How to get rid of Cyanobacteria? Black /red Slime

[C2 da fish]

So I have done some research and it looks like I have Cyanobacteria on my live rock I noticed it a while but just left it alone i clean my tank pretty good and do weekly water changes and I’m using blue life clear fx and I noticed it just stays on my rock it’s like bonded into the rock and it feels slimy when I touch it , it looks red or green but turns black after Awhile and won’t blow off with a turkey baster I was thinking of using “Chemi Clean” and I do have a corals and fish btw and my tank is 6 month old and I use reef crystals ro/di it does get on the sand also but I clean. My sand often 

[C2 da fish]

I also confused it with diatoms I think originally

[C2 da fish]

Could it be coraline algae in the making ?  

[Donny41]

Can you brush/RIP it off? Doesn't sound like coraline

[C2 da fish]

39 minutes ago, Donny41 said:

Can you brush/RIP it off? Doesn't sound like coraline

Yes but I have left some on the rock because I thought it was diatoms and over time it’s black hard to come off 

[Oldsalt01]

Cyano is generally a low flow/detritus build-up issue. Diatoms feed on high silicate levels, often seen with dry rock based new tanks. Pics would help w/ID, but it sounds like cyano to me. Upping the flow and sand bed vacuuming will help.

[seabass]

As Oldsalt01 stated, cyano is usually due to an issue with organics (could be detritus on the rocks or in the sand bed, or even DOC in the water).  Higher flow can help keep this in suspension and allow filter media (mechanical and/or chemical) to remove it.

 

A turkey baster can help blow off detritus from the bare rock during maintenance, while vacuuming detritus off of the sand bed will help keep the substrate clean.  A protein skimmer (or activated carbon) can assist in removing dissolved organics from the water column.

 

If you've addressed the organics in the tank and cyano still exists, then you should use ChemiClean to help knock it out and remove the stains.  First manually remove as much cyano as possible then add additional aeration to your tank during treatment.

 

In some cases, cyano is caused by a bacterial imbalance.  Sometimes dosing a product like Microbacter7 can help.  Also, being photosynthetic, you might want to look at your light schedule and/or lighting.

[C2 da fish]

[C2 da fish]

3 hours ago, seabass said:

As Oldsalt01 stated, cyano is usually due to an issue with organics (could be detritus on the rocks or in the sand bed, or even DOC in the water).  Higher flow can help keep this in suspension and allow filter media (mechanical and/or chemical) to remove it.

 

A turkey baster can help blow off detritus from the bare rock during maintenance, while vacuuming detritus off of the sand bed will help keep the substrate clean.  A protein skimmer (or activated carbon) can assist in removing dissolved organics from the water column.

 

If you've addressed the organics in the tank and cyano still exists, then you should use ChemiClean to help knock it out and remove the stains.  First manually remove as much cyano as possible then add additional aeration to your tank during treatment.

 

In some cases, cyano is caused by a bacterial imbalance.  Sometimes dosing a product like Microbacter7 can help.  Also, being photosynthetic, you might want to look at your light schedule and/or lighting.

Thanks I have my light on the the highest at 6 1/2 hours with ramp up time 2 hours and ramp down 1 hour and dosing dr tims might help with bacterial imbalance ?

[seabass]

4 minutes ago, C2 da fish said:

dosing dr tims might help with bacterial imbalance ?

Maybe.  But I think DrTim's One & Only might primarily be nitrifying bacteria.  Their Waste-Away product might be a better choice.  Microbacter7 claims to be a blend of natural enzymes and non-pathogenic, beneficial microorganisms.  Again, organics are probably the bigger issue here.

[mcarroll]

On 11/30/2018 at 3:17 PM, C2 da fish said:

I don't see an issue here other than a lack of coraline algae.  :)  (Don't see any CUC either....can you list what you have?)

 

Is the tank very new?

 

Can you post current test results for all mineral and nutrient levels?

 

High nutrient levels in general should drive green algae growth as they are more competitive under that circumtance.

 

Cyano is more competitive when (often unbalanced) conditions can't support green algae.  Often this implies a lack of nitrates, but it's not cut and dried.

 

I wouldn't take any action until you look further into the "problem".

[Oldsalt01]

As mcarroll sed: No "obvious" issues, however, higher white balance for photos and close-ups of problem areas makes ID'ing problems much simpler for us. I also am not seeing any obvious surface agitation in the provided photo, which can lead to poor gas exchange. If that's GSP in the center of the pic, high on that rock, you need to rethink it's position in the tank. That stuff can be troublesome if not isolated on it's own island, as it will take over whatever rock it is on, spread quickly, and can irritate other corals. Search "GSP growth - 10 weeks", in the Coral Forum on this site, in which I documented GSP growth on a rock island over the course of 10 weeks and you'll see what I mean. I wish I could get my zoas to grow that well, lol!

[C2 da fish]

On 12/3/2018 at 3:08 PM, Oldsalt01 said:

As mcarroll sed: No "obvious" issues, however, higher white balance for photos and close-ups of problem areas makes ID'ing problems much simpler for us. I also am not seeing any obvious surface agitation in the provided photo, which can lead to poor gas exchange. If that's GSP in the center of the pic, high on that rock, you need to rethink it's position in the tank. That stuff can be troublesome if not isolated on it's own island, as it will take over whatever rock it is on, spread quickly, and can irritate other corals. Search "GSP growth - 10 weeks", in the Coral Forum on this site, in which I documented GSP growth on a rock island over the course of 10 weeks and you'll see what I mean. I wish I could get my zoas to grow that well, lol!

Turned on whites I know it red slime I added the Chemi clean and it seems to be taking it down slowly it’s been 48 hours but I’ve read it takes up to 72 hours but on the rock it’s like brown black you have use a finger nail to get it off 

[C2 da fish]

I was thinking manually removing it like scrub it . The hard black build up I’m testing my water now 

[C2 da fish]

On 12/3/2018 at 3:08 PM, Oldsalt01 said:

As mcarroll sed: No "obvious" issues, however, higher white balance for photos and close-ups of problem areas makes ID'ing problems much simpler for us. I also am not seeing any obvious surface agitation in the provided photo, which can lead to poor gas exchange. If that's GSP in the center of the pic, high on that rock, you need to rethink it's position in the tank. That stuff can be troublesome if not isolated on it's own island, as it will take over whatever rock it is on, spread quickly, and can irritate other corals. Search "GSP growth - 10 weeks", in the Coral Forum on this site, in which I documented GSP growth on a rock island over the course of 10 weeks and you'll see what I mean. I wish I could get my zoas to grow that well, lol!

Turned off pumps for pics btw and I do have surface agitation now after adding Chemi clean , And took out blue life clear fx I had that it there for about 2 months 

[seabass]

Some of the film you mentioned won't be cyanobacteria.  Manual removal will help; so should beefing up your cleanup crew.

 

Yeah, that media was probably exhausted weeks ago.

[C2 da fish]

S.G 1.024

Nitrate 5 ppm

Alkalinity 7.0

Calcium 420

Magnesium 1200ppm

Phosphate 0.04ppm

havent dome water change in 1 week an a half 

[C2 da fish]

44 minutes ago, seabass said:

Some of the film you mentioned won't be cyanobacteria.  Manual removal will help; so should beefing up your cleanup crew.

 

Yeah, that media was probably exhausted weeks ago.

Which clean up crew do you recommend ? 

[C2 da fish]

On 12/3/2018 at 8:40 AM, mcarroll said:

I don't see an issue here other than a lack of coraline algae.  🙂 (Don't see any CUC either....can you list what you have?)

 

Is the tank very new?

 

Can you post current test results for all mineral and nutrient levels?

 

High nutrient levels in general should drive green algae growth as they are more competitive under that circumtance.

 

Cyano is more competitive when (often unbalanced) conditions can't support green algae.  Often this implies a lack of nitrates, but it's not cut and dried.

 

I wouldn't take any action until you look further into the "problem".

I posted results tank about 6 months

[Oldsalt01]

9 minutes ago, C2 da fish said:

Which clean up crew do you recommend ? 

Florida Ceriths, Dwarf Ceriths, Spiny Astrea, Trochus, Turbo’s, Cowries, just to name a few. Hermits work over time but can be murderous if they spy a snail whose shell they like.

[C2 da fish]

2 hours ago, Oldsalt01 said:

Florida Ceriths, Dwarf Ceriths, Spiny Astrea, Trochus, Turbo’s, Cowries, just to name a few. Hermits work over time but can be murderous if they spy a snail whose shell they like.

I have like. 3 hermits and 1 nassarius snail that’s it but I have been wanting to add a spiny snail and turbo how much do o add tho ?

[seabass]

6 hours ago, C2 da fish said:

how much do i add tho ?

Maybe something like a half a dozen herbivorous snails.

[C2 da fish]

On 12/5/2018 at 11:47 PM, seabass said:

Maybe something like a half a dozen herbivorous snails.

Can I add microbacter7 with Chemi pure and poly filter in my tank currently ?

[Oldsalt01]

22 minutes ago, C2 da fish said:

Can I add microbacter7 with Chemi pure and poly filter in my tank currently ?

Personally, I prefer to rely on natural predators for algae. Mother Nature figured it out long before we came along. It’s more work intensive but you don’t mess with the chemical balance. Just my $.02.

[C2 da fish]

2 hours ago, Oldsalt01 said:

Personally, I prefer to rely on natural predators for algae. Mother Nature figured it out long before we came along. It’s more work intensive but you don’t mess with the chemical balance. Just my $.02.

So you stick your hand in your tank every other day to remove algae?