Cynobacteria

[vettesarebest]

So besides using Chemi-Clean which is on the way from Foster Smith, What else can I do to help get rid of this. It is pretty bad and there is also a little bit of it in my refugium. Should I siphon the Cyno off of the gravel?

 

[wolfie]

It going to take time. Siphon it off the sand and lots of WC.

I got it on my tank also and are still doing sphon and WC every 3 days.


good luck with your

 

[vettesarebest]

Alright, What about the refugium? Will that just die off the Cheatomorpha? Do I also need to increase the flow? Do I stir it up?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Cyano needs the same things as nisance algae: lights and nutrient. The bad news is that Cyano can flourish under low lights, but if you get the nutrients under control, you'll be on the right track. As Wolfie said, a good start is to siphon it off and do some heavy water changes. Also make sure your skimmer is really cranking. The chemiclean will kill the cyano, but wont prevent it from reoccuring.

 

[vettesarebest]

I do not have a very good skimmer on this tank but I it is working as hard as it can right now. Do you think I can get a 5 gallon bucket rubber band a T-Shirt over it and siphon the water threw it and re use the water?

 

[mfliin]

The reason you have cyno:

1. Not enough water flow
2. Nitrates/nutrients in your water.

Please test your water for Nitrates...

Chemiclean is only a bandaid. This is a temporary fix only. Siphon it out and do some water changes(I think that using chemiclean requires a water change afterwards anyway). My guess is that, like you said, your skimmer isn't big/efficient enough and you have too many nutrients in your water.

Types of filtration:
biological(live rock, bioballs), mechanical(your T-shirt, filter media), chemical (activated carbon)
Pouring water through a shirt is only mechanically cleaning the water.
You need to get out the Nitrates...this is done through water changes.

Hope this helps....

 

[vettesarebest]

Thanks! Better start making lots of water! I will test my nitrates and get back to you.

 

[cgill311]

Maroons15;35161 wrote: I do not have a very good skimmer on this tank but I it is working as hard as it can right now. Do you think I can get a 5 gallon bucket rubber band a T-Shirt over it and siphon the water threw it and re use the water?

This will do nothing but remove any larger particulate in the water. Anything dissolved in the water is going to flow right through (salt ions, nitrates, phosphates, etc.).

Now if your shirt had an average pore size on the order of angstroms (1x10^(-10) meters) and you could apply at 50 atmosphere pressure on one side of the shirt, then I would say go for it.

 

[vettesarebest]

Well I have no idea what that meant but I don't think my shirt does that.

 

[cgill311]

Maroons15;35234 wrote: Well I have no idea what that meant but I don't think my shirt does that.

They still teach chemistry and math in highschool don't they?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

mfliin;35167 wrote: The reason you have cyno:

1. Not enough water flow
2. Nitrates/nutrients in your water.

.

I agree with number 2, but number one is a bit misleading. You dont get cyano because of poor flow. cyano settles in areas of lower flow when the conditions merit it's growth, but low flow doesnt = cyano. People often suggest increasing flow to combat cyano. I have never seen this solve the issue. At best, it circulates the nutrient for export, rather than letting it collect on the substrate. Cyano is caused by excess nutrient and is defeated by limiting this nutrient.

 

[vettesarebest]

CGill311;35239 wrote: They still teach chemistry and math in highschool don't they?

Yeah, But I am absolutely <u>Terrible</u> at math.