Cyanobacteria Good or Bad?

[sasquatch]

Have recently been reading about actually cultureing Cyano, seperate from the display.My limited understanding is, cyano, fixes nitrogen,consumes phosphates and C02. This sounds like a good thing! Is it the terrifying arrival in our tanks that has kept this habit so unexplored?
If a cyanofuge with bad lighting, slow water flow,ribbed or roughened growth areas were constructed, with a filter sock and carbon for containment and toxin removal, would this be effective?? nutrient export would then be a matter of scraping off the muck and happily overfeeding the tank again. Steve

[theskunk]

you just described my fuge its full of cyano and a little calerpa very ugly but you know it keepd my display cyano free, just gotta remember to export a little now and then

[Frankie]

hmm.... This is interesting stuff here. I have a bout of cyano in my refugium but never in the display. I think its being caused from old pc bulbs i keep over it. I never did think on cultivating it though. Good topic sasquatch.

[lcstorc]

Interresting thought. How would you keep the cyano out of the display and in the fuge while allowing the pods etc into the display?

[boozeman]

enterprising hobbyists have tried just about anything in a refugium as an export media...from various forms of algae to more complex creatures such as xenia...and even our dreaded enemy the aiptasia. In limiting these organisms the item used the most is a UV unit between the refugium and the main display.

[Snelly40]

i get some from time to time in my fuge but never in my main, i also export some during water changes but i mainly rely on my cheato for the nitrate export

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

Interresting thought. How would you keep the cyano out of the display and in the fuge while allowing the pods etc into the display?

Thats just the thing LYNN, I can not figure out why the cyano stays in the fuge and dosen't migrate to the display.

[sasquatch]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

Interresting thought. How would you keep the cyano out of the display and in the fuge while allowing the pods etc into the display?

was thinking a dedicated container with filter sock and carbon, seems very little "life" will associate with the red menace, my big wonder is what toxins are released while growing,and it does grow!! so as an export medium lb for lb its got to beat cheato, throwing cheato out goes against reason to me, but cyano? good riddance to bad rubbish. Hopefully our chemical Gurus will have something. Steve

[corallimorph]

One of my systems is (inadvertently)set up like that....i siphon cyano out of the refugium about two times a week and the display just has too much flow for it to settle any were.-Dave

[sasquatch]

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_.../en/index.html
WHO | Water-related diseases
CAUTION!!!The more I research the more intimidated i become.After reading the above I for one will never taste my tank water again.
Cyano factoids.
Ideal combination for cyano blooms
dissolved organic carbon=dissolved organic protein=dissolved organic matter. Add high dKH, oversaturation of C02 and failing lighting.
Cyano growths have a positive affect in water quality at high purity thru the release of oxygen that has a high orp
Both a plant and a bacteria
Always present in fresh and saltwater aquariums
Light,nitrogen.nitrates,doc's and C02 are interchangeable-1 or 2 can be missing, but will not stop its growth, or occurance
Use of antibiotics will create a resistant strain and kill off good bacteria
Cyanobacterium cannot be seen under normal microscopes, so to think you dont have cyano would be a misconception
DOC's the immediate result of anything organic that dies off and is decomposed by bacteria, fish slime,algae,bacteria,digested/uneaten food,metabolic waste,live food and some additives
PH controllers- bicarbonates convert to C02=carbon
Red slime pigmentation contains phycoerythrins that absorbs lighting in the 555 to 564 nm range
NOTE... I am not qualified to understand the impacts of the above, when I get a headache I take advil and I dont know whats in that either lol. Steve

[sasquatch]

any suggestions on recording results?? have assembled all equipment for the cyanarium, if I start growing an extra head , it was all in the name of science lol. Steve

[aquaticimports]

Ok here is my two cents.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cyanobacteria (Greek: κυανόs (kyanós) = blue + bacterium) is a phylum (or "division") of Bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. They are often referred to as blue-green algae. The description is primarily used to reflect their appearance and ecological role rather than their evolutionary lineage. Fossil traces of cyanobacteria have been found from around 3.8 billion years ago (b.y.a.). See: Stromatolite. As soon as these blue-green bacteria evolved, they became the dominant metabolism for producing fixed carbon in the form of sugars from carbon dioxide. Cyanobacteria are now one of the largest and most important groups of bacteria on earth.

Cyanobacteria are found in almost every conceivable habitat, from oceans to fresh water to bare rock to soil. They may be single-celled or colonial. Colonies may form filaments, sheets or even hollow balls. Cyanobacteria include unicellular, colonial, and filamentous forms. Some filamentous colonies show the ability to differentiate into three different cell types: vegetative cells are the normal, photosynthetic cells that are formed under favorable growing conditions; akinetes are the climate-resistant spores that may form when environmental conditions become harsh; and thick-walled heterocysts that contain the enzyme nitrogenase, vital for nitrogen fixation, that may also form under the appropriate environmental conditions wherever nitrogen is present. Heterocyst-forming species are specialized for nitrogen fixation and are able to fix nitrogen gas, which cannot be absorbed by plants, into ammonia (NH3), nitrites (NO2−) or nitrates (NO3−), which can be absorbed by plants and converted to protein and nucleic acids. The rice paddies of Asia, which feed about 75% of the world's human population, could not do so were it not for healthy populations of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria in the rice paddy waters.

Each individual cell typically has a thick, gelatinous cell wall, which stains gram-negative. The cyanophytes lack flagella, but may move about by gliding along surfaces. Most are found in fresh water, while others are marine, occur in damp soil, or even temporarily moistened rocks in deserts. A few are endosymbionts in lichens, plants, various protists, or sponges and provide energy for the host. Some live in the fur of sloths, providing a form of camouflage.


Photosynthesis
Cyanobacteria have an elaborate and highly organized system of internal membranes which function in photosynthesis. Photosynthesis in cyanobacteria generally uses water as an electron donor and produces oxygen as a by-product, though some may also use hydrogen sulfide as occurs among other photosynthetic bacteria. Carbon dioxide is reduced to form carbohydrates via the Calvin cycle. In most forms the photosynthetic machinery is embedded into folds of the cell membrane, called thylakoids. The large amounts of oxygen in the atmosphere are considered to have been first created by the activities of ancient cyanobacteria. Due to their ability to fix nitrogen in aerobic conditions they are often found as symbionts with a number of other groups of organisms such as fungi (lichens), corals, pteridophytes (Azolla), angiosperms (Gunnera) etc.

Cyanobacteria are the only group of organisms that are able to reduce nitrogen and carbon in aerobic conditions, a fact that may be responsible for their evolutionary and ecological success. The water-oxidizing photosynthesis is accomplished by coupling the activity of photosystem (PS) II and I. They are also able to use in anaerobic conditions only PS I — cyclic photophosphorylation — with electron donors other than water (hydrogen sulfide, thiosulphate, or even molecular hydrogen) just like purple photosynthetic bacteria. Furthermore, they share an archaebacterial property — the ability to reduce elemental sulfur by anaerobic respiration in the dark. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about these organisms is that their photosynthetic electron transport shares the same compartment as the components of respiratory electron transport. Actually, their plasma membrane contains only components of the respiratory chain, while the thylakoid membrane hosts both respiratory and photosynthetic electron transport.

Attached to thylakoid membrane, phycobilisomes act as light harvesting antennae for photosystem II . The phycobilisome components (phycobiliproteins) are responsible for the blue-green pigmentation of most cyanobacteria. The variations to this theme is mainly due to carotenoids and phycoerythrins which give the cells the red-brownish coloration. In some cyanobacteria, the color of light influences the composition of phycobilisomes. In green light, the cells accumulates more phycoerythrin, whereas in red light they produce more phycocyanin. Thus the bacteria appears green in red light and red in green light. This process is known as complementary chromatic adaptation and is a way for the cells maximize the use of available light for photosynthesis.

Chlorophyll a and several accessory pigments (phycoerythrin and phycocyanin) are embedded in photosynthetic lamellae, the analogs of the eukaryotic thylakoid membranes. The photosynthetic pigments impart a rainbow of possible colors: yellow, red, violet, green, deep blue and blue-green cyanobacteria are known. A few genera, however, lack phycobilins and have chlorophyll b as well as chlorophyll a, giving them a bright green colour. These were originally grouped together as the prochlorophytes or chloroxybacteria, but appear to have developed in several different lines of cyanobacteria.


Relationship to chloroplasts
Chloroplasts found in eukaryotes (algae and higher plants) evolved from an endosymbiotic relation with cyanobacteria. This endosymbiotic theory is supported by various structural and genetic similarities. Primary chloroplasts are found among the green plants, where they contain chlorophyll b, and among the red algae and glaucophytes, where they contain phycobilins. It now appears that these chloroplasts probably had a single origin, in an ancestor of the clade called Primoplantae. Other algae likely took their chloroplasts from these forms by secondary endosymbiosis or ingestion.

It was once thought that the mitochondria in eukaryotes also developed from an endosymbiotic relationship with cyanobacteria; however, we now know that this evolutionary event occurred when aerobic Eubacteria were engulfed by anaerobic host cells. Mitochondria are believed to have originated not from cyanobacteria but from an ancestor of Rickettsia.


Classification
The cyanobacteria were traditionally classified by morphology into five sections, referred to by the numerals I-V. The first three - Chroococcales, Pleurocapsales, and Oscillatoriales - are not supported by phylogenetic studies. However, the latter two - Nostocales and Stigonematales - are monophyletic, and make up the heterocystous cyanobacteria.

Most taxa included in the phylum or division Cyanobacteria have not been validly published under the Bacteriological Code. Except:

The classes Chroobacteria, Hormogoneae and Gloeobacteria
The orders Chroococcales, Gloeobacterales, Nostocales, Oscillatoriales, Pleurocapsales and Stigonematales
The families Prochloraceae and Prochlorotrichaceae
The genera Halospirulina, Planktothricoides, Prochlorococcus, Prochloron, Prochlorothrix.

Biotechnology and applications
Certain cyanobacteria produce cyanotoxins like Anatoxin-a, Anatoxin-as, Aplysiatoxin, Cylindrospermopsin, Domoic acid, Microcystin LR, Nodularin R (from Nodularia), or Saxitoxin. Sometimes a mass-reproduction of cyanobacteria results in algal blooms.

The unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was the first photosynthetic organism whose genome was completely sequenced (in 1996, by the Kazusa Research Institute, Japan). It continues to be an important model organism.

At least one secondary metabolite, cyanovirin, has shown to possess anti-HIV activity.

See hypolith for an example of cyanobacteria living in extreme conditions.

Some cyanobacteria are sold as food, notably Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (E3live) and Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina). It has been suggested that they could be a much more substantial part of human food supplies, as a kind of superfood.

Along with algae, some hydrogen producing cyanobacteria are being considered as an alternative energy source, notably at Princeton University and the Colorado School of Mines.

Health Risks
Some species of cyanobacteria produce neurotoxins, hepatotoxins, cytotoxins, and endotoxins, making them dangerous to animals and humans. Several cases of human poisoning have been documented but a lack of knowledge prevents an accurate assessment of the risks.

[aquaticimports]

Also found this

Cyanobacteria appear in both salt- and freshwater setups and are known as red slime or blue-green algae.

Cyano is a hybrid, a mixture between plant and bacteria. It has therefore plant, as well as bacterial characteristics and is considered the evolutionary link between plants and bacteria. The “algae-bacteria” is always present in each setup. Cyano is unicellular. It cannot be detected even when using a common microscope. What can be seen as slime are thousands of cells bound together by a protective slime coat, while some break away floating freely in the water.

Cyano, being a hybrid, is difficult to remove. Factors for growth are multiple and dealing with the algae-bacteria needs to be on multi levels in order to be effective.

Growth factors include, light, nitrogen-nitrate, dissolved organic carbon, and CO2. All of these factors are basically interchangeable, meaning that one or two factors can be limited, but it won’t stop the algae-bacteria from utilizing the remaining factors, nor will it stun their growth. For the sake of completeness, some limiting factors influence the shape and appearance, but not the occurrence itself.

Light might be an obvious factor as Cyano is able to photosynthesize, but eliminating or reducing the light will not stop the growth. Recalling that Cyano is a hybrid, it will rely on bacterial characteristics to produce energy for growth. Reducing the access to carbon as an alternate approach has no effect by itself either, since the algae-bacteria can use CO2 as a sole carbon source.

A closer look at our lighting may reveal an aging bulb with diminishing wave-lengths. This may create favorable conditions for many if not most algae. For the bacteria-algae light plays a more important role in freshwater setups. For saltwater, while light can’t be ruled out as a contributing factor, growth is dominated by dissolved organic carbon.

Cyanobacteria are often treated with antibiotics, addressing the symptom rather then the cause. Antibiotics are not very selective in what bacteria get killed. Cyano is gram negative (thin cell wall) in much the same way as the beneficial bacteria are. Many bacteria in fresh- and saltwater, especially the ones symbiotic with live rock and sand, are gram negative. All of the bacteria will be affected, either being killed or severely damaged. In consequence their ability to reproduce will also be negatively effected. The bacterial balance is delicate and any disturbance is likely to be responsible for larger problems and fatalities i.e. ammonia spikes, cloudy oxygen-depriving water.

Another consideration when using antibiotics is that bacteria will become increasingly resistant. This resistance may make the antibiotic useless if used for treating fish diseases.

Of course none of the contributing factors causing the cyano have been resolved by using antibiotics.

Dissolved organic carbon is an immediate result of anything organic that has died off and gets decomposed by bacteria. Dissolved organics are a food source of the bacterial side of the bacteria-algae. Sources of dissolved carbon include, fish slime, algae, bacteria, digested/uneaten food, metabolic waste, live food, some aquarium additives etc.

At this point it is worth mentioning that the protective slime coat is pure organic material, adding to the carbon content once it decomposes. In other words, the algae-bacteria contribute to a higher carbon content of the water, adding woes in the fight for its removal.

Aquarium additives, especially pH controllers, contain bicarbonates. Bicarbonates convert into CO2, thus adding to the carbon levels. This also explains why Cyano is often found in saltwater; this setup has a naturally high bicarbonate level.

Limiting dissolved organic carbon can help, but the bacteria-algae is capable of consuming all the carbon needed derived from CO2. It is therefore important, especially for saltwater aquariums, to ensure a proper gas-off by water movement and adjustments of water flow. The more oxygen created, the better the degassing effect.

Skimmers are effective tools, but need to be maintained frequently. A too small or ineffective protein skimmer, high waste loads, or a combination thereof will increase the dissolved carbon level.

As with all types of algae, any uncontrolled growth indicates an imbalanced system, a disturbance of the biological/chemical equilibrium. Cyano is overtaking the aquarium because of a high nutrient availability. Nitrogen-nitrate is taken up from the water column, dissolved organic carbon is in abundance, and the wavelength of the light has reached favorable conditions for photosynthesis to take place more vigorously.

Algone takes care of the nitrates, and dissolved organic carbon by micro-bacterial activity and direct oxidation. This in combination with proper aeration and a reduction of carbon sources will banish and control red slime, directly addressing the cause and balancing the system overall.

[Frankie]

Thats a mouthful! Thanks for the info Brian

[reefjitsu]

That text is a little confused and inaccurate. It has several facts mixed up, most notably the relationship between cyano and other organisms. It refers to cyano as bacteria, algae, a plant and a hybrid. The wiki stuff seems right, but the info in the second post is not techically correct.

Cyano is a hybrid, a mixture between plant and bacteria. It has therefore plant, as well as bacterial characteristics and is considered the evolutionary link between plants and bacteria. The “algae-bacteria” is always present in each setup. Cyano is unicellular. It cannot be detected even when using a common microscope. What can be seen as slime are thousands of cells bound together by a protective slime coat, while some break away floating freely in the water.

Cyano, being a hybrid, is difficult to remove. Factors for growth are multiple and dealing with the algae-bacteria needs to be on multi levels in order to be effective.

Cyano is not a hybrid of plants and bacteria. They are only plant-like in the sense that they are photosynthetic. Cyano evolved hundreds of millions of years before any plants, even before algae. How could it be a hybrid?