Best Cyanobacteria removal method

kategreatwhite

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I have tried for a while to get rid of the redslime on the dabbed of my tank. I have been trying to figure out the best removal method. I have read many different things on this topic. Some say to get a sand sifting goby and others say to cyphon out as much as possible and then use chemiclean. I am also aware that the main cause is phosphates and nitrates. If I already have a phosphate remover in the tank should I try getting Seachem Matrix Bio Media which is really good in eliminating nitrates? Which is the best option? Please help
 
Cyano can come from a variety of sources. For starters make sure you're not over feeding or have the tank over stocked. Make you that you're skimmer is adequately removing organics. If something in your tank has died that can cause outbreaks. Chemicals work, but I personally don't use them for my tank as some of the corals will close up for weeks even after I've used it.

What kind of phosphate remover are you using in your tank?
 
Black Trochus snails eat it and I have used them in the past, however you need a whole lot. Those are the best snails in my opinion period, and the only ones I have ever seen eat cyano. Liveaquaria has the best price/best specimens. I've ordered them from other places with high death toll but generally all make it from liveaquaria. You would still need to syphon the cyano from the sand bed as the snails won't go there for it. I would keep up with syphoning it manually as much as possible anyhow. If you use a smaller (like 3/8") hose you can syphon it out great without sucking out a ton of water.

If you can afford, or can't have the snails due to fish predators, then I would suggest chemiclean. Follow directions to the T, and do not overdose the product. I have a mixed reef with acros, monti, basically every sps you can think of, many different lps, zoas, etc and I had no issues with any of my coral. In fact the day after many corals looked better than ever. I had very little cyano at that time, but it was enough to cause annoyance.

If you do some searching, chemiclean is actually a highly suggested dip treatment for zoas with issues. I also have used it for that purpose with good success. I save some colonies that were having issues sporadically for a long time, and they are doing well to this day.
 
My top three choices for cyano removal and prevention

Margarita snails and any others known to like these mats

Po4 address below clean tank norms (meaning have a clean tank with no detritus then go beyond that with gfo, similar binders)

Repeated manual removal until it stops while employing the first two


Also, I think option number two about the po4 is typically associated with tanks that have deep sand beds or any sand beds really. They typically won't be kept clean enough, having opted for the hands off method, and are the source for the issues even if some of the cyano areas are not on the sand

Rarely do you see tanks that start as bare bottom have cyano issues just thought it was a neat link to consider regarding the major nutrient sink in our tanks.
 
I had an issue with cyano for about a month. I noticed that my phosphates were pretty high and maintaining even after the growth of the cyano. To address the issue I bought Red Sea NoPox. I also stopped feeding frozen foods and switched to a low phosphate pellets. I only ran my lights for 8 hours a day and made sure the source of my rodi water had proper filters. After all of this it disappeared and has not returned
 

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