cyano but not sure? Help for a newbie.

[KevyMv]

I just set up my ninety gallon last week. I bought it used and took more then half of its water with it along with all the live rock. I'm noticing some red algae that is covering the snails and the live rock. I have shrimp, clown fish, koran angel, couple snails, and a star fish and one hermit crab. I know in the beginning I was overfeeding and now have cut down. Also I have cut down on the lighting is their anything else I can do. Also should I try to remove this stuff manually. I'm a newbie so to be to harsh.....

 

[lando]

A pic sure would help. Your description does sound like cycno. Is it a deep red color? Cutting back on the feedings is a great place to start. Hold off to light feedings every other day. If you are feeding frozen food make sure you thaw it first and rinse it in RO/DI water. Cyno bacteria is mainly caused by excess nutrients in the water, PO4 is the main contributor. I would get a PO4 test kit and test both your tank water and your source water for it. Make sure you are doing water changes and top-offs with water that is free of PO4. Think about adding some more flow to your tank. How amny powerheads do you currently have? As far as the cyno you currently have, carefully siphon it out on a regualr basis.

 

[KevyMv]

thanx

I will get a phosphate test kit today. I just found a throw away camera so i can put some pictures on this afternoon. I have done 2 water changes in the last week but only 5 gallon each time. The water is testing good as for alkalintiy, ph, nitrates, nitrites, and amonia. thanx

 

[edwardpaul]

How old are your lights? I've been told when they get old the bulbs will emit the wrong spectrum and promote that algae. What I've done to get rid of mine is change bulbs and medicate. Seems to work... for me anyway.

 

[daclozer]

cyano is a bacteria not an algae, the only way to remove it is chemically. There is a product called red slime remover, it is a whitepowder, and it works like magic !!! It is reef safe and will not affect anything else in the tank...

 

[seaham358]

Daclozer you are correct it is a bacteria, but you are wrong in saying that you need chemicals to remove it. IMO chemicals are a last resort.
I have had the battle with cyno several times in 2 different tanks and never used chemicals. I have high PO4 in my tap water and when I don't stay on top of changing my filters I end up getting cyno.
I did end up using a phosban reactor on my reef to help speed things up.
Chemicals will work, I just suggest you try and find the source of the problem and correct that before dumping chems into a tank.. JMO.

 

[lando]

I must agree. Cyno can be beat without chemicals. They should be a last resort. Siphon out as much of the cyno as you can and keep up on the water changes using high quality RO/DI water. Keep an eye on feedings and with some work you should see the cyno start to go away.

 

[daclozer]

If he can solve it without chemicals , then more power to him. I tried everything for months and couldn't get it out. I have a 200 gal reef tank loaded with inverts, zoo's, softies and sps, I used the chemical and the cyano was gone in a week with not one iota of harm to anything else. For a newbie, a difficult problem like cyano can chase them out of the hobby, which is why I recommended using the red slime remover. I hate to put anything in my tanks also. but that was the only thing that worked for me.