Red Cynobacteria other solutions

[GulfReefer]

Hi guys, ive treated my tank twice back-to-back with chemiclean drops to get rid of cynobacteria, but its not working it keeps coming back just within coople of days of treatment!

im not for doing chemiclean again , now im thinking of using Korallen zucht cyno clean since its a daily dosing solution instead of chemiclean.

Anybody knows why is still lurking The tank?
Need advise?
thanks

 

[Hot2na]

Why not try some of the bacterial based solutions instead of dumping ABX into your tank ? Dr tims comes to mind...etc

 

[billyocean]

Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!

Edit 10/092023: Note that I have tweaked the formula a bit. You can find an updated video here: Coral Snow Link: Coral Snow Hello all! I have been reefing now for about 25 years, and over those many years I have picked up many tips, tricks, and best habits/practices. From a hobbyist and...

www.reef2reef.com

This may help some. Microbacter 7 can help but be aware it's a long fix and takes time. I've seen people use microbacter clean in conjunction with m7 as well.

 

[GulfReefer]

Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!

Edit 10/092023: Note that I have tweaked the formula a bit. You can find an updated video here: Coral Snow Link: Coral Snow Hello all! I have been reefing now for about 25 years, and over those many years I have picked up many tips, tricks, and best habits/practices. From a hobbyist and...

www.reef2reef.com

This may help some. Microbacter 7 can help but be aware it's a long fix and takes time. I've seen people use microbacter clean in conjunction with m7 as well.

I did yesterday, i dosed Microbacter 7 i just dont think its gonna out compete cyno, but lets hope

 

[GulfReefer]

Why not try some of the bacterial based solutions instead of dumping ABX into your tank ? Dr tims comes to mind...etc

Yesterday i used Microbacter 7 , the issue now is that its killing my green hammer but its still alive at least half of it . Also now i could see black stuff on top of the rocks i dunno if its cyno or something else ,,frustrating

 

[billyocean]

I've battled it for a couple months. Have been dosing m7 and using the diy "coral snow" with m7. Did daily for a couple weeks and now do the diy every 4-5 days. Continually add m7 daily. Also siphoning the sand during weekly w/c. It didn't seem to have much effect until this last week. It's definately going away at this point but it's taken a solid couple of months. I've had chemiclean at the house for a few weeks now in case it got unmanageable but didn't want to use it. Looks like I'm not going to have to use it.

 

[exnisstech]

I've used chemi clean powder several times through the years and it always worked after one application with no adverse effects to corals or fish

 

[pecan2phat]

How long did you leave the Chemiclean in the tank after the cyano?
IME, it needs more then the 48 hours. I usually leave it for a few days after the Cyano is visibly gone before performing a water change and adding carbon.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

it sounds like you might have an underlying issue if it keeps coming back. Bottled stuff is a temporary fix, but if the underlying issue's are not fixed, it will always come back. I suggest:
-more flow
-add more live rock, or more coral frags, basically adding more biodiversity to the tank. Bottled stuff is very limited biodiversity
-more manual efforts to remove it
-control the nutrients
-and more flow again

 

[vetteguy53081]

ChemiClean in many cases is an alternative and not a solution.
I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations go haywire and concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

 

[Dan_P]

Hi guys, ive treated my tank twice back-to-back with chemiclean drops to get rid of cynobacteria, but its not working it keeps coming back just within coople of days of treatment!

im not for doing chemiclean again , now im thinking of using Korallen zucht cyno clean since its a daily dosing solution instead of chemiclean.

Anybody knows why is still lurking The tank?
Need advise?
thanks

What you are trying to get rid of might not be cyanobacteria. Or maybe the ChemiClean is bad.

 

[GulfReefer]

How long did you leave the Chemiclean in the tank after the cyano?
IME, it needs more then the 48 hours. I usually leave it for a few days after the Cyano is visibly gone before performing a water change and adding carbon.

Kept it for 48 hrs as per instructions and then did 20% water change. And then again added chemiclean kept it another 48 hrs then another 20% water change so basically changed 40% of the water in 4 days. Still red slime back again ive also added air stone, removed skimmer cup ,, shut off UV and carbon. Should i do it for the 3rd time ?

 

[GulfReefer]

it sounds like you might have an underlying issue if it keeps coming back. Bottled stuff is a temporary fix, but if the underlying issue's are not fixed, it will always come back. I suggest:
-more flow
-add more live rock, or more coral frags, basically adding more biodiversity to the tank. Bottled stuff is very limited biodiversity
-more manual efforts to remove it
-control the nutrients
-and more flow again

Thanks for your suggestion
I could do the following:
- add one more powerhead
- add live rock or frags or fish or maybe remove all my dry rock and re-escape my tank with live coralline algea ready rock
- im siphoning and manually removing the slime
- nutrients pretty much under control i have zero phosphate and zero nitrate

 

[GulfReefer]

ChemiClean in many cases is an alternative and not a solution.
I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations go haywire and concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

Thanks for the feedback, just few points my light is setup at 60% can i turn off red white and green and just keep blue+ uv for next 5 to 7 days ? Is it gonna harm corals and anemone?
i could add algea snails and crabs sounds good idea
My nutrints are low PO4 zero and NO3 Zero. Protein skimmer working well.
I using zero tds water

 

[GulfReefer]

What you are trying to get rid of might not be cyanobacteria. Or maybe the ChemiClean is bad.

This is what i have

 

[Tired]

Yeah, looks like cyano.

Fixing whatever conditions caused the cyano will work far better, and do far less harm to your tank's ecosystem, than trying to poison it away.

You don't necessarily want super low nutrients. Phosphate shouldn't drop below 0.03ppm, as it can hinder and kill photosynthetic life below that level, and nitrates should generally be, at minimum, 3-5ppm. Zero phosphate can kill corals, and lack of nutrients gets in the way of algae that can be competition for the cyano. Get your phosphate up to 0.03 and your nitrates to 3ppm, and see if that helps anything.

"Live" rock that's just got some coraline and bacteria on it won't do much here. To increase biodiversity, you need proper live rock, either seeded in a biodiverse reef tank or (ideally) seeded in the ocean. Trouble there is that uncured live rock shouldn't go into an active display tank.

Where do you get your water? I got a nasty cyano bloom once from forgetting to change the activated carbon cartridge in my RODI unit for a bit too long. Make sure the water you're using is pure.

If you get your nutrients to a reasonable level, stock an appropriate cleanup crew, use a good water source, and suck out the bulk of the cyano now and then, that should handle most infestations of it pretty well. If it doesn't, something else is going on.

Turning off just your white lights shouldn't do much to your corals, though it would be helpful to know what light fixture you have, as "light set at 60%" doesn't tell us much.

 

[Dom]

Hi guys, ive treated my tank twice back-to-back with chemiclean drops to get rid of cynobacteria, but its not working it keeps coming back just within coople of days of treatment!

im not for doing chemiclean again , now im thinking of using Korallen zucht cyno clean since its a daily dosing solution instead of chemiclean.

Anybody knows why is still lurking The tank?
Need advise?
thanks

I suggest identifying the cause and making the correction there.

Black out your tank for a day or two. This will help as Cyanobacteria is capable of photosynthesis. No light, no photosynthesis.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the feedback, just few points my light is setup at 60% can i turn off red white and green and just keep blue+ uv for next 5 to 7 days ? Is it gonna harm corals and anemone?
i could add algea snails and crabs sounds good idea
My nutrints are low PO4 zero and NO3 Zero. Protein skimmer working well.
I using zero tds water

Red and green can often promote algae and cyano - yes- turn off. White for sure as it is fuel for the bacteria
For coral and nem- run 10-15% blue during 5 day period

 

[GulfReefer]

Yeah, looks like cyano.

Fixing whatever conditions caused the cyano will work far better, and do far less harm to your tank's ecosystem, than trying to poison it away.

You don't necessarily want super low nutrients. Phosphate shouldn't drop below 0.03ppm, as it can hinder and kill photosynthetic life below that level, and nitrates should generally be, at minimum, 3-5ppm. Zero phosphate can kill corals, and lack of nutrients gets in the way of algae that can be competition for the cyano. Get your phosphate up to 0.03 and your nitrates to 3ppm, and see if that helps anything.

"Live" rock that's just got some coraline and bacteria on it won't do much here. To increase biodiversity, you need proper live rock, either seeded in a biodiverse reef tank or (ideally) seeded in the ocean. Trouble there is that uncured live rock shouldn't go into an active display tank.

Where do you get your water? I got a nasty cyano bloom once from forgetting to change the activated carbon cartridge in my RODI unit for a bit too long. Make sure the water you're using is pure.

If you get your nutrients to a reasonable level, stock an appropriate cleanup crew, use a good water source, and suck out the bulk of the cyano now and then, that should handle most infestations of it pretty well. If it doesn't, something else is going on.

Turning off just your white lights shouldn't do much to your corals, though it would be helpful to know what light fixture you have, as "light set at 60%" doesn't tell us much.

I can remember that the problem started only after adding green star polyp and a goniopora I suspect that they brought cyno with them to the tank but im not sure i had the tank about a year ago i never got cynobacteria!
Tap water 100 tds output after rodi 0 tds my carbon is a month old so should be ok
I working to adjust nitrates and phosphate levels.
Im using maxspect jump blue edition With auto mode for lps which is fixed at 60% but now im doing manual with only blue and uv set at 20%

 

[Tired]

Cyanobacteria is inevitable in a reef tank. There's not really any viable way to keep it out, or to eliminate it for good. The corals were probably a coincidence, as I can pretty much guarantee you already had it in your tank. The way we deal with cyano is by making conditions favorable for other things, so the cyano stays in the background and isn't visible.