HELP! Cyanobacteria Killing Corals?

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Caesar305

Member
Hello everyone!

You can follow my new tank thread here: http://reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/new-c-250.94803/ for details on my tank setup.

Short story: I purchased a new tank (newbie), have had it running for about 3 months now.

I Suddenly experienced to what I assume to be is a Cyanobacteria bloom. My tank was crystal clear. I had a hair algae outbreak but was resolved by constant weekly siphoning. It suddenly disappeared on it's own only to be greeted by havoc on my system now.

All of my corals look like they are dying. I have attached some pics but will try to take better ones tomorrow. My torch corals look very shriveled. Barely any tentacles are sticking out. My Zoanthids are closed. All corals have the red string/slime over them. I try to siphon it only to have it return a couple of hours later. Not sure what else to try! I have tried doing water changes, constant siphoning of sand bed to no avail.

Is there any hope for my corals? Where did this bloom come from? I only use RO/DI water with SaltMix.

Thanks!


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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Your tank is still very new. It's not at all unusual for a new setup to go through several algae blooms in the process of becoming well established.

First off, don't panic and start doing a lot of changes, and especially resist the urge to use one of those red slime remover type products. You will almost always doo more harm than good.

Next test your water parameters, especially nitrate and phosphate. Be sure to test your RO/DI water also, since that can be a source if everything isn't working right. Please post your water test results with actual readings. Statements such as "all tests were normal" convey no information.

As for your corals, it's more likely that there are generally low water quality issues, rather than the cyano itself. You want to do some fairly large water changes, while removing as much cyano as you can.

I have posted this before, but it's very applicabe here, and covers what you want to do for algae control.

DaveK's Standard Lecture #2 - Algae Control

Algae control comes down to controlling nitrates and phosphates. If you have a problem with algae it is because these two nutrients are out of control. Do not think that just because your test kits read zero or low values that you do not have a problem. In many cases the algae is removing the nutrients and growing. This is why there is a problem.

Here are possible sources of nitrates and phosphates -

Feeding, especially flake food and not rinsing frozen foods before feeding.
Using tap water to mix salt. Always use RO/DI water for this.
"Dirt traps" and "nitrate factories" in the system.
Low quality carbon can leach nutrients.
Low quality salt can sometimes add nutrients. This is unusual today.
Livestock load on the system

Here are possible ways to remove nitrates and phosphates -

Water changes. Change 1/2 the water and you reduce the nutrients by 1/2.
Skimming. Remove the waste products before the biological filtration need to break then down.
Nitrate and phosphate removal products.
Deep sand beds.
Refugiums.
Algae Scrubbers.

Each of these has advantages and disadvantages. Most people that control algae well use many of the above methods.

There are also other items that can effect algae growth rates.

Good clean up crew.
Other livestock that eats algae.
Low general water quality, especially when the readings are off.

Lighting, sometimes you can reduce it, especially in FO or FOWLR systems.
Old light bulbs. Colors change as they age and this can be a factor.
Water flow. More flow will often help keep algae down.
Manual removal. Very important, especially when there is a big problem.
 
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Caesar305

Member
Woops! Completely forgot to post my test results.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Ph: 8.0
Phosphates: 0.25




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Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
I fully agree with DaveK.

And what likely happened is that the nutrients causing the initial outbreak of algae also caused the cyano outbreak. Many times once you get one algae under control another pops up in its place as long as the right parameters are in place for good algae growth. Algae thrives on nutrients in the water and lighting.

Many times testing readings don't show any nutrient issues b/c the algae is taking it out of the water as fast as nutrients enter the water. Thus, the readings look good. It can be deceiving.

I'd follow the directions provided by DaveK to remove nutrients and get a combo of cuc that likes a variety of different algae.

Also have patience. It can take a good couple months or more to get things in order.
 
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