Cyno and vinegar

[JMM744]

So I have dosed chemiclean twice now but the cyno is still quite strong in my 300 system. I am dosing vinegar to feed bacteria to get nitrates down. Can this lead to Cyno? Stuff is getting on my nerves and my corals.
Thanks, Jim

 

[ReefLab]

Potentially, yes. Adding an organic carbon source (vinegar) can be food for the cyanobacteria. However, chemiclean is typically very effective when used properly. Have you considered that maybe it's not cyano? do you have pictures?

 

[JMM744]

No I don’t. It’s red and brown powdery stuff that covers the rock and bare bottom in a day. I blow it off every night.
I will give this a day and see what comes of it but may just shut off the doser for vinegar.
Appreciate your reply.
Jim

 

[ReefLab]

No I don’t. It’s red and brown powdery stuff that covers the rock and bare bottom in a day. I blow it off every night.
I will give this a day and see what comes of it but may just shut off the doser for vinegar.
Appreciate your reply.
Jim

Powdery could be diatoms - do you use RODI water?
Otherwise I would suspect Dino’s.

 

[waleedreef]

Triton saying don't dose carbon while having cyano.
Redsea advise to dose NOPOX which help to fight cyano.
marine biologist says to dose nopox to fight cyano.
I say fix GFO to balance phosphate.

 

[JMM744]

Phos is not too bad. Last test was .05. I am running phosgard. How does one tell the difference between cyno and diatoms etc...? I run ro/do water.
Thanks for the help!

 

[waleedreef]

Phos is not too bad. Last test was .05. I am running phosgard. How does one tell the difference between cyno and diatoms etc...? I run ro/do water.
Thanks for the help!

cyano is bacteria and appeared as blue green slime algae. also pink and it has bubble on its branches. Diatoms are brown

Diatoms is food for beneficial bacteria and they don't grow from phosphate or nitrate. Diatom is natural food group and its a by-product of light and they grow in tank and bacteria consume it. They appear in new tanks as tank get mature. it looks like brown color without bubbles.

Dino is bacteria and appeared as brown slime algae with bubbles.

show us some pictures with white light.

0.05 phosphate is not accurate when you have slime algae because they consume phosphate before you measure it. remove all algae manually and test after 1 hour.

 

[ReefLab]

cyano is bacteria and appeared as blue green slime algae. also pink and it has bubble on its branches. Diatoms are brown

Diatoms is food for beneficial bacteria and they don't grow from phosphate or nitrate. Diatom is natural food group and its a by-product of light and they grow in tank and bacteria consume it. They appear in new tanks as tank get mature. it looks like brown color without bubbles.

Dino is bacteria and appeared as brown slime algae with bubbles.

show us some pictures with white light.

0.05 phosphate is not accurate when you have slime algae because they consume phosphate before you measure it. remove all algae manually and test after 1 hour.

Just want to note that Cyanobacteria can grow in blue green or red brown mats. Dinoflagellates are not bacteria, they are protists.

one way to tell the difference is look at night when the lights are off to see if the growth is reduced. This is because (some) Dino’s leave the sand bed when there is I light and swim in the water column.
Another way is you can remove some of the growth and filter it through a coffee filter into a clear cup/bottle and shake it up. If it’s Cyano, it will not clump back together but if it’s Dino’s it will form clumps again rather quickly.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dino is bacteria and appeared as brown slime algae with bubbles.

FWIW, dinoflagellates are different organisms than bacteria.

 

[waleedreef]

FWIW, dinoflagellates are different organisms than bacteria.

sorry my mistake.

 

[TheDuude]

I had a similar issue in my tank that I thought was Cyano. Chemiclean was not helping. Assume Dinos.

Manual removal during water changes and multiple 3-day blackouts finally destroyed them.

 

[JMM744]

Ok, so probably not cyno? I can get pictures. If one filters thru a coffee filter then there will still be either Dino’s or cyno in the filtered water? No matter what , should I stop vinegar dosing? Will lights out for days affect my corals (sps} which are finally starting to really grow? I am just seeing green hair algae starting to grow too.
Sure appreciate all the help. Now to get pictures. By the way, I usually don’t do water changes.

 

[Dom]

No I don’t. It’s red and brown powdery stuff that covers the rock and bare bottom in a day. I blow it off every night.
I will give this a day and see what comes of it but may just shut off the doser for vinegar.
Appreciate your reply.
Jim

Doesn't sound like Cyanobacteria to me.

Typically, cyanobacteria can be lifted up like a mat in big pieces.

Post some pictures.

 

[JMM744]

Please ignore the aptasia garden. Still waiting on my filefish.

 

[JMM744]

Phos bottomed out at 0. Nitrates are between 10 and 20.

 

[Jumbo]

Please ignore the aptasia garden. Still waiting on my filefish.

Looks more like a dinoflagellates. Usually appears due an imbalance of Po4 and No3. Cero Phosphates are not a good value, try to up them.

 

[JMM744]

Thanks for your suggestion. I added phosphate to .20 and slowed down my export of it thru phosban to a trickle. No change. I need to study up on treatments but work is crazy busy so not much time to deal with the mess right now. May try lights out for a bit , just hate to mess with my corals that are really doing well. I am running filter socks and blowing it off the rocks every day or two. At least it doesn’t cover anything yet other 5hen bottom glass and rock. Some ugly looking stuff though.
Jim