Cyanobacteria Treatment

[Kovu]

I have alot of cyano in my tank since i didnt know what i was doing for the first two years but i am finally trying to fix everything, the reason for cyano is high nitrates is why i already did two 50 percent water changes and going down to 40 percent for two weeks. When i do my water change i try to scrape the cyano that i can get to on the wall and then siphon it out. Do you think that if i got some of the red slime and cyano killer stuff it would give me the upper hand on getting rid of it, and if yes what is the best stuff?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

It might. I think I've read of Cyano being harder to beat after such treatments, gaining some sort of resistance from the treatment.

It will take a while of absolute NO excess nutrients to fully get rid of the cyano. It's persistent. Try to wait off on the treatments if you can. The chemicals are rarely ever the correct route to take.

 

[BigAl07]

I'm with COD here. I feel like there is almost always a down side to "chemicals".

• Increase flow
• Manual Removal (Daily or more if you can)
• Increase water quality
• Reduce Nutrients
• Manual Removal (Daily or more if you can) (yes I said it twice)

this didn't happen over-night and it takes LONGER to get rid of. Be persistent and you'll come out ahead in the end.

 

[Clownfish518]

IME PO4 is culprit in my tank. When I have available phosphate and am low nitrates I get cyano. A phosphate reactor might help, but you want to change 100% of the water first. The easiest way to do that is to change 15% a day for 7 days straight. Also figure out where the PO4 is coming from. Without nutrients the stuff dies away pretty darn quick.

PO4 tests at home only test for inorganic PO4. You can have a ton of organic PO4 and never know it. Often comes in through in preservatives in fish food. I use Rods to avoid that.

 

[Kovu]

So i should just keep on doing what i am doing and overtime it will go away, unfortunly i cant do dailey removal of the algae and water changes only weekly because of school and homework.

 

[Clownfish518]

If you can mix a 40-50% water change, you can do daily changes. Mix a batch on the weekend, and another mid week. Change a small amount daily. It takes me 10-15 minutes to do a WC beginning to end for a 25 gallon change.

Or, mix 40% WC, do a change for the first day or two of the week, and leave the lights off until the weekend and you can do some more changes. 3 days without light won't hurt anything but cyano

 

[Clownfish518]

I should add I am not trying to be difficult but it is tough to beat cyano with water changes once a week IME

 

[Kovu]

the main problem is the tank is bigger so its hard for me to go to school do my homework and its already 7 oclock then have to go to work at 8 on the weekdays.

 

[Clownfish518]

Okay. I will fess up. I have used Boyd's red slime algae remover and it does work. To me it's just another tool in the toolbox; albeit a risky one. Don't use it if you have any anemones.

It is just a band-aid. If you don't fix the underlying problem you can make things worse.

But, if you are to use it, here is how

- Read the directions that come with it very carefully
- Remove the corals an put in your Qt system
- Turn off your skimmer
- Turn off your lights
- Add an airstone (it seriously depletes O2 levels)
- Add the treatment per the directions on the box *DO NOT over dose*. It is per gallon of water in the system, not size of the tank
- wait 24 hours. Watch your overflow foam with soapy looking bubbles
- turn the skimmer back on. Be prepared for it to foam like crazy. Like I said, this stuff has a huge affinity for O2. Be prepared to monitor your skimmer
- wait 24 hours
- do the largest WC you can manage - 25% minimum
- the overflow should have normal looking bubbles now
- wait 24 hours
- turn the lights back on
- add corals back
- be prepared for a hair algae outbreak from all the nutrients released from the dead cyano
- do as large a WC as you can manage as soon as you can manage it
- change out carbon every couple of days for the next week-ten days

 

[Kovu]

i just read some of the bottles of the stuff that gets rid of it and i rather do it the non chemical way it just seems like its only temporaly and want really show if my tank is healthy so i hoping what i am doing and maybe if i can do it anthor day i can do it. I might be able to do 15 percent everyday during thanksgiving break so that might be a possiblity.

 

[TylerHaworth]

I had a battle with Cyano... flow modifications and water changes helped me get rid of it and keep it gone!

 

[framerguy]

Turn your lights off for three days. Cover the tank so that no stray light gets in. The corals will be fine and so will the fish. The cyano will be gone and the battle will be easier to win. It WILL come back unless the cause is found, but you will have a handle on it.

PO4 is usually the cause as Clownfish said. A product I have had success with (and others have also) is Brightwell Aquatics "Phophat-E". It really works to eliminate phosphate. You will see an immediate difference. Make sure your skimmer is working properly or don't use it though.

 

[Kovu]

just an update on my battle, some of the cyano is gone but a decent job on cleaning the rocks and 4 large water changes, the cyano is retreating and you can see this light grayish purple coming in place of it, so is this a good sign.

 

[framerguy]

Way to go! Stay the course....steady as she goes.

 

[Kovu]

After another water change i see my corals starting to perk up at first my hammer only open to be 2 inches and now it is about 4 inches and cyano is still going down.

 

[lcstorc]

Awesome!!!!