Clowns in Cyano

fishy4thomas · Jun 18, 2020

So I have some stringy cyanobacteria on a piece of live rock I have, and my clownfish are rubbing in it and swimming through it as if it were an anemone.
Is this hurting them and/or could it be fatal? Please help me #reefsquad
Big ups

Nick Steele · Jun 18, 2020

I would imagine at the very worst case and I mean worst as in next to impossible they could get stuck in it and die. I had clowns in during my ugly phase where I let my back wall get 3-6” algae all over it. My clowns would constantly swim in it like they usually do in anemones and I never changed or scrubbed it and it slowly went away and clowns didn’t care (I believe)

fishy4thomas · Jun 18, 2020

Nick Steele said:
I would imagine at the very worst case and I mean worst as in next to impossible they could get stuck in it and die. I had clowns in during my ugly phase where I let my back wall get 3-6” algae all over it. My clowns would constantly swim in it like they usually do in anemones and I never changed or scrubbed it and it slowly went away and clowns didn’t care (I believe)

OK I've decided to pick and scrub it off tomorrow. Before I do a water change.

Idoc · Jun 18, 2020

Cyano shouldn't hurt the clowns. If cyano hurt clowns, mine would have been dead long ago!!! lol

fishy4thomas · Jun 18, 2020

Idoc said:
Cyano shouldn't hurt the clowns. If cyano hurt clowns, mine would have been dead long ago!!! lol

Thats a relief to hear!

nereefpat · Jun 18, 2020

Why don't you siphon it out?

fishy4thomas · Jun 19, 2020

nereefpat said:
Why don't you siphon it out?

Im doing that today

Will it work on the rocks as well though?

fishy4thomas · Jun 19, 2020

nereefpat said:
Why don't you siphon it out?

So I siphoned it but it only got a bit of it off, because the cyano in the sand bed sort of sticks to the sand, and if I do that it sucks up a whole lot of sand and frankly I need my sand XD what can I do now?

Idoc · Jun 20, 2020

fishy4thomas said:
So I siphoned it but it only got a bit of it off, because the cyano in the sand bed sort of sticks to the sand, and if I do that it sucks up a whole lot of sand and frankly I need my sand XD what can I do now?

Siphon as much off the rocks as you can...I use a 1/2" hose for this since it lets me get into the cracks of the rocks and also creates a nice strong, focused suction with the smaller hose. This also allows me to siphon the sand by just pulling the top layer of cyano with some sand attached.

If you really need to keep the sand, you can always put it into a cup or small container and rinse it in a water/peroxide mix. This will kill the cyano on the sand...but also any beneficial bacteria as well. But, then you can add it back to the tank after rinsing it and letting it dry out...just sprinkle it all over the tank rather than dumping it into one spot. I was doing this for quite awhile to save my sand and it seemed to work. But, I was only taking out maybe a cup of sand at the most. I wouldn't probably do this if siphoning large quantities of sand out.

Then for maintenance, daily squirt the rocks with a turkey baster to break up the small newly forming cyano bits so they are put into the water column and collected in your filter sock.

fishy4thomas · Jun 20, 2020

Idoc said:
Siphon as much off the rocks as you can...I use a 1/2" hose for this since it lets me get into the cracks of the rocks and also creates a nice strong, focused suction with the smaller hose. This also allows me to siphon the sand by just pulling the top layer of cyano with some sand attached.

If you really need to keep the sand, you can always put it into a cup or small container and rinse it in a water/peroxide mix. This will kill the cyano on the sand...but also any beneficial bacteria as well. But, then you can add it back to the tank after rinsing it and letting it dry out...just sprinkle it all over the tank rather than dumping it into one spot. I was doing this for quite awhile to save my sand and it seemed to work. But, I was only taking out maybe a cup of sand at the most. I wouldn't probably do this if siphoning large quantities of sand out.

Then for maintenance, daily squirt the rocks with a turkey baster to break up the small newly forming cyano bits so they are put into the water column and collected in your filter sock.

Alright thanks @Idoc !

fishy4thomas · Jun 24, 2020

Idoc said:
Siphon as much off the rocks as you can...I use a 1/2" hose for this since it lets me get into the cracks of the rocks and also creates a nice strong, focused suction with the smaller hose. This also allows me to siphon the sand by just pulling the top layer of cyano with some sand attached.

If you really need to keep the sand, you can always put it into a cup or small container and rinse it in a water/peroxide mix. This will kill the cyano on the sand...but also any beneficial bacteria as well. But, then you can add it back to the tank after rinsing it and letting it dry out...just sprinkle it all over the tank rather than dumping it into one spot. I was doing this for quite awhile to save my sand and it seemed to work. But, I was only taking out maybe a cup of sand at the most. I wouldn't probably do this if siphoning large quantities of sand out.

Then for maintenance, daily squirt the rocks with a turkey baster to break up the small newly forming cyano bits so they are put into the water column and collected in your filter sock.

Hey thanks so much for the turkey baster method! Ive been doing it for about 5 days now and its really, really working. its starting to go away and its not coming back. I dont think ill get the chemicals cuz this REALLY works.

Idoc · Jun 24, 2020

fishy4thomas said:
Hey thanks so much for the turkey baster method! Ive been doing it for about 5 days now and its really, really working. its starting to go away and its not coming back. I dont think ill get the chemicals cuz this REALLY works.

For maintenance, you can also use Dr Tims Waste Away on a regular basis to clean up the tank and then turkey baste away the gunk it cleans out of your rocks. Works well.