MB7, Vodka, and cyano

[Fireworm]

I used to dose MB7 and Vodka on a daily basis. I ran out of MB7 and then stopped the vodka. I have now started dosing the MB7 again as I am having a cyano, or I think it is cyano, outbreak. I am sure it is due to over feedind as I started spot feeding more of my corals and I am sure that it adds way more to the tank than I need.

My cyano(?) is different though. Same red slime look, same bubbles in it, but it only comes out at night, and only on my sand bed. When my dusk/dawn lights are the only thing on in the evening, you can start to see bubbles on the sand start. In the morning when my d/d lights come on, it has a nice red coat on about 1/3 of my sand bed. When the 4 other T5s come on, it starts to go away, and by the end of my 4 bulb light cycle it is gone..

Any suggestions on how to get rid of this.

 

[Fireworm]

anyone?

 

[gilmour01]

do you decrease flow at night?

 

[ReefGeezer]

That's a strange reaction from a photosyntheyic (sp?) bacteria. It may have something to do with the spectrum of the lights. Also, I once had a breakout of dino/cyano due to old bulbs. Unfortunately, these bacteria use carbon also so adding the vodka increases the food. However, I wouldn't stop. Since you just started again, eventually the nutrients will fall and the other bacteria will out compete the dino/cyano bacteria. Maybe you could try running the other bulbs instead of the dusk/dawn bulbs until then.

 

[nater]

i have a fairly new tank and have been battling cyano for about 2 weeks now. i started by getting my alk up to around 10 if not a little higher. i turn of my vortech and pull it off the sand bed trying not to spread it as much as possible. with the higher alk and pulling it out. i had gotten it pretty well. i then found a cyano eating goby at my lfs. it has been eating alot the heck out of it. only problem is it spits it out the sand every where and now i have some stuck on rocks, but i am more concerned with getting it off the sand bad and resolving the problem through solid alk. i will be putting 20 black turbos in the tank to clean off the rock next week. also flow is definitely needed . i had more vortech sleeping at night. i think thats how i got the bad outbreak in the first place. i now have it on reef crest pretty pumped all day and night. wherever i the goby and i have cleaned up , it seams to be under control for now. good luck with it. what a pain in the butt

 

[Fireworm]

Nater,

Where is the pic of this cyano eating goby???? that is awesome.

My bulbs are not old. 3 of the 6 are less than 6 months old, 2 of them are less than 3 weeks, and the Fiji Purple is only days old.

I don't change my flow day or night. I run a K3 and a K2. Both are modded to get more flow out of them. The K3 has the K4 impeller and the K2 has the K3 impeller.

I don't have much for crabs or snails. I have been thinking about getting some sand sifting snails to help keep it turned. I have a black cucumber, but he doesn't seem to do a whole lot. My hermits are a little on the small side, and I think my new wrasse as picked off a bunch of them.

 

[Fireworm]

I run my skimmer on the dry side, should I try running a more wet skim to draw more out?

 

[Amici]

I run my skimmer on the dry side, should I try running a more wet skim to draw more out?

The bubbles in the cyanobacteria is a result of oxygen being formed as the cyano performs oxygenic photosynthesis. Dripping kalk into the intake of a skimmer can help by causing the phosphates to precipitate out and allow the skimmer to removed it easier, however I do not really advise this as its rough on pumps and the skimmer resulting in more wear and more maintenance. I would find someone with a good phosphate meter (meter, not test kit) and find out what your level of phosphate is. From there I would use whatever your preferred phosphate remover (GFO, phosguard etc) is and try to starve it. I would also suggest siphoning out all the cyano you can see with airline tubing so the phosphates are not released back into the tank. Are you using SF Bay food by any chance? I had a bad problems with cyano and finally narrowed it down to that food as being the source of the issue.

 

[Fireworm]

I am using ocean nutrition cubes of cyclopes and krill.

That is another thing I have been wondering. Does the PH swing that occurs from the photo period have any way of messing with the cyano?

 

[Fireworm]

I no longer run a reactor for GFO, as I was not happy with it. Not sure what, just didn't like it. I figured I would start getting chemi pure again and just putting a bag of that in my sump.

 

[Amici]

I am using ocean nutrition cubes of cyclopes and krill.

That is another thing I have been wondering. Does the PH swing that occurs from the photo period have any way of messing with the cyano?

Its unlikely since this occurs in all reef tanks and not all have a cyano issue. If there isnt a food source for the cyano then it can't grow. How long is your light cycle?

 

[Fireworm]

My D/D comes which is a B+ and a fiji purple. B+ only a couple of weeks and the Fiji purple is only days old. These come on at aroud 1:30 or so. My 4 other bulbs come on around 3 and stay on till around 9 (These 4 bulbs are less than 6 months old) and then the D/D goes off at around 10.

 

[Amici]

Light cycle shouldn't be an issue then. I would suggest focusing on phosphate reduction and trying to siphon as much out as you can.

 

[acronautical]

It is unlikely that the goby is actually eating cyano-bacteria. Most sand-sifting gobies take in mouthfuls of sand and sift through it to isolate microfauna that live within it. Because they are compelled to seek out their food in this fashion, they will inadvertently take in cyano as well. However, they would in all probability reject this organism and release it back into the water column.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Most likely Dino's since it goes away so fast. Cyano usually doesn't.

Raise pH to 8.4 or 8.5 or Alk to 12-13 dKh which ever comes first - Add carbon/GFO - Suck out the brown crap daily - Clean the glass daily, change mechanical filters daily - Drip Kalk normally - 48 hours with no lights, then 4 hours or less per day until brown is gone - Don't do water changes until brown is gone. Works every time. May take a while though.

 

[Ike]

Light cycle shouldn't be an issue then. I would suggest focusing on phosphate reduction and trying to siphon as much out as you can.

N will limit cyanobacteria (if that's what he's dealing with) far more than P.

 

[ReefGeezer]

N will limit cyanobacteria (if that's what he's dealing with) far more than P.

Absolutely. The plan is to remove as many organics as possible to help reduce N, P and others. That's the reson for the carbon.

Both dino/cyano bacteria consume organic N, P, etc. and will take it with it when removed from the water column. Unfortunately, it is not floating free in the water so it must be manually removed. Sucking it up, scraping the glass, and changing mechanical filter media helps remove the bacteria.

I did forget to say that the carbon should be rinsed daily and replaced weekly so don't use a lot. You should also make sure your skimmer is operating properly.