Cyano

Hey Mary,

 

Cyano is a bacteria that can be a pain to control.

Main thing is to cover the basics, good water flow, good water parameters.

What I usually do that works well for me is to turn off the lights completely for a couple of days.  I have been doing this for a couple of months & it has really kept my cyano in check.

Also if you can vacuum out as much as you can before you do that it will help even more.

 

GL

Craig

 

Good advice. I did this on accident when I put my lights on manual control and found the same results. It really helps to break the cycle and stunt it for a while.

I'm not an advocate of using chemicals to fix problems like this, but I did hear good things about Chemi Clean.

--AJ

 

I have had a terrible cyano problem before and used the chemi clean. I works great, after about 3 days the cyano is completely gone. It didn't hurt my corals, but did pretty much stop the growth for a while.

I think bad lighting helps the cyano grow faster, so a good start would replace the bulbs, do a few larger water changes, and leave the lights off for a few days. like Craig said.

 

I agree with the fellas on this issue. Definitely, get those bulbs changed out and start doing some water changes. I never change out more than 10% at a time. Some do larger less frequent water changes, however, i feel smaller more frequent changes have less of an impact on the balance of the water chemistry.

As far as chemi-clean goes, i have used it before and it worked like a charm, but i have heard of entire tanks being wiped out by using it as well. I would say do anything possible to avoid using chemicals if possible.

Let us know how it goes.

BTW, how big of tank are we talking about? How about flow in the tank itself?  Do you ever test for nitrates or phosphates?

 

Here is a good thread about Cyano. Causes and cures.

http://www.reefaquariumguide.com/forum/nuisance-algae/98214-red-slime-cyano-causes-cures.html

 

Hi Mary, One thing that wasn't mentioned is to step up your skimming. What skimmer are you using? Set it on the wet side to pull more skim out.