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Let's try and Find a Solution for Red Slime


albertthiel

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I know the difference in looks between them. I just thought opposite but thanks for the clarification.

 

You are welcome and hopefully you will not have to deal with red slime ...

 

Albert

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Here are my two cents in regards to Cyano.

 

I agree that Chemi-Clean works, and I've used it myself in the past. However, I think there is a much more natural approach ... and that's prevention. In this hobby, I personally don't feel like we talk about removing detritus from the aquarium enough. I've run tanks for years without thinking too much about it ... but eventually, it always seems to catch up with us.

 

Specifically, I advocate blowing off all live rock and vacuuming the sand bed once per week. These seem like trivial chores, but I feel they're essential to keeping nutrients in the water low and preventing algae and cyano from blooming. I use "Special Grade Reef" sand which is easy to vacuum and doesn't easily get sucked up a siphon. Every week when I do a water chance, I blow off my live rock and vacuum the sand bed ... and every week, I pull out a ton of detritus.

 

If you're running an established tank, vacuuming can be a problem ... so I would suggest starting very slow and vacuuming only a portion of the sand bed each week as to not unleash pandora's box of nutrients into the system.

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Ok im sorry i tried to explain it as best as possible but i guess i failed.lol.

 

Ok as mentioned i never hooked up the reactor and my conclusion was installing the sump and letting the new water dilute the tank completely for roughly 6hrs then removing the added water and the sump.The next day after that is when i noticed it all gone.

 

About a week later was when the bulb went out.so i reall y dont think that had anything to do with it.Although it could have helped prevent the return of the cyano.

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Here are my two cents in regards to Cyano.

 

I agree that Chemi-Clean works, and I've used it myself in the past. However, I think there is a much more natural approach ... and that's prevention. In this hobby, I personally don't feel like we talk about removing detritus from the aquarium enough. I've run tanks for years without thinking too much about it ... but eventually, it always seems to catch up with us.

 

Specifically, I advocate blowing off all live rock and vacuuming the sand bed once per week. These seem like trivial chores, but I feel they're essential to keeping nutrients in the water low and preventing algae and cyano from blooming. I use "Special Grade Reef" sand which is easy to vacuum and doesn't easily get sucked up a siphon. Every week when I do a water chance, I blow off my live rock and vacuum the sand bed ... and every week, I pull out a ton of detritus.

 

If you're running an established tank, vacuuming can be a problem ... so I would suggest starting very slow and vacuuming only a portion of the sand bed each week as to not unleash pandora's box of nutrients into the system.

 

I fully agree with you and what you point out is definitely one of the reasons that nutrients will be present in the tank's water regardless of what compounds one uses and regardless of water changes, as each time a water change is performed, more of the detritus that is trapped in rock crevices, underneath rock and in the sand will just dissolve more nutrients in the water that are then up-taken by opportunistic algae such as slime, hair and other pest algae such as Bryopsis or Bubble algae.

 

Very good points you make that I will add to all the comments I am collecting.

 

Yes ChemiClean works fine indeed and does take care of an existing issue but if what you suggest is not practiced the pest algae and cyanos will soon re-appear.

 

Thanks for your contribution. Excellent !

 

Albert

 

 

Ok im sorry i tried to explain it as best as possible but i guess i failed.lol.

 

Ok as mentioned i never hooked up the reactor and my conclusion was installing the sump and letting the new water dilute the tank completely for roughly 6hrs then removing the added water and the sump.The next day after that is when i noticed it all gone.

 

About a week later was when the bulb went out.so i reall y dont think that had anything to do with it.Although it could have helped prevent the return of the cyano.

 

Thanks for the clarification and now I understand what you did and how.

 

Based on that the light could still have contributed to the appearance of the algae but then maybe not. It may just have been excess nutrients.

 

Glad you got it under control though.

 

Albert

 

 

Here are my two cents in regards to Cyano.

 

If you're running an established tank, vacuuming can be a problem ... so I would suggest starting very slow and vacuuming only a portion of the sand bed each week as to not unleash pandora's box of nutrients into the system.

 

Yes that can indeed pose a problem but your suggestion is definitely a good one .. do small portions at a time and also when placing rock in the tank leave enough space behind it so one can get to those areas as well as very often that is where most of the detritus settles and if hard to get to unless the rock is not against the back glass.

 

Thanks for that point.

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Thanks for the input and I have made a note of your comments ... those are large water changes but if it works for you then obviously that is good

 

And yes waterflow is important as Cyanos are oxygen phobic and like dead spots and that is also why they start in those areas and if you siphon them out they will re-appear in those areas very quickly, sometimes within hours or when the lights come back on.

 

Thanks for the comment on ChemiClean ... and yes that seems to work for a lot of people who have the problem, although some have to do two treatments sometimes ...

 

I'll add your comments to the ones I already have and appreciate your post and info

 

Albert

 

 

 

 

Great info, and thanks for posting it ... yes quick intervention and water changes and making sure there are not dead spots are part of the solution for sure.

 

Interesting that you use distilled water and not RO/DI ... can I ask where you get the distilled water from and whether it is single or double distilled?

 

Thanks .. I am adding it to all the notes I have. Please let me know on the water. Thanks

 

Albert

 

I started my tank with 2 Packaged Nutri Seawater 4.4 containers. Then I cleaned them out and re-purposed them for my reserves. I use one for freshwater and one for premixing my water change saltwater. I buy the Purple/Pink capped Distilled water from Wal-Mart at .88 gallon. The label says it is Steam Distillation , microfiltration, ozonation.

 

Hope that helps.

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I started my tank with 2 Packaged Nutri Seawater 4.4 containers. Then I cleaned them out and re-purposed them for my reserves. I use one for freshwater and one for premixing my water change saltwater. I buy the Purple/Pink capped Distilled water from Wal-Mart at .88 gallon. The label says it is Steam Distillation , microfiltration, ozonation.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Yes that does indeed turbobeast. Thanks for the clarification.

 

I have not tried using distilled water yet but I may have to try it and see whether I get better water quality with it. And at 88 cents a gallon that is a pretty good deal on top of it.

 

Thanks

 

Albert

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Cleaning Live Rock and Live Sand :

 

One of the facts that is becoming clear and that may be a cause of some tanks developing slime algae and others not, is "maintenance" and "cleaning the rocks and all their crevices" and siphoning dirt out of your tank on a regular basis.

 

This is not "the" solution, or the only practice that will eliminate them but it is definitely one that should be practiced more often.

 

Several posters on this thread have already pointed it out and it is certainly a practice that more hobbyists should more than likely adhere to !

 

Albert

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Thank you for this thread Albert. I'll provide you with any info you need about my tank.

 

90g tank, been battling cyano for about 3-4 months now.

 

So far I have tried...

 

More aggressive GFO usage, using 1.5 cups ROWAPHOS, changed whenever I measure phosphate from the reactor output. Right now phosphates are at .03 on Hanna 714, undetectable on Salifert.

 

More aggressive carbon usage, 2 cups in a bag in the sump changed bi-weekly.

 

Reduced feedings, I only feed a cube of formula 1, 2, or a chunk of Rods with some misis every other day.

 

6 attempts of the 3 day lights out, including covering the tank, this did get rid of it for about 2 days each time.

 

Microbacter 7 dosing. This actually seemed to make it worse.

 

3 treatments with Chemi-Clean, reactor, carbon, and skimmer offline. 40% WC after 48hrs, this lightened it in color each time, but never removed it.

 

Increased flow, added an additional 1300GPH powerhead, now display flow is 2600GPH, not including a Tunze 6212 Wavebox (the big one)

 

Large frequent water changes. The only thing this produced was a diatom bloom with every water change, I believe my RODI may be letting silicates through so I bought an Aquatec 8800 booster pump today. I'm on a well so my ressure through my RODI is a bit low, for info, it goes through a 25 micron sediment, 25 micron carbon, 1 micron sediment, .5 micron carbon, 75GPD filmtec membrane, then BRS color changing DI resin.

 

ALso just added a new sump with a refugium with DSB, mangroves, and chaeto, this is only a week old so I'm not sure of results yet.

 

I'm ordering an addition to my CUC in the form of 80 Cerith snails to help my sandbed more.

 

I'm using reef crystals now, going to change salts (hey, I haven't tried it yet haha)

 

Next resort I'm going to try Ultralife's red slime remover.

 

Oh, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, has always been undetectable in my tank, lighting is 2x 150w 20k halides, 2x 96w dual actinic PC's (only used for dusk dawn). Bulbs are 3 months old.

 

Oh, sandbed is 9 months old, when we moved I was forced to get a new tank (center brace broke on our 72 bow) so I replaced 80% of the sandbed when we moved into the new tank.

 

Thank you again for all your help and research on this issue. Brandon429 on RC directed me here.

 

~Rich

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Im interested in watching this cyano thread unfold as well. Peroxide will work for it, what won't peroxide kill lol, but people are interested in other means as well and if I had to interject one non-peroxide option it would be the humble turbo snail. Regrowth after elimination varies among tanks it would be nice to have an always-on consumer of cyano....

those are hit or miss like any clean up crew, but truly I see recurring themes in threads we would have been using peroxide when these rascals make a huge impact on the red invader.

 

There was a pretty significant cyano invasion thread on RC back in june, worst Id ever seen, 100% of the tank blanketed with a deep maroon, velvet coating, and he'd done similar cleanings/lights out to no avail.

 

naturally we tried simple systemic dosing of peroxide at the known safe doses, he was unwilling to exceed out to the 4mls per gallon we can do on tanks with nonsensitive species (no anems, cleaner lysmatas etc)

 

at 1:10 dosing he didn't beat the cyano, but then again he never did the recommended submerged spot treatments which is way more concentrating on the target vs simply dumping in it tank...but he was at his wits end and probably didn't think that would matter much so its hard to evaluate the h202 unless we try the right method.

 

 

lo and behold he puts in two lucky turbos and they scrape half the tank clean in a week, thats about the 4th time ive seen their work in after pics on would-be peroxide threads

 

so, before we do peroxide it is very accurate to include margarita and turbo snails as known mowers of cyano. if anyone does peroxide as the treatment I recommend the submerged, pumps off spot treatment in sections to eradicate it. Max dosage between 1 and 4 mls per gallon should be made after comparing the tank inhabitants to the list of known sensitives in any of the big peroxide threads.

 

 

Santa Monica claims turf scrubbers will prevent it, that can't be discounted. There's two more decent options for cyano control

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Thank you for this thread Albert. I'll provide you with any info you need about my tank.

 

90g tank, been battling cyano for about 3-4 months now.

 

So far I have tried...

 

More aggressive GFO usage, using 1.5 cups ROWAPHOS, changed whenever I measure phosphate from the reactor output. Right now phosphates are at .03 on Hanna 714, undetectable on Salifert.

 

More aggressive carbon usage, 2 cups in a bag in the sump changed bi-weekly.

 

Reduced feedings, I only feed a cube of formula 1, 2, or a chunk of Rods with some misis every other day.

 

6 attempts of the 3 day lights out, including covering the tank, this did get rid of it for about 2 days each time.

 

Microbacter 7 dosing. This actually seemed to make it worse.

 

3 treatments with Chemi-Clean, reactor, carbon, and skimmer offline. 40% WC after 48hrs, this lightened it in color each time, but never removed it.

 

Increased flow, added an additional 1300GPH powerhead, now display flow is 2600GPH, not including a Tunze 6212 Wavebox (the big one)

 

Large frequent water changes. The only thing this produced was a diatom bloom with every water change, I believe my RODI may be letting silicates through so I bought an Aquatec 8800 booster pump today. I'm on a well so my ressure through my RODI is a bit low, for info, it goes through a 25 micron sediment, 25 micron carbon, 1 micron sediment, .5 micron carbon, 75GPD filmtec membrane, then BRS color changing DI resin.

 

ALso just added a new sump with a refugium with DSB, mangroves, and chaeto, this is only a week old so I'm not sure of results yet.

 

I'm ordering an addition to my CUC in the form of 80 Cerith snails to help my sandbed more.

 

I'm using reef crystals now, going to change salts (hey, I haven't tried it yet haha)

 

Next resort I'm going to try Ultralife's red slime remover.

 

Oh, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, has always been undetectable in my tank, lighting is 2x 150w 20k halides, 2x 96w dual actinic PC's (only used for dusk dawn). Bulbs are 3 months old.

 

Oh, sandbed is 9 months old, when we moved I was forced to get a new tank (center brace broke on our 72 bow) so I replaced 80% of the sandbed when we moved into the new tank.

 

Thank you again for all your help and research on this issue. Brandon429 on RC directed me here.

 

~Rich

 

Well it seems like you have tried just about everything that is available to clean up the water but unfortunately once they are in the aquarium and spreading based on feedback received so far, that does not appear to work and get rid of them, although you may see or have seen a temporary decrease, or change in color.

 

Once red and green slime cyanobacteria appear, they will spread even if you siphon them out every day, and do water changes and use all the chemical filtration products you mentioned. None of that seems to help.

 

At this point I agree with you, the way to go would be with a red slime remover, and based on what has been posted so far I would suggest, but it is up to you, that you use the Boyd ChemiClean product.

 

That is the one where most have reported good success with and no harm to any life forms (do make sure you use the right dose, and aerate the aquarium well).

 

Follow the instructions and you will get rid of them with one, or maybe two treatments.

 

If you do two, spread them a few days apart is my suggestion.

 

After the first one do a large water change, put fresh carbon in the filtration system, let it run for 48 hours and do another water change on day 2, then wait another day and start treatment #2.

 

After that they should be gone ...

 

Should you have any questions about its use let me know here or on my thread "The Official Ask Albert" one.

 

Keep us posted

 

Albert

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Im interested in watching this cyano thread unfold as well. Peroxide will work for it, what won't peroxide kill lol, but people are interested in other means as well and if I had to interject one non-peroxide option it would be the humble turbo snail. Regrowth after elimination varies among tanks it would be nice to have an always-on consumer of cyano....

those are hit or miss like any clean up crew, but truly I see recurring themes in threads we would have been using peroxide when these rascals make a huge impact on the red invader.

 

There was a pretty significant cyano invasion thread on RC back in june, worst Id ever seen, 100% of the tank blanketed with a deep maroon, velvet coating, and he'd done similar cleanings/lights out to no avail.

 

naturally we tried simple systemic dosing of peroxide at the known safe doses, he was unwilling to exceed out to the 4mls per gallon we can do on tanks with nonsensitive species (no anems, cleaner lysmatas etc)

 

at 1:10 dosing he didn't beat the cyano, but then again he never did the recommended submerged spot treatments which is way more concentrating on the target vs simply dumping in it tank...but he was at his wits end and probably didn't think that would matter much so its hard to evaluate the h202 unless we try the right method.

 

 

lo and behold he puts in two lucky turbos and they scrape half the tank clean in a week, thats about the 4th time ive seen their work in after pics on would-be peroxide threads

 

so, before we do peroxide it is very accurate to include margarita and turbo snails as known mowers of cyano. if anyone does peroxide as the treatment I recommend the submerged, pumps off spot treatment in sections to eradicate it. Max dosage between 1 and 4 mls per gallon should be made after comparing the tank inhabitants to the list of known sensitives in any of the big peroxide threads.

 

 

Santa Monica claims turf scrubbers will prevent it, that can't be discounted. There's two more decent options for cyano control

 

Brandon,

 

There is no doubt that using H2O2 will work for some, but based on my own readings and findings only if the tank is not "overtaken" by them.

 

When that is the case, full tank dosing my be needed and when that is done, my suggestion is that the animals be removed and housed in a small tank maintained with aeration and water changes, and use strong dosage in the main tank.

 

If animals are left, the strong dosage may affect them or may not, depending on how much peroxide is used.

 

I think that the key is to maintain ones aquarium in such a way that they do not appear, and the suggested manner in which to do so will be posted once I have more info from more postings by others.

 

I am not discounting the spot treatment for small patches as I know that works, but as I said if the tank is full of red slime that may be difficult to accomplish and the quantities used would probably come near a full tank treatment anyway.

 

Right now I am still collecting data and info and experiences and so far the response by Hobbyists is excellent I must say.

 

What I found interesting were the postings where hobbyists reported that they used "distilled" water and did no have any problems. Any thoughts on why that could or would be versus using RO/DI water ?

 

Thanks for your comments ... and as I indicated in other messages I am keeping a DB of all the info I get ...

 

Albert

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Im interested in watching this cyano thread unfold as well. Peroxide will work for it, what won't peroxide kill lol,

 

so, before we do peroxide it is very accurate to include margarita and turbo snails as known mowers of cyano. if anyone does peroxide as the treatment I recommend the submerged, pumps off spot treatment in sections to eradicate it. Max dosage between 1 and 4 mls per gallon should be made after comparing the tank inhabitants to the list of known sensitives in any of the big peroxide threads.

 

Santa Monica claims turf scrubbers will prevent it, that can't be discounted. There's two more decent options for cyano control

 

Brandon :

 

Can you elaborate please on the type of Snails that actually really eat the slime ...

 

I have seen so many contradictory posts on whether they do or not, and what Snails to use and even Hermits (Red Legged Mexican Hermits) ... and more ...

 

Do you have specific evidence that they do consume cyanobacteria or just the coating that grows on top (the slime) or do they actually consume the bacteria as well.

 

Also which ones have you found or read about that really do the job well ...

 

Thanks

 

Albert

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Well it seems like you have tried just about everything that is available to clean up the water but unfortunately once they are in the aquarium and spreading based on feedback received so far, that does not appear to work and get rid of them, although you may see or have seen a temporary decrease, or change in color.

 

Once red and green slime cyanobacteria appear, they will spread even if you siphon them out every day, and do water changes and use all the chemical filtration products you mentioned. None of that seems to help.

 

At this point I agree with you, the way to go would be with a red slime remover, and based on what has been posted so far I would suggest, but it is up to you, that you use the Boyd ChemiClean product.

 

That is the one where most have reported good success with and no harm to any life forms (do make sure you use the right dose, and aerate the aquarium well).

 

Follow the instructions and you will get rid of them with one, or maybe two treatments.

 

If you do two, spread them a few days apart is my suggestion.

 

After the first one do a large water change, put fresh carbon in the filtration system, let it run for 48 hours and do another water change on day 2, then wait another day and start treatment #2.

 

After that they should be gone ...

 

Should you have any questions about its use let me know here or on my thread "The Official Ask Albert" one.

 

Keep us posted

 

Albert

 

Thank you Albert. I have done cheiclean 3 times now, I'm thinking of Ultralife Red Slime Remover since it may use a different method of removing the red slime.

 

Thank you again! Honestly, I have so much respect for the chemists for our community it's ridiculous.

 

~Rich

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Thank you Albert. I have done cheiclean 3 times now, I'm thinking of Ultralife Red Slime Remover since it may use a different method of removing the red slime.

 

Thank you again! Honestly, I have so much respect for the chemists for our community it's ridiculous.

 

~Rich

 

I understand Rich and if ChemiClean did not do it then yes maybe trying another product may eradicate them. If the amount you have if very large my suggestion is to siphon as much of it out as you can, but then you may have done that.

 

Keep us updated please on how the treatment with the Ultralife product worked for you.

 

Thanks and I hope that this time you get rid of them.

 

Albert

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I understand Rich and if ChemiClean did not do it then yes maybe trying another product may eradicate them. If the amount you have if very large my suggestion is to siphon as much of it out as you can, but then you may have done that.

 

Keep us updated please on how the treatment with the Ultralife product worked for you.

 

Thanks and I hope that this time you get rid of them.

 

Albert

 

I will for sure. My outbreak is not as bad as some I've seen here, it's localized to the sandbed. I will get a pic after the halides come on.

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I will for sure. My outbreak is not as bad as some I've seen here, it's localized to the sandbed. I will get a pic after the halides come on.

 

Great thanks. Pictures always help and show others what minor and in some cases major appearances of them look like,

 

I appreciate it.

 

Albert

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I just want to confirm, cyano is NOT the same as red bubble algae, correct? I have some problems with the red bubble algae and if that could be cured by items in this thread, then all the better.

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I just want to confirm, cyano is NOT the same as red bubble algae, correct? I have some problems with the red bubble algae and if that could be cured by items in this thread, then all the better.

 

No red bubble algae is a true algae and totally different from cyanos and the methods that were described will not work on bubble algae.

 

If you do not have too many siphoning them out is the easiest way to get rid of them (don't burst the bubble though).

 

If you have plenty you many need to remove the rocks on which they are and remove the bubble algae one by one, or boil the rock and get rid of them that way.

 

Some have used Emerald crabs and report that they ate them. Problem is Emeralds may go for other organisms too ... and if they go for the bubble algae once those are gone they need to be fed or they will become opportunistic eaters and could go for Zoas etc ...

 

Give me some more details on how many you have but since this thread is about Cyanos, post your response to my OFFICIAL ASK ALBERT Thread ... thanks

 

Albert

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Hi all, I'd like to chime in here as I feel I'm doing everything right however my cyano started from a small problem to a full outbreak. It only seams to be on my rock. I haven't observed it on my glass or sand. It hasn't yet affected my corals however I really need to get this taken care of as I have a party the end of October and I need this resolved sooner then later.

 

Tank: Aquapod 24 w/ a medium HOB Aquafuge 2. A Tunze skimmer is located inside the fuge as well as live sand, fiji mud, & chaeto. It also has a larger crab that I got by mistake which I put inside the fuge and he seams to keep things under control.

 

I also have live sand in the display ~1 inch and my tank cycled really quick. I began stocking immediately after with CUC then fish then coral. I haven't lost any CUC then I can tell and my 3 fish are doing well. I've lost 1 pineapple frag however every other coral in my tank has shown growth. I've averaged putting in 2 frags a week. - no QT on anything (yeah I know) however i've dipped all corals.

 

At the end of the cycle I've had a small burst of diatoms which disappeared on it's own in 2-3 days. This is when I added my CUC. My only other algae besides the cyano is every few days I get a very light layer of green on my glass that I would scrape. Now my snails do a pretty good job with that.

 

I just recently put in a BRS reactor and am running BRS GFO on the bottom at a very slow rumble & ROX 0.8 at the top o the reactor sandwiched between the 2 foam disks. Prior to this my phosphates measured 0 on my Salifert test but we all know how the phosphate tests go.

 

I complete approx 3 gallon water change twice / week and blow off the cyano daily. I put a filter pad on my false wall overflow to catch the suspended cyano and replace every other day. Feeding is a very small amount of flakes to the fish every morning or sometimes I even skip a day. I feed the coral about once / week targeting with flow off. Afterwards I turn the flow on and eventually replace the filter pad I have on my overflow once it removes the remaining suspended food.

 

I would hope that I'm doing everything right however the only thing that affects the cyano is flow (which I think I have enough of and I'm not going to keep power heads blasted at every part of the rock. I have not reduced lighting as I read that this isn't fully effective and the cyano will return. I do have a new MH bulb that will be here today as I think it's time to change my Phoenix bulb anyway. Perhaps it's loosing spectrum.

 

I've resorted to ordering chemiclean online as I can't find it locally. I would have preferred not to use it however if I don't see any signs of improvement within the next week when it gets here (slow ground shipping) then I'll be another subject for your research and I'll post back the results.

 

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There is no sign of cyano in my Aquafuge even though I'm sure it exists in there. What I wanted to do was turn the pump off from the tank to the Aquafuge and medicate the tank only so that the good bacteria in the fuge isn't destroyed. I wasn't going to turn the fuge pump back on until after the water change. Do you think this is a good idea or would only introduce cyano back into the tank? If the cynao is destroyed in the display but returns when I turn the fuge back on I could always remedicate.

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Oh, yes I tried vodka, then vinegar. Made the outbreak MUCH worse. I did it in conjunction with MB7 to try to outcompete as you said.

 

Here is a pic of the worst area of our tank. (the area with the most flow :huh: )

post-74805-1348590742_thumb.jpg

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Hi all, I'd like to chime in here as I feel I'm doing everything right however my cyano started from a small problem to a full outbreak. It only seams to be on my rock. I haven't observed it on my glass or sand. It hasn't yet affected my corals however I really need to get this taken care of as I have a party the end of October and I need this resolved sooner then later.

 

Tank: Aquapod 24 w/ a medium HOB Aquafuge 2. A Tunze skimmer is located inside the fuge as well as live sand, fiji mud, & chaeto. It also has a larger crab that I got by mistake which I put inside the fuge and he seams to keep things under control.

 

I also have live sand in the display ~1 inch and my tank cycled really quick. I began stocking immediately after with CUC then fish then coral. I haven't lost any CUC then I can tell and my 3 fish are doing well. I've lost 1 pineapple frag however every other coral in my tank has shown growth. I've averaged putting in 2 frags a week. - no QT on anything (yeah I know) however i've dipped all corals.

 

At the end of the cycle I've had a small burst of diatoms which disappeared on it's own in 2-3 days. This is when I added my CUC. My only other algae besides the cyano is every few days I get a very light layer of green on my glass that I would scrape. Now my snails do a pretty good job with that.

 

I just recently put in a BRS reactor and am running BRS GFO on the bottom at a very slow rumble & ROX 0.8 at the top o the reactor sandwiched between the 2 foam disks. Prior to this my phosphates measured 0 on my Salifert test but we all know how the phosphate tests go.

 

I complete approx 3 gallon water change twice / week and blow off the cyano daily. I put a filter pad on my false wall overflow to catch the suspended cyano and replace every other day. Feeding is a very small amount of flakes to the fish every morning or sometimes I even skip a day. I feed the coral about once / week targeting with flow off. Afterwards I turn the flow on and eventually replace the filter pad I have on my overflow once it removes the remaining suspended food.

 

I would hope that I'm doing everything right however the only thing that affects the cyano is flow (which I think I have enough of and I'm not going to keep power heads blasted at every part of the rock. I have not reduced lighting as I read that this isn't fully effective and the cyano will return. I do have a new MH bulb that will be here today as I think it's time to change my Phoenix bulb anyway. Perhaps it's loosing spectrum.

 

I've resorted to ordering chemiclean online as I can't find it locally. I would have preferred not to use it however if I don't see any signs of improvement within the next week when it gets here (slow ground shipping) then I'll be another subject for your research and I'll post back the results.

 

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There is no sign of cyano in my Aquafuge even though I'm sure it exists in there. What I wanted to do was turn the pump off from the tank to the Aquafuge and medicate the tank only so that the good bacteria in the fuge isn't destroyed. I wasn't going to turn the fuge pump back on until after the water change. Do you think this is a good idea or would only introduce cyano back into the tank? If the cynao is destroyed in the display but returns when I turn the fuge back on I could always remedicate.

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I think that everything you have done is fine, except for dusting the cyanos off the rocks and putting them in the water column, which does not remove them, but that is only a potential cure even if all of them were sucked out.

 

The underlying causes that makes them grow still exist or they would not continue growing so my guess is that something else is going on in the tank and that is what causes it.

 

The chemical filtration may very well clean up your water but as you say, there will still be nutrients in the water and cyanos can store PO4 for later use so even if you ran the tank at 0.000 ppm of PO4 (which is of course not possible) they would still have a reserve to keep growing.

 

The bulb may have contributed to their growth if the spectrum shifted too much towards the red so with the new bulb you are making a move in the right direction

 

The other recommendation is to do some rescaping to get more flow overall and in your case you may need a good strong power head to really create flow and eliminate any dead spots (cyanos are oxygen phobic) as that is where they usually appear first and then spread from there.

 

If changing the bulb and increasing water flow, and "siphoning" out the cyanos slime does not do it then yes I would give it a treatment with the ChemiClean making sure you follow the directions to the letter.

 

Oxygen starvation is the main issue that can arise so that is also why you need more flow and possibly an air bubbler during the treatment if you have to resort to it.

 

Thanks for the detailed description and keep us posted on what happens after you implement the light change and the flow change

 

Albert

 

 

Has anyone out there with a skimmer tried carbon dosing to outcompete the cyano for nutrients?

 

Very good question Ben.

 

NO one has brought that up yet and I did not either to see whether someone would suggest it.

 

So now the question is out there ....

 

IS ANYONE using the VSV method (you have to have a skimmer when you do) ... using either Vinegar or Vodka or Sugar (glucose is best apparently but you can use table sugar).

 

Let us know.

 

Thanks

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Oh, yes I tried vodka, then vinegar. Made the outbreak MUCH worse. I did it in conjunction with MB7 to try to outcompete as you said.

 

Here is a pic of the worst area of our tank. (the area with the most flow :huh: )

This would be one of those times when it would get much worse before it could get better, as the cyanobacteria is most likely carbon limited, as well. How long did you try it for, what did your skimmate look like during dosing, what dose did you use, and what skimmer are you using?

 

Albert, cyanobacteria is red in color, therefore it reflects red spectrum. I see that all the time that people attribute lower-kelvin lighting to helping it grow, but it just can't work that way from my understanding of it.

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Wanted to add that UV sterilization is directly impactful to cyano if the uv is sized right

 

You would manually remove via siphon all the cyano in the tank, then install an oversized UV to burn out what's in the water

We've done this with pics in the pest algae challenge thread in nanos forum at Rc.

 

Cyano is quite impacted by it, consider a UV cheat ran as needed, nobody says it has to always be on although it would in my tanks

 

 

I've had people hook up UV sterilizers for a 300 gallon tank on a BC 14, talk about sized right...

 

 

UV is a non chemical option that should be considered, anyone posting pics would see nice after pics if you can borrow one from a local reef meeting or pond keepers club/shop

 

Cyano has a transitory phase between the air, water and substrate to be intercepted by a uv filter whereas obligate hitchhikers like dictyota invasions do not

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