Blue-Green Cyano

[JessicaK]

Has anyone dealt with this?? I can't seem to get it under control. When I do a water change it almost seems to make things worse. I know I need more rock and I will get some this week. I'm just afraid of adding more when I know there will be some die-off. Possibly making the problem worse.
It's driving me crazy! I've cut my lights back to about 3-4 hours a day. I'm feeding every other day and not excessively.
I'm thinking I need to take every rock out and scrub it in a bucket and replace my substrate.
Hopefully, with the tank being set up 6 months it wont cycle with a substrate change.
It's a 46 bow, 30 lbs of rock, 6 line wrasse, percula and tiny yellow watchman. I have a skimmer and a emperor 400 with no biowheels. 2 powerheads on opposite sides of the tank.
I think the problem started b/c I was only doing monthly changes and the water I used for the first few months wasn't that great. I wasn't as diligent as I should have been- I'm pregnant and I couldn't bring myself to clean a dirty tank with morning sickness! Now, I'm paying for it!
Any advice would be great!

 

[roka64]

Once cyano gets a foothold, it can quickly take over a tank. More frequent PWCs and syphoning the the cyano out with each PWC will knock it out quicker. Do you have any sponges in the filter? You can fill it up with some LR rubble.

 

[melosu58]

IMO I would do weekly PWC`s till you get this under control. As you draw your water out the tank try to siphon as much of this stuff out as possible. Keep doing what you are doing as far as the other stuff you are doing. As far as the lights a couple days blackout will not hurt. This will help to break this stuff up. Dont hurt yourself or the baby by doing these PWC`s. Get a friend to help. Water is pretty heavy.

 

[MT79]

When I do a water change it almost seems to make things worse.

Sounds like you may have PO4 in your source water. PWC's will only fuel the algae if that is the case. What is your source water (tap, RO, RO/DI)? Have you tested it for phosphate and nitrate?

 

[JessicaK]

I buy my water from a LFS. It's RO/DI. I even had their competition test it for me so I know it's good. That's what's so frustrating.
I guess I'm doing everything I can. I've started my weekly changes 2 weeks ago and nothing. This Friday will be my 3rd.

I've had probs with bad algae since the beginning...
It stared with hair algae during the initial cycle. Then it went to diatoms for a long time with the appearance of red cyano here and there. Now, it's all the blue-green stuff and it's everywhere!
I dont have anything but a bag of carbon in my emperor. So I know that the sponges arent causing a problem. I really think it's just built up DOM and left over problems with the bad water I used in the beginning.

Yes, the water IS heavy! and it's tiring to do these changes but I know I have to get it under control before the baby comes b/c then I'll have so much less time than I do now.

 

[MT79]

What is the PO4 and NO3 in the tank? Posting all other params may help us aid you as well. What is the turnover/flow of the system(total gph)? Do you have a skimmer? How often/much do you feed and what? What salt mix do you use?
Manual removal, and keeping NO3 low and PO4 below .03 meg/l will cure algae. You may want to consider running a PO4/silicate reducer like Rowaphos or Phosban. Both work very well at lowering nutrients and reducing algae outbreaks. Cutting your lights off for a few days helps to bring it under control while other measures are taken to prevent it from returning. Scrubbing the rock and rinsing it in clean SW helped me a lot. Removing the detritus, etc. seems to help slow algae from returning. If there is a ton of nutrients locked in the rock and sand from using bad water or it was collected from a dirty area, you may need to look into "cooking" it to remove the excess nutrients. That is pretty laborious and requires a good amount of new SW, but it may be easier than replacing it or dealing w/ algae for the life of the tank.

 

[roka64]

I run phosban and purigen. How long has that carbon been in there? I very rarely run carbon in my tank.

 

[Lance M.]

When I had problems with cyano I used a bamboo stick with airline tubing rubberbanded to the end and suctioned it off the rocks. I just moved the stick around and sucked it all up. This helped me a lot. The reason I had problems was I was using tap water for pwc's but with the suction and using DI water it went away in no time.

 

[JessicaK]

All of my parameters are good - no doubt b/c the cyano's using everything up.
Ill try the phosban and purigen...didn't think about that. I'm tempted to just buy the chemical remedy at this point, but I'm not sure how well it works for the blue-green stuff. And I have a starfish, and I can't remember if it's safe to use with them.

 

[melosu58]

The chemical solution is just a band aid approach. It will cover up the problem but it is still there. You still need to find out where the problem lies. As I stated earlier try to draw out as much as possible to help from getting bigger and hopefully it will come under control.. Do me a favor also and check your top off and PWC water also to make sure you are not adding to the problem in this regard.

PS When I talk about not using chems I am not talking about the purigen and phosban. I`m talking about the chemi clean and related substance. Purigen, GAC, and phosban are a good start and finding the source is an even better one. JMO

 

[roka64]

Try the PWCs, if that doesn't work, try the phosban first. I had a similar problem, I could not keep cyano from coming back (I tried everything), so it was suggested to use the phosban. I love the stuff. I think that chemical kills bacteria (which is what cyano is and ALSO the beneficial bacteria, in your tank), so I would be careful of that.

 

[Devilishturtles]

All of my parameters are good - no doubt b/c the cyano's using everything up.
Ill try the phosban and purigen...didn't think about that. I'm tempted to just buy the chemical remedy at this point, but I'm not sure how well it works for the blue-green stuff. And I have a starfish, and I can't remember if it's safe to use with them.

Just wanted to share that people have had their entire tanks wiped out (everything dead) after using some of these chemicals (chemiclean, red slime remover, etc.). Some, which are very much in the minority, have it actually work. I've been fighting cyanobacteria in my new tank, and after finally increasing flow, vaccuming and doing more frequent water changes, and adding phosban to my filter, it's almost non existent now.

Best of luck.

 

[Hara]

while I understand your thinking..."good" isnt really a useful statement. Can you provide definitive numbers?

 

[JessicaK]

I know it's just a band-aid and all of the other issues that go along with it. I'm just so frustrated!!
My last water change was Friday. I scrubbed the rocks(in the tank) and siphoned all that I could out. The next morning it was back almost better than before!
My water is good...I use the same water for everything so I know that's not the issue.

 

[Hara]

what you are not understanding is that if there is ANY reading at all of nitrates and phosphates, you can be having that problem. so...unless you see a ZERO reading on a test result, you cannot be sure your water is so good that it cant be contributing to the problem.

 

[roka64]

I agree, specific numbers will help us assist you better. I have found it is very hard to find phosphates when cyano is present. I use the seachem test and really didn't get much of a reading. Can you adjust your phs to alleviate the dead spots, or add another ph?

 

[pinkie]

I've had issues with Cyano in the past. When it first came around I used Chemiclean Red Slime Remover and it worked really well. However, after about a 2-3 weeks it would slowly creep back into the tank.

After it came back strong one time I treated it, then about 3-4 days later when i couldn't see anymore, I treated the tank again. I didn't have a single speck of the stuff for about 4 months, until I used Aquatic Gardens Activated Carbon. About two days after using it my tank the Cyano came back, and strong.

The Activated Carbon could be a part of your problem. And I also recommend the Chemiclean treatment as it has been perfectly safe with my tanks and hasn't even stressed the fish.

 

[MT79]

^ Many "cheaper" GAC's can leach PO4. FWIW I've never had an issue w/ Marineland black diamond GAC.

 

[JessicaK]

I DO understand, Hara. I'm not a newbie here! That's why it's frustrating! IMO, the specific numbers arent necessary b/c there is obviously a nitrate or phosphate problem-otherwise there would be no cyano.

I had never heard that about GAC. It's helped me in the past with hair algae so I thought I would put it back in. Interesting...especially b/c I used a cheaper brand.

Currently, I'm keeping my lights off until Friday...then I'm going in there!!
I'll be adding another ph too.

 

[Hara]

the specific numbers arent necessary b/c there is obviously a nitrate or phosphate problem-otherwise there would be no cyano.

In that case, you were giving us erroneous information as you said your water chemistry was "GOOD". Until you give us real numbers, we are just speculating. All the numbers are tied together. You may not think it necessary, but it is.