Algae slime or cyanobacteria HELP~

[potato5656]

i just spent thirty minutes typing a long response

and IE decided totimely crash. i thought i

copyed the text, but apparently didn't. grrrrr

anyways i have a problem with what i think is

cyanobacteria. can you guys help tell me what it

is, how to cure it, how to prevent it, what caused

it? any other sites with good info on it too would

be helpful.

I've got two yellow tangs and one emperor angel.

All water testing are good except for ammonia

which i do not know because i have not tested it

yet. I also don't have anything to test for

phosphates. temp is 79.4 F. it appeared

yesterday after my father fed them then i did with

out knowing that he had previously fed them.

There were two extra food cubes that they did not

eat, i believe. I recognized it at 3:00pm in only

small patches and with the lights on by 5:00pm

the same day it had grown by 33%. i currently

covers two small patches of sand, and coral tops

and a little bit on the glass.
here is a pic, help me identify it please. tia.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3496&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

 

[scuba_steve]

are you using ro water??

 

[gregzejer]

Buy Maricide. I had the same problem. It does not matter if you keep the aquarium in the most perfect conditions. You are talking about a bacteria and you need an antibiotic to kill it. Good luck

 

[steve-s]

gregzejer Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com

I would disagree with any "treatment" for cyano. All you end up doing is treating the symptom and do nothing for the what's causing the problem. Typically the main direct cause and fuel source is PO4. Eliminate that and anything that may introduce it later such as dried foods and you eliminate the cause. FWIW, any antibiotic used kills all forms of bacteria so while it may temporarily help it will also destroy the tanks biological filter at the same time. You end up trading one problem for another.

Manual removal combined with a pure RO water source and a granular PO4 sponge will in most all cases eliminate the problem. All it needs is time and patients.

Cheers
Steve

 

[tundar]

Yup, That's Cyano! It spreads fast and all over your tank in a matter of days. It's true that you can try to treat it with meds but the best is to try to solve it naturally. remember that there are no "meds" in the true sea.
Manually scrub as much as you can and make more frequent water changes. If you are able to get your hands on a diatom filter, use it right after you scrub. that will take out any floating cyano particles. It will take time. You must have patience.

It will work out

 

[Guest]

sick fish won't eat[/url]]The Maracyn will not hamper your feeding efforts. If anything copper meds will but Cupramine is not known for that as much as most regular copper treatments.

After 7 days with the Maracyn you should have seen good results though. Are you using Maracyn I or II and have you been doubling the daily dosage?

One thing you might try is one of those floating feeders used for discus (inverted triangle). It will allow the butterfly to find the food easier and keep it in one area for easier feeding rather than chasing it around. I would also suggest you soak the foods in a few tablespoons of the antibiotic after it's been pre-dissolved. That will speed things up some.

edited by reefrunner69