your flow somehow. IMO, my experience has been that low flow leads to cyano....hey, that rhymes! Red slime is a royal pain, and only gets worse if let run rampant. If you can, drop in a couple of ph's and see if that helps. I fought it for a month, and increasing my flow helped to combat the situation greatly. That and a couple doses of Red Slime Remover.

[Mr.Jingles]

mine went away...after a few months...just dissapeared without me noticing.

it actually covered everything...almost. the live rock, the mushrooms, some parts of the sand, even the other algae that was growing.

I think it went away cause I just didn't touch my tank for a year. I really didn't have anything in it tho. just the live rock and hitch hikers. maybe you ought to do what other people suggest...not what I tried.

[miamibeacher]

I'm new to the hobby and went through the same thing a few months ago. I tried red slime remover. It worked but the cyano came right back with a vengance.

Here's what I did. I went to liveaquaria.com and did a search for cyano. I purchased 12 of everything that the site said would eat cyano. Ended up being 12 hermits and 24 snails I think. The hermits, dwarf red tip, did the best job. The nerite snails didn't seem to help too much but out of 12 cerith snails there were 3 that loved the stuff. Anyway I also added some macro to help nutrient export but the cleanup crew had the problem under control before I even added it. I still see a little bit pop up now and again but it doesn't seem to last too long.

As far as lighting and water flow. It didn't seem to care about that in my tank. I grew up top right by the lights and in shady areas. Same thing with water flow.

Just one newbies experience, I am by no means an expert.

I have a 55 gallon btw.

[bertoni]

Adding circulation and cleanup crew members are good ideas to consider.

Another approach is to see about starving away the cyano. This article (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm) talks about dealing with nitrate issues. Your cyano might be blooming because the nitrogen export of your tank is beyond the more desireable means of export.

[dubluv]

i've got the flow from the remora skimmer, and two PH's mounted on each side. the flow across my center piece of LR is enough to blow some of the hermits right off! of course, there could be areas of lesser flow, but i doubt that is an issue in my tank. bertoni, could you explain in more detail what you're referring to as nitrogen export? i don't have a refugium/sump, so do you mean having macro algae to use up some of the nitrates? if my nitrates are not high, what else could cause the presence of cyano? this seems to be where there's no simple answer. i'm going to try a phospate reactor thing that houses the media (rowaphos, phosban etc) and uses a pump to force water thru it.

[bertoni]

Well, when you add fish food (if you add fish food), you're adding nitrogen-containing compounds. That nitrogen needs to be exported out of the tank some way. Live rock, DSB's, macroalgae harvesting, water exports, etc., all will help do some degree. Many of those mechanisms also work for phosphate, which is also in fish food.

So your nitrate level might not be high because the cyano consumes it as quickly as it's produced. Same with phosphate.

It's hard to diagnose the exact reason for cyano, often, so the article goes over some ideas you might consider.

[R33f3r]

Your in-organic phosphates (Aquarium phosphate kits only read organic) are probably causing the cyano. IME, that is the number #1 suspect (mainly from overfeeding, detritus build-up, dead things). Lighting changes will no doubt cause it to bloom as well.Water flow helps but it won't cure it.

How I combat it is by running a phosban reactor with phosban 24/7. Some people have had success with this type of media others have had severe sps bleaching. I haven't had any probs so far.... but it WILL remove your system of silicates, phosphates, and most other organic crap causing all kinds of algae probs.

You could also go the natural route and use a fuge with macro. I just don't have the room right for one or I would.

[Jpizzle]

your tank is also way overstocked

[dubluv]

when using the red slime remover, can you leave your protein skimmer running?


you're probably right about the tank being a bit overstocked. however, until i can set up another tank, it will have to do for now.

[Raki04]

OK This may be a bit strange but I took home two snails I found on the beach in Wildwood NJ I put them in my 5 gallon tank ( that did have a cyano problem) The snails must be eating it 'cause I can't find nearly a trace of it now two weeks later. The snails where found as the tide was changing from hight to low and they're shells are about the size of a half dollar and medim to light brown , and roundish and smooth , When they "come out" of the shell they are about four times the size of the shell and they look like silly putty. They also love to burrow down under the sand. I've been tring to find out what kind of snail they are . They seem very happy in the tank .

[dubluv]

your snail story doesnt sound strange at all. however, i'm curious if they're the reason your cyano has disappeared. i have margarita snail, and they won't touch the stuff. i think someone would post about cyano eating snails if they actually ate the stuff. btw, did you think about how those local snails will deal with the tropical temps? our waters get quite cold during hte winter, and i'm curious how the snails you found will do. another concern would be what pests or disease they might introduce to your tank. thanx for the feedback though

[Raki04]

I thought about the temp prob. and so far with the tank at about 80 degrees they seem very happy . They look to be almost nocturnal as I see them about the same time every night weather the tank light is on or not. I'm fairly sure thet didn't bring anything along with them as all the "pods" that where in the water with them didn't live long once they got in to the tank. And I'm not really worried anyway the tank is only 5 gallons and has only 1 domino damsel a camel shrimp amd a pincusion urchin a total of mabye $15 investment. That tank is an expermintal tank anyway , I'm much more careful with my 125 gallon tank.