What is happening - rocks turning light again?

[siniang]

Hi,

over the past few months my 40 gallon tank was going through it's new tank uglies. For the past two months or so I've particularly been dealing with red cyano, that slowly, but surely took over my tank on the glass and the sand (I posted about this in another thread). I was recommended to treat with Cyano RX, which I just ordered yesterday (as I was traveling).
All my rocks started turning dark, too. It's hard to tell whether this was also the red cyano as it definitely looked much darker than the red on the sand. But for all I knew (new to the hobby), it was. It did like more brownish to me, though.

Now I noticed that at least one of my rocks/dead corals is turning light again. Until just recently it was completely dark, similar to the upper part that is still dark. You can also see a glimpse of red cyano on the other rock to the left.

I did not change anything (other than water, regularly, of course). No treatment with anything, yet.

Can cyano sort itself out on its own? It was my understanding that once cyanobacteria are in the tank, it's extremely difficult to get rid of them (that was my impression from googeling, too).

Or is something else going on?

This is how it looked three weeks until just a few days ago:

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Cyano is naturally occurring.jist like the good bacteria. We can’t really beat it. It’s pretty much always in the tank. We just try to make the conditions so it doesn’t thrive.

I’d wager you may have killed off a few other bacterias. Not a big deal.

 

[siniang]

Cyano is naturally occurring.jist like the good bacteria. We can’t really beat it. It’s pretty much always in the tank. We just try to make the conditions so it doesn’t thrive.

Yes, I do understand that, but the reed cyano was seriously taking over. Within a week of a water change it was creating thick mats on the sand and was all over the tank walls. It was recommended to use Cyano RX (which I did not use, yet). I also kept having a pretty good amount of dinoflagellates.

I’d wager you may have killed off a few other bacterias. Not a big deal.

But how? As I said, I changed nothing from what I usually do.

I mean, I'm not complaining if the cyano goes back on its own, but it does make me worry about what's going on and whether I also killed any possible coraline that may have been there already. Also, still not sure if it's actually been cyano on that dead coral.

I also keep feeling that I keep getting mixed info re algae, new tank uglies etc. here in the forums Bare with me, I'm new and still learning and this is pretty confusing at times.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yes, I do understand that, but the reed cyano was seriously taking over. Within a week of a water change it was creating thick mats on the sand and was all over the tank walls. It was recommended to use Cyano RX (which I did not use, yet). I also kept having a pretty good amount of dinoflagellates.



But how? As I said, I changed nothing from what I usually do.

I mean, I'm not complaining if the cyano goes back on its own, but it does make me worry about what's going on and whether I also killed any possible coraline that may have been there already. Also, still not sure if it's actually been cyano on that dead coral.

I also keep feeling that I keep getting mixed info re algae, new tank uglies etc. here in the forums Bare with me, I'm new and still learning and this is pretty confusing at times.

I’m old and it’s still confusing.
Most all the cyano killers kill one type of bacteria and few others. So don’t fret.
Cyano likes a couple things. Co2 , nitrates (ammonia ) , and light.
It hates competition.
Things that compete. Coral, good bacteria, Refugiums.

In newer tanks the bio filter , good bacteria isn’t strong , so it’s a poor competitor.
Co2 builds up from outside air , and rotting waste. Good bacteria breathes oxygen and exhales co2.

For new tanks and in general, Clean the sand (poo food) , add good bacteria, surface agitation or skimmer in a non sumped tank for more oxygen.
If that’s a hob filter , it should be nasty when you clean it one a month. If not it’s not filtering. Change how it’s packed. If you don’t clean it it’s a nitrate factory. An older tank can handle a bit of detritus a new tank wont. That’s bio filter maturity.

The water you use imo esp in a newer tank should be good low or no tds. Some stuff in water will kill good bacteria, some stuff will feed algae and bad bacteria.

 

[shred5]

Cyano is naturally occurring.jist like the good bacteria. We can’t really beat it. It’s pretty much always in the tank. We just try to make the conditions so it doesn’t thrive.

I’d wager you may have killed off a few other bacterias. Not a big deal.

Agreed..
People freak out over a little cyano and they should not, it is natural. It is common and in most tanks so it will get introduced again. It also can compete with dynos. Killing it can just lead to more bigger problems because they are consuming same things other worse algae use.

It can become a problem if things get out of wack and it starts too cover coral etc. This is when you need to really deal with it.

Like was stated earlier things out compete cyano and keep it in check and that is how to deal with it. Good algae in either a fuge or scrubber, other bacteria and even coral.

It is really not hard to control as long as things are stable and you do not have a sand-bed or rocks leaching lots of phosphates. Then the cyano is doing you a favor and using those phosphates.

 

[siniang]

But see, it DID get out of hand with the cyano. When I returned from my 2.5 weeks trip, more than half the sandbed was covered with really thick red mats, and basically all the tank walls.

Either way, I'm all against overtreating, I'm just saying what was recommended to me when I asked - and again, I did not treat anything, yet. But I also didn;t want to continue having to do weekly or even bi-weekly water changes indefinitely (and two weeks was pretty bad already, lately)
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/red-algae-slime-algae-cyano.458111/

But really, what's happening to my rocks/dead coral? Why is it turning light again all of a sudden?

For info, I'm using ocean water provided by the local aquarium. So far did not have any problems with it. I have no sump or skimmer, just a hang-on filter.
I don't have corals or other invertebrates, only fish, so I'm not TOO worried just yet (they seem perfectly fine), but I do like to understand what's going on. Is this just a natural part of dead rock turning into liverock?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Is this just a natural part of dead rock turning into liverock?

Yes.

One thing competing for another. One wins , one looses.

The process is astounding.

All we can do is the small things to promote the good things.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Did someone say cyano? ;Hilarious

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Did someone say cyano? ;Hilarious

REDRUM!

 

[reeferfoxx]

Best cyano is disappearing cyano! Here it's turning green.




Here it's almost gone.



Even today it's looking better!


The secret here is not disturbing the sandbed and dosing nitrates with bi-weekly water changes. That's all there is to it.

 

[siniang]

The secret here is not disturbing the sandbed and dosing nitrates with bi-weekly water changes. That's all there is to it.

Ah, I've been vacuuming it off the sand and stirring the sand. So I should not do that? As of late my tank looked pretty much like your first picture. What about the glass? Can I scrape it off there at least? I'd like to be able to see my fish

Also, no treatment with the just ordered Cyano RX then, right? Should I put something in to control phosphates, though?

So just to be sure, the cyano will not harm my fish?

(and I love how the "my rock turns dark and then white again" thread turned in a cyano thread But really, I appreciate all your input. Still learning so so much )

 

[reeferfoxx]

Ah, I've been vacuuming it off the sand and stirring the sand. So I should not do that? As of late my tank looked pretty much like your first picture. What about the glass? Can I scrape it off there at least? I'd like to be able to see my fish

Also, no treatment with the just ordered Cyano RX then, right? Should I put something in to control phosphates, though?

You can scrape the glass but none of my secret sauce requires nutrient control. Only nitrate additions. You can skim and you can change water but don't remove nutrients. Turning the sand over only releases what the sandbed has trapped. Obviously we do t want the sandbed to become a toxic zone and that's why later down the road it would be wise to vacuum the sandbed. I would just wait till the sandbed isn't growing anything to start doing that.

 

[TessGlo]

It also can compete with dynos. Killing it can just lead to more bigger problems because they are consuming same things other worse algae use.

Heed this warning, and don't overreact. I caused a huge dino problem in my tank trying to battle much less concerning algae and cyano. Cyano and other algae don't really bother healthy corals like dinos, which caused parts of my coral to die off. I see cyano now and I know it will just go away.