Cyno algae

Scottdixon2022 · Mar 23, 2022

Hi all my name is Scott
I've just started and 120 liter tank (6 month old)
and all was well and good up until the last few weeks
I've had a outbreak of cyno algae (red slime looking algae)growing back after a waterchange at a rate of ,the full sand bed in hrs
Soo so quick ,growing like wild fire in my tank
I've tried adding an ointment that was suggested to me with none or little result
Any ideas guys please would be greatly appreciated
Scott belfast

Ricox · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome to reef2reef!
For the cyano try up the flow around where it is growing also try and keep your nitrates and phosphates above 0 as cyano thrives in low nutrient environments.

Fred2482 · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome! More flow definitely helps. You can use red slime remover to remove, but I wouldn't use on a regular basis.

Scottdixon2022 · Mar 23, 2022

Ricox said:
Welcome to reef2reef!
For the cyano try up the flow around where it is growing also try and keep your nitrates and phosphates above 0 as cyano thrives in low nutrient environments.

Ok thanks
I also was told to turn off skimmer and my uv
Phosphate sitting at 0.3/0.5
Thanks for replying

MERKEY · Mar 23, 2022

Hello and welcome to R2R!

fishguy242 · Mar 23, 2022

hi, welcome to the reef...

not sure i agree with turning skimmer off,
but parameters in check and sufficient flow should help.

Sean Clark · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome. Glad that you are here.

Peace River · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!! I’m sorry to hear about the challenges in your tank.

Miami Reef · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome! Cyano blooms are really annoying. Good luck!

lavoisier · Mar 23, 2022

Howdy and welcome to R2R. I found flow and patience to be my best tools. There are lots of threads on the problem.

PeterC99 · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome to R2R!

PeterC99 · Mar 23, 2022

Three things got rid of my cyano naturally and I never cleaned any Cyano out of my tank.

1) Strong UV light
2) Started an Oxydator (look for threads on this site)
3) Phytoplankton every other day

Before and after pics (also have since increased the light point intensity by 15% on my Radions - up to 75%)

PO4 .05, NO3 2

G Santana · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome to R2R.
Good luck with the battle against the Red Devil

bnord · Mar 23, 2022

Increase your flow, suction when water change - All of the above and before you get too frustrated, but these others have not done the job try chemical intervention - many of us have at some point.

and Welcome welcome welcome

and I loved the movie of your city's namesake

jsker · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome to R2R!! ;Shamefullyembarrased

As suggested above and ask yourself if I have some of the comments below.

Flow is one of the causes.
Nutrients, phosphates and nitrates balanced
Do you have an RO/DI filter or using water from a local fish store that is using RO/DI
Lighting, length of lighting period, type of light and spectrum being used
What are you feeding, food will be high in phosphates and feed cyano.

At 6 months you tank is still adjusting/cycling and you parameters and nutrients and still adjusting to you system.

rmorris_14 · Mar 23, 2022

+1 increase your flow

Jeffcb · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Schraufabagel · Mar 23, 2022

tharbin · Mar 23, 2022

Welcome to R2R! Unfortunately cyano outbreaks can be very frustrating but they do go away. More flow will help, decreasing the light level or period or both can help but not always. UV can help. I would also clean or change your mechanical filtration media at least every other day as a lot of the cyano will get caught in the filtration. When you do water changes try to vacuum up pockets of it into the discard water. The biggest thing is that if you have corals try to make sure they don't get smothered. You can use a turkey baster or a power head to blow the cyano off the corals. Dosing phyto can help as can dosing bacteria such as Microbacter 7. None of these are quick miracle cures. There are more invasive ways that work like ChemiClean or Hydrogen Peroxide dosing but I don't recommend them as anything other than a last ditch, I give up type remedy. But... are you sure it is cyano and not dinos? They can look very similar.

Your tank is right in the middle of the traditional 'uglies' time. It will improve but be patient. Quick fixes are usually temporary at best and many times can lead to worse problems.

PeterC99 · Mar 23, 2022

tharbin said:
Welcome to R2R! Unfortunately cyano outbreaks can be very frustrating but they do go away. More flow will help, decreasing the light level or period or both can help but not always. UV can help. I would also clean or change your mechanical filtration media at least every other day as a lot of the cyano will get caught in the filtration. When you do water changes try to vacuum up pockets of it into the discard water. The biggest thing is that if you have corals try to make sure they don't get smothered. You can use a turkey baster or a power head to blow the cyano off the corals. Dosing phyto can help as can dosing bacteria such as Microbacter 7. None of these are quick miracle cures. There are more invasive ways that work like ChemiClean or Hydrogen Peroxide dosing but I don't recommend them as anything other than a last ditch, I give up type remedy. But... are you sure it is cyano and not dinos? They can look very similar.

Your tank is right in the middle of the traditional 'uglies' time. It will improve but be patient. Quick fixes are usually temporary at best and many times can lead to worse problems.

Very nice write-up @tharbin !!!