Positive identification of cyanobacteria

[Christopher Poore]

I've been dosing 7ml (75 gal total volume) twice a day for the past 1.5 months and I'm still battling the hell out of cyano.

I might increase the dosage or try and use chemiclean.

 

[CubanHogFish]

does any one now where can I find instaruction on how to start dosing H2O2 into my 125g DT I have approx. 140g total water volume in my system

 

[mcarroll]

does any one now where can I find instaruction on how to start dosing H2O2 into my 125g DT I have approx. 140g total water volume in my system

Consider a different approach first, IMO. H2O2 is inconsistent....and cyano is a sign of problem you can usually solve pretty easily.

Are your nutrients (NO3 and PO4) out of balance? Perhaps with nitrates showing zero?

Kinda off-topic for this thread, so PM me if you want....or make a new thread for your tank and post it here and/or PM it to me.

 

[bkpky]

Hi R2R members and visitors!
I have one topic I would like to point out.
The dreaded cyanobacteria
Now most of you may know I spend countless hours studying this exact bacteria.
Well I want to let you all know that most of the cases are not the common cyanobacteria that we see plague our tanks.
In fact most of the time it's another form called spirulina.
Absolutely 2 different forms of bacteria with 2 different options of treatment.
So let's get onto finding the positive identification of the bacterium.

Take a portion of that red mat you see in your tank and place it into a cup with about 2 cups of tank water.
Now add 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide
Over the course of several hours you may start to see a change in the water and the color of your sample.
If in fact it is the common cyanobacteria and not spirulina the water will start to turn a pink color and the sample with start to turn a green color.
Now if it is spirulina there will be no change as h2o2 has little effect on the individual cells.

This will help give you an idea of proper course of action if needed.

Thank you all for the continued support of my efforts!
Todd

I have read through the forum. I have a green version of something. My tank is about 9 months old. It has gone through a long cycle as I have not had the time to devote (until now) going further. I have had this condition for several months and I just assumed it was an algae bloom that would eventually go away. If I stir it up, it gets clumpy but does not really come back.

I cycled my tank with rock that had been in storage from a move for about 2 years. I did not bleach or acid bath the rock. I used new sand. I simply scrubbed the rock and let it sit out in the sun for a few days. I understood I would have a phosphate issue and a long cycle to let it leech naturally.

I plan to run your tests using H202. Since my "sheets" are green, should I expect the water to turn green? What would the bacteria turn to? A darker green?

 

[niQo]

I'm having a pretty bad outbreak of Cyano the last 6 weeks, in fact, I've never had it this bad. I did the test; I took some cyano put it in tank water with peroxide and if I leave it overnight, there is NO change in water colour, but the cyano does turn green.

I've been peroxide dosing for 12 days now and it has had no effect on cyano (or cleaner shrimp). I'm thinking of doing a 3 day blackout.

My PO4 fluctuates between 0.03-0.07 and NO3 between 1-3

 

[Csi]

Hello,

If there is no change in the water colour and the "cyano" turned green, it is not cyano but spirulina and I suppose you should try Chemiclean and not peroxide.

 

[Katrina71]

@Diesel Thanks!

 

[mcarroll]

My PO4 fluctuates between 0.03-0.07 and NO3 between 1-3

Phosphate levels are fine but it looks like you are letting nitrates bottom out. Cyano has less problem dealing with that than other algae, so you're kinda favoring cyano.

Something else to consider is that your tank may need an inoculation is coraline and other algae/critters from a live source since your rock was so old.

 

[saltyhog]

Question about the cyano ID test. How long between adding the H2O2 and evaluating the result.

I did the test yesterday on a sample and after 5 hours there was no change. This morning (another 12 hours later for a total of 17 hours) the water was pink but the speciman was still pink as well. How would you interpret this?

edit...I've treated the tank this is from with peroxide for 10 days now and there does not seem to be any change. Thinking this may be spirulina?

 

[Mickey]

I know this is an old thread but I'm hoping some folks are still following this who can help me with identification.

My tank has what appears to be a typical cyano outbreak with mats on sand and on rocks. In most cases it is very black but on the rocks there is also a lot of red. I tried the H2O2 identification test and also looked at both samples under a microscope.

The H2O2 test shows no change. Water didn't turn pink and no change to the mat even after 48 hours. It could be the H2O2 was old as it was the bottom of the bottle and several years old. Under the microscope it looks like the common cyano pictures that have been posted. It does not look like spirulina.

I'm near the end of a 48 hour Chemiclean treatment and so far doesn't appear to have touched it using 1.5-2 times the suggested dosage. I'll do a water change tomorrow, but then what? A second Chemiclean treatment or switch to H2O2?

BTW tank is 225 gal and has been up and running since Jan. 2005. This is not my first battle but it's been more of a struggle.
Alk 9.5
Ca 496
Mg 1453
all three with Neptune Trident
pH ranges from 7.9-8.2
temp 76
Nitrates about 15
Phospates high but always seem to run high and algae issues haven't been a problem for years (thinking about switching to phosphate Rx from GFO.

I can post pictures from the microscope if it will help.