Chiefmaster30
Valuable Member
Can anyone tell me what this is and why it's all of a sudden taking over my tank? And what can I do about it? I added some purigen and chemipure elite to my filter yesterday. Sry about the tv background noise.
ID Help Please!
- Thread starter Chiefmaster30
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Looks like a bad case of Cyanobacteria. If flow is low in that area I would add more flow or resposition powerheads. First I would siphon it out though which is easy enough to do. Check your water resource for phosphates and nitrates to narrow down cause.
Excess silicates is usually the cause for diatoms (if you have them). silicates can come from new equipment added or new substrate, or if your rodi water Isn't 0 tds. they go away once the silicates in the water are used up.
The cyano can be trickier. manual removal (as stated above) and watch your no3 and po4. some people use the product chemiclean but that only works on a certain type. you'd have to look at the bacteria under a microscope to determine which type you have. so it can be a crap-shoot if you use chemiclean.
The cyano can be trickier. manual removal (as stated above) and watch your no3 and po4. some people use the product chemiclean but that only works on a certain type. you'd have to look at the bacteria under a microscope to determine which type you have. so it can be a crap-shoot if you use chemiclean.
OP
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Chiefmaster30
Valuable Member
Thanks y'all! Will a good clean up crew help with this any?
It should be hand removed, always, resetting the tank back to perfect condition and then clean up crews or any action taken are evaluated against the return. if it comes back, they didn't work. This reverse method will keep your tank free of every invader known in reefing, and quarantining all fish, substrate and frag imports goes hand in hand with that goal.
What you have above be it cyanos, diatoms, spirulina as Todd identified, are all natural invaders you can't quarantine out and they represent just about the totality of that kind of invader, all else we all bring in on purpose and typically farm on purpose as well.
Always manually clean and reset your tank from any invader fully restored first, then try all tactics to prevent its return. This literally works all the time.
What you have above be it cyanos, diatoms, spirulina as Todd identified, are all natural invaders you can't quarantine out and they represent just about the totality of that kind of invader, all else we all bring in on purpose and typically farm on purpose as well.
Always manually clean and reset your tank from any invader fully restored first, then try all tactics to prevent its return. This literally works all the time.
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OP
Chiefmaster30
Valuable Member
Thanks!
Unfortunately theres no CUC for that type of algae/bacteria growth.
I had a cyano breakout recently in some low flow area....heres what I did:
1) find a uniform hose-like for water changes but instead of a siphon, use just the hose part. I use a 1.5" hose.
2) siphon JUST the cyano/sand on the top layer. you will get all the cyano and some sand (make sure to scrub off the rocks and turn off flow so whatever you scrape off falls to the sand).
3) once you dump all the water out, you will have only sand left. You can either scrap it or save it.
IF you choose to save it...
1) get as much water out of the sand thats in your bucket as you can-you wont be able to get it all.
2) go to the drug store and get regular hydrogen peroxide.
3) pour in the peroxide (no need to water it down) until the sand is all covered.
4) leave in that bucket for a few days, I usually do 3-4 days. Make sure this is your yucky water bucket and NOT the bucket you use to make up fresh SW mix.
5) once its been in there for a few days, youll see a lot of bubbles and foam (thats how you know its working!) dump out the solution and rinse with fresh water. I just use tapwater. I fill up my 5 gallon bucket with tap water and mix the sand with my hands for a few minutes. Youll notice a lot of junk come off.
6) once the water is clear, take some RODI water and fill that bucket half way up. Swirl and swish the water around again. (5 min ish)
7) you can let it dry out (which is what I do) or you can swish in a small amount of SW makeup (right before youre about ready to do a WC).
8) once youre convinced all the tapwater/peroxide is gone, take small scoops and add it back to the tank.
I usually do this once a month to the top layer of my sand. I went over it pretty well but if you have any questions, you can PM me.
I also agree in quarantine. Cyano is an introduced only algae, it wont grow from nothing. Diatoms are naturally occurring and will develop wherever there is light and low flow.
This treatment works for both but I only had cyano.
WhiskeyCoffee
Well-Known Member
Maybe it was coincidental but I had a bad diatom outbreak when I started up my tank - I added a fighting conch and it disappeared within a week!
WhiskeyCoffee
Well-Known Member
Well it hasn't come back so who knows.
