how to get rid of Cyano

Discussion in 'Algae' started by pinkypictures, Apr 28, 2009.

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  1. pinkypictures

    pinkypictures Plankton

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    Wisconsin
    I keep reading articles telling about this bateria/ algae but i haven't really found anything that says how to actually get rid of it.... Any ideas??
    Thanks
     
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  3. Atmos

    Atmos Astrea Snail

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    South Edmonton Alberta Canada
  4. Robman

    Robman Great White Shark

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    Cyano has a hard time growing where there is sufficient flow--I actually tested this theory in different tanks and it is true--added a power head to a tank that had bad cyano and after the power head it never came back--my refugium has alot of cyano (low flow) but my DT has none(high flow).
     
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  5. GuitarMan89

    GuitarMan89 Giant Squid

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    I have dealt with it several times, it takes patience. You need to reduce feedings and lower nitrates and phosphates. Clean your filters, bio balls etc. Run ferric oxide for phosphate removal and do several water changes. You can also raise your alk. level, I have had great success with that. Also cut back on the photoperiod.
     
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  6. tigermike74

    tigermike74 Panda Puffer

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    I had a huge cyano problem in my fuge and turned the fuge light off for 3 days. The stuff died off enough where my blue legged hermits took care of the problem.
     
  7. infamous

    infamous Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    Vodka dosing reduced Cyano in my yank quite a bit. Be careful how much you feed and skim wet.

    People say that it doesnt matter how you skim, it gets the same amount but thats not true. The neck of the skimmer gets dirty and clogged and doesnt allow organic molecules to move as fast, so the efficiency of the skimmer is slowed quite a bit.

    There could be something dead in your tank causing an outbreak but most of the time its nutrients trapped in a low-flow erea.
     
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  9. Da_Gopherboy

    Da_Gopherboy Fire Shrimp

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    Cyanobacteria is obviously a bacteria, so how do we kill it? Like anything else by either using medication like antibiotics (which is not good in the reef environment because there is alot more good bacteria than bad), or starve it to death.

    Cyano feeds off nitrates and phosphates. Remove those and the bacteria will slowly begin to die. Also increasing the flow to the area that is infected will keep the bacteria from spreading. Water changes will remove both phosphates and nitrates, you can also use a sponge of some type to absorb these chemicals. During this period of bringing these down, also try and research how they came into your tank in the first place.

    Possibly overfeeding? Not using R/O water for make ups? Just keep on eye on those things and you'll be fine. I like telling people its flu season.... humans get swine flu and our tanks get cyano :p

    -G
     
  10. jakeh24

    jakeh24 Pajama Cardinal

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    i used ultralife red slime remover it worked for me great and my tank was covered before i used it

    i really havent seen any down sides to it just make sure to adjust your skimmer so it doesnt overflow and make sure there is plenty of oxegenation
    oh and do a wc after the Cyano dies off so you remove all of the nutrients it realeased when it died

    just thought i would throw the medication idea out there
     
  11. PharmrJohn

    PharmrJohn The Dude

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    There you go....pretty much covered. I have had cyano in my dead spots. Just added flow to my tank and increased from 34x to 51x. We will see for me.......Lucky it just peels away. Pretty easy to get rid of manually at least.
     
  12. kiarah

    kiarah Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Hi i had the worst case off cyano i thick every one had ever seen and beat it in 3 months. There were a few main points people told me & i used:
    1. Its feeding off nitrate & phos...... This took me a while to get my head round as my tank read 0 to bothe off theys! this was because the cyano was giving me the false reading as it was feeding off both the nitrate & phos & using them all up inorder to spread & survive.

    2. I feed my tank once a day & was over feeding leading to the over production off nitrate...... so i switched to feeding every 3 days (got to be alittle careful when doing this thou as i starved my scooter blennie throu my obsession with getting rid off all my nutrients)

    4. Did major 2 times a week skimmer cleaning........ if they are not clean they can harbour nitrate same as your filters........... before this i only cleaned every 2 weeks & only washed them out.

    5. cleaned all my canister filters with my tank water just incase they were harbouring nitrate or there was any gunk in them ....... but they seemed all clear o me but i did it anyway!

    6.reduce your Phos by adding a phos canister thing! ( cant remeber what they are called! im sure someone else will tell you what it is...)
    I just filled one off my canister filters with rowaphos.

    7.Add helimatilda algea as this will help reduce your phos & so on a good growth once the cyno has gone will help stop the cyanl coming back

    8. I did use a product lke chemi clean in the end just to get ontop off it!......... I cyponed out as much cyano as possible then treated my tank. It took two treatments to get on top off it. People say its just a band aid which it is but if you do all the above to prevent it coming back you should be all good.........But dont just use a product & make no effort to reduce your nitrate & phos or it WILL just come back.

    Thanks K