How to get rid of Cyano

[dexter]

So I'm experiencing some pretty bad Cyano problems in my tank.

My friend Todd and I have been contemplating on what is going to take to get rid of it but. We are not exactly sure.

Have you ever had cyano problems? If so what do you do to get rid of it?

 

[mal1099]

I had bad cyano when i first started my 60 cube. I added alot more flow and vacuumed out as much cyano i could. after a few weeks it was gone. oh and i did alot of water changes lol

 

[cephcrazy]

Mexican turbo snails...Unless i'm confusing with diff algae..Farly certain.

 

[mal1099]

I saw somewhere foghting conchs will eat it. think reefcentral had a thread on it. Love how those snails look like they have a elephant trunk.

 

[Xtremedave67]

I was told FLOW and FLOW, as well as regular water changes, vacuum cyno as best you can.

 

[slim_jim989]

Vacumm, find out why you have cyno. too much phosphates/ nitrates. you should test for those. I have heard flow, cutting down your lightschedule. But you should really see why you have cyno im going thru it right now and it sucks. You could also use some GFO to lower phosphates but regular water changes should do.

 

[treehugger]

How long has the tank been set up? What type of lighting/lighting schedule are you running? What type of foods are you feeding. What is your current biolode in relation to the size of your tank? Generally as a start, I recommend to reduce your lighting cycle, find the source of the excess nutrients that are feeding it...i find it's usually a pellet food or any of the formula one frozens that are the cause...if you are feeding frozen my recommendation would be to try the gamma blisters (they actually smell like fresh fish not rotten gelatin like formula one) Vacuuming it out helps, making sure your RO/DI water is as close 0 as possible, running carbon in a bag never hurts...

 

[ac7av]

Flow doesn’t do a thing for cyano IMO. I have it growing right in the blast zone of a large power head less then a foot away. The fish don’t even hang out there because of the flow. With that said I know why I get it and I clear it out once in a while if it starts to take over by only turning on only one set of CF lights for a couple of days and then use a power head like a leaf blower and clear it all out and it gets sucked up by the overflow and its gone for another month or so. You could have your friend help you out with it but the bottom line is if you don’t want to have it at all you will need to make some changes. Figuring out what the changes are can be difficult but if you make only one change at a time you will have a better understanding of why you had it in the first place. If you’re having an outbreak you have nitrates or phosphates even if you don’t pick it up in your water testing. I’ve seen your tank in the past, it was looking very nice. What do you thing may have brought it on? Have you made any changes to lighting, feeding, or livestock that may have pushed it over the edge?

 

[estanoche]

Do you have a sump?
Do you grow macro algae in there?
Is your macro growing well, or bad?

There are some theories out there that cyano is a mid-tier type of algae, that if your macros arent growing well it will step in and outcompete for the available nutrients.

Solutions to break the cyano cycle include:
- Getting new bulbs - often it is caused by old bulbs
- Water changes
- Phosphate/Nitrate removal
- Blowing it around to suspend it in your water column and have your skimmer collect it
- Shutting your lights off for 4-5 days (that means everything) - without light it starves out
- Vacuuming it out
- Stirring the sandbed it is growing on

or... a chemical solution - which I have never tried, so I cannot recommend it.

 

[fayzane]

Yeah, what Estanoche said!

 

[treehugger]

if you're looking for a chemical solution, erythromycin works wonders but this also wipes out beneficial bacteria and will set cycling back a bit. This treatment does not affect corals in a negative way at all from what i've seen...i've done it several times in tanks that i maintain as a bandage to get me through making major changes in how the system is either set up or running because of client involvement. The treatment requires skimmers off, uv off, carbon and gfo removed and many substantial water changes after treatment. Cyano will be gone in about 48 hours. This is a last resort and I recommend tracking down the source before going this route. If you'd like more info on treating drop me a PM.

 

[saltwaterfishes]

I have done Chemiclean many times....works great. I was very scare in the beginning so I did a half dose, increased dosage but still not doing full dose since I don't know my exact water volume.
I know many are not comfortable dumping chemicals into your reef tank to get rid of cyno. Chemiclean is the only one I have used, haven't tried any other brands. Hope you find something that will work for you.

 

[NC2WA]

I would rather you find the root cause to your cyano instead of dumping Chemi-clean (or any other chemical) into your tank..does it work, sure..but it is only a band-aid on cancer..

unfortunately most people see Chemi-clean or any other chemical as a panacea when instead they should be finding the root cause..so until this is determined, you will be ever reliant on this method to cure cyano.

just my .02

 

[TotalVapor]

You have to find the root of the issue.
Are you using RO/DI water?
Have you always used RO/Di water?
How much are you feeding?
What are you feeding?
What have you added lately?

30% water change with RO/DI water / Salt Mix.
Kill your lights for three days
30% water change with RO/DI water / Salt Mix again.
That will give you some relief but until you find the cause of it you will have it come back.

 

[TotalVapor]

I have done Chemiclean many times....works great.

Not to pick on this reefer but this kind of scares me. Suggest using Chemi-Clean and he has used it many times. Leads me to the question, why not just find the root cause of the problem?

 

[Chichas01]

I hear ya. But I've seen Caitlin's systems and they are amazing to say the least and I've purchased some nice frags from her in the past that are doing great today.

 

[DonW]

Cyano resided mainly on top of its food source. If you have cyano in a particular spot then you have detritus or food collecting in that area. Flow will of course always take care of cyano in a given spot since cyano doesnt really adhear well, it just gets blown away. If your nutrient levels are high its just going to appear someplace else with lower flow. So increase or redirect flow and take away its food source.

Using anti bacterials does work and probably isnt going to kill off your tank unless you fail to follow the direction. The problem is not the killing of beneficial bacteria. The issue is oxygen deprivation caused by these chamical treatments. If you decide to go this route add extra flow to the surface with power heads to try and keep o2 exchange as high as possible. Many people use the chemicals but not all tanks are alike. Some have very good o2 exchange and others just think they do.

Don

 

[saltwaterfishes]

Not to pick on this reefer but this kind of scares me. Suggest using Chemi-Clean and he has used it many times. Leads me to the question, why not just find the root cause of the problem?

I'm not suggesting anyone to use Chemiclean.....I personally used it and it works for me. Sometimes you find the root cause right away, sometimes it takes longer.
I don't feel that anyone is picking on me, we all do things differently to keep our reef tanks happy. After all....this is a forum to help each other out.

 

[Xtremedave67]

I try not to add chemicals, even in my limited experience with reef keeping, but my medical knowledge tells me to NOT medicate and find the why's????

 

[DonW]

I try not to add chemicals, even in my limited experience with reef keeping, but my medical knowledge tells me to NOT medicate and find the why's????

We know the why. Its always nutrients.

Don