Cyanobacteria on sandbed

[JoeMan02]

Hey, ive been getting cyanobacteria (red slime algae) outbreaks mainly on the sandbed and a little on the rocks of my 13g. I cant really adjust the pumps because of how small the tank is, and the corals are doing well with the current flow. I just lowered the photo period from 12 to 10 hours on the LEDs the system came with (its a fluval evo 13.5). I make a point not to overfeed and I only feed corals once a week. I do a 5g water change every two weeks. Pictures are below. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated because im completely stymied at the moment.

[brandon429]

one good rip cleaning session would be the best. it will beat any additive you could ever buy

 

cyano and cousins are constantly getting into our tank from the environment, they aren't like most invaders like plants. these bac can even be brought on with high white lighting when in otherwise good conditions...my own tank requires much heavier blue lighting to avoid issues like that above at times, especially when my sandbed is a little dirty.

 

regarding the sandbed, if you reached in that tank and grabbed a handful and dropped it down (don't do it, but consider) it would cloud massively right?

 

if so, then you could take apart the tank, rip clean all of it, rinse out the sand with tap water until its clean, then rinse with saltwater, then put all back in. as long as you put the fish back in the same temp and salinity he w be fine with a full water change, the corals as well.

 

partial water changes work as semi-maintenance. a nano reef of this size with a fish and associated feed/waste will benefit from rip cleanings any ole time you want to run one, they're skip cycle work so it wouldn't matter if you did one weekly though I am for every 5 mos w my pico, going on 11 yrs. here's a rip cleaning sand thread

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-official-sand-rinse-thread-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

 

 

to handle cyno like that is to handle it from the bottom up, where the food stores are, by ripping out both the cyano and the food source. afterwards, you'll be able to have sand that is this clean, no clouding even when handled roughly

 

this is my tap water rinse, soon after the whole reef is reassembled and runs another several mos.

 

 

[JoeMan02]

21 hours ago, brandon429 said:

one good rip cleaning session would be the best. it will beat any additive you could ever buy

 

cyano and cousins are constantly getting into our tank from the environment, they aren't like most invaders like plants. these bac can even be brought on with high white lighting when in otherwise good conditions...my own tank requires much heavier blue lighting to avoid issues like that above at times, especially when my sandbed is a little dirty.

 

regarding the sandbed, if you reached in that tank and grabbed a handful and dropped it down (don't do it, but consider) it would cloud massively right?

 

if so, then you could take apart the tank, rip clean all of it, rinse out the sand with tap water until its clean, then rinse with saltwater, then put all back in. as long as you put the fish back in the same temp and salinity he w be fine with a full water change, the corals as well.

 

partial water changes work as semi-maintenance. a nano reef of this size with a fish and associated feed/waste will benefit from rip cleanings any ole time you want to run one, they're skip cycle work so it wouldn't matter if you did one weekly though I am for every 5 mos w my pico, going on 11 yrs. here's a rip cleaning sand thread

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-official-sand-rinse-thread-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

 

 

to handle cyno like that is to handle it from the bottom up, where the food stores are, by ripping out both the cyano and the food source. afterwards, you'll be able to have sand that is this clean, no clouding even when handled roughly

 

this is my tap water rinse, soon after the whole reef is reassembled and runs another several mos.

 

 

great info, thanks! just one question, wouldn't rinsing with tap water kill all the beneficial bacteria in the sand resulting in a mini crash?

[brandon429]

its ok to do because we are in short duration, the final rinse is back with saltwater.

 

 

the tap was the muscle unending to clean out the sand, unlimited rinsing. fine trick of the trade! we are salt water rinsing before any doom to them. like when we must hold our breath to go underwater a while but fine upon resurfacing.

 

we review that toughness state of bacteria housed in filtration systems right up front in the thread because its the most legit concern, and having that concern prevents lots of beds from being bootcamped into shape.

 

we use examples of changing to bare bottom, my own actual hot water rinsing of the bed in a super old nano, and principles of high-surface area microbiology as to why we are free to do whatever we want to a sandbed. I could take my own aged bed and soak it in acid killing every living cell on it, rinse it w saltwater, and reinstall it truly sterile and my system would proceed the same...this is how people's tanks survive that go bare bottom, losing some bac doesn't matter when live rock is there.

 

 

[Clown79]

You also have to determine the cause of cyano.

 

Something is causing the nutrient issue

 

Do you clean the back chambers?

Do you use filter sponges?

What other media is used?

 

Do you vacuum your sandbed during waterchanges?

 

Do you blast the rocks with a turkey baster?

 

Whats your water source?

 

Gutting the tank will get rid of it but finding the cause will prevent it from being an issue again