Best critter for managing cyanobacteria

[eweldon]

For all us newbies:

What's the best critter for dealing with cyanobacteria (red slime algae)?

[Craig Manoukian]

Eric,

Red Scarlet Hermit Crabs are the best cyanbacteriavores I have found to-date.

[inwall75]

Fighting Conch's are amazing

[omard]

Best "non critter" is syphon hose...

In my short (expected - "new tank&quot experience with cyno...I got right after the first couple of patches, and sucked them up. Have not seen any since.

There are some red-legged hermits in tank now so they may be keeping ahead of it.


Rgds,

OmarD

[karlas]

if you guys found someting to eat this stuff your lucky i ended up getting rid of it myself it took a long time and was kinda frustrating to get rid of nothing i had ate it

[inwall75]

Since we are allowing Non-Critters into the discussion, the best non-critter is a combination of things.

I like what Albert Thiel said on Eweldon's link but there are numerous strains of cyanobacterias and some of them don't need light whatsoever.

There are some critters that will eat cyano's and a number of them are listed above. However, this is like giving your kid cold medicine to cure a cold instead of making your kid wash his hands often to prevent a cold. One of the things that never gets asked is how did I get my cyano bloom.

Cyano's are heterotrophic bacteria which basically means they get their food from dissolved organic compounds. Well, we certainly introduce a lot of those to our tanks don't we? We can remove some DOC's with Granular Activated Carbon and water changes but we can remove even more with a properly sized protein skimmer.

You can use E.M. to help rid yourself of cyano but it really is a band-aid approach and that's why I don't recommend it EVER unless someone is so frustrated they want to leave the hobby. Not only that, there are unintended consequences such as bacteria dieing that we want to live. E.M. doesn't only kill cyano's. It's an equal opportunity killer.


Because cyano's are a blend between an algae and a bacteria, you should also do the normal things you do to prevent algaes. Such as......
Do not overfeed----ever. Normally, this revolves around uneaten food but in this case, the major problem IMO is excess fish waste (which will degrade into DOC's).
Always use RO/DI water if your municipal water supply adds phosphates to their water (as most do). You can request a water report from them.
Never overstock your tank.
Use a quality protein skimmer.
Check on the photoperiod you are using and make sure your bulbs aren't so old that they have experienced a color shift.
Increase circulation to get the waste suspended in the water column for your skimmer to pick up.

[Boomer]

Nice piece INALL [smiley=thumbs_up.gif]

[inwall75]

Thanks Boomer.

BTW---for those following this thread, check out the coral realm link on Boomers post. It costs $30 (I think) to join but I have found that it is money well spent.