Cyanobacteria Bloom

[RYANLAWRENCE]

Ok so I just got back from college today, and my tank looks like this...cyanobacteria have carpeted the whole tank. My mom has been taking care of it....
She says she has not been feeding that much, I trust her on that. She has also been reducing the lighting but none of this has worked. We use RO/DI water from a water store to make the saltwater. I'm starting to wonder how great this "water store's" water is, although the phosphates read zero on my test.

My protein skimmer recently broke, so this could maybe have a role in it? Basically what I'm asking is, what natural ways can I remove Cyanobacteria from my tank? Will snails eat it? Will hermit crabs eat it? I have a product called "Anti-Red" but I'd prefer to go the natural way first.

Any ideas?

 

[carried]

Siphon it out when you do a water change.

 

[Rutrag]

Check the nitrates and phospahtes both in your tank and from your water source. If you have a TDS meter, check that from your water source as well. If you are reading nitrates above 20ppm in the tank, you need to get ready for frequent water changes. If you are reading anything other than 0 from the water source, you need a new water source. If you are reading phosphates in the tank, get ready for water changes. If you have phospates or a TDS reading above 0 from the water source, get a new water source.

Next, look at your flow pattern. Cyano tends to like low flow. The skimmer does (or I guess did) help with some of these issues as well.

Unfortunately, nothing really eats it in any noticable quantity.

How long are your lights on? If it's more than 10 hours, cut it back. This won't eliminate it by itself, but it can help.

As carried said, your best bet to remove is to siphon out during partial water changes. You do want to make sure you aren't fertilizing it with high nitrates or phosphates. You can also try adding GFO in the filter loop to absorb some phospates as well. Many times the cyano is absorbing it as fast as it is produced, plus the phosphate kit really only measures inorganic phosphates which is supposedly as little as 2% of the total.

 

[bavass]

the phosphates read 0 because the cyano is eating it up. If you have cyano or algae its from excess nutrients. I would invest in RO/DI unit and start doing frequent water changes, fix skimmer

 

[RYANLAWRENCE]

Anyone know of a good HOB skimmer? I had this one Reef Octopus BH 100 Hang on Back Protein Skimmer - AquaCave.com
But it broke and leaked about 10 gallons of water on the floor. I would have to have an HOB skimmer since I do not have a sump

 

[Fishfighter]

I have a coralife protien skimmer. Tough to break in but once you get it tuned in it pulls some nasty stuff. My tank did the same thing even with the skimmer. I used chem clean and it worked wonders on my tank. That stuff is so nasty you will spend forever syphoning out w water changes and you'll lose half of your sand in the process. Add a power head or two and that will keep it from happening again.

 

[scottayy]

You definitely need to reduce nutrients, but it's going to be one hell of a fight with cyano. I've tried it twice, each time ended up using chemiclean. It's just too hard of a fight, lol.

 

[bavass]

No chance you can get a 20g tank and make a sump? That way you could easly start running GFO and have a place for a better skimmer. ChemiClean will not fix the problem. It will kill the cyano but if the nutrients are still there the cyano will come back.

 

[RYANLAWRENCE]

I have a 10 gallon tank...would that be sufficient? I'm just still semi confused as to how a sump works and how to incorporate a sump in my existing tank. If it isn't hard, I would love to do it. Anyone have any advice?

 

[bavass]

Sump can house skimmer, heater, reactors etc. takes a lot of stuff out of display tank. You run an overflow from main tank to sump and u have a main pump that pumps from sump back to display very easy do a youtube search

 

[RYANLAWRENCE]

Ok, I've watched a few youtube videos and I think that I understand it all for the most part. What size of tank would be best for a 40 gallon tank? And can you make an overflow box, or would it be better to buy one?

 

[Sniperhank]

You can make them, but I think the CPR overflows with an aqualifter pump are the best way to go. A nice fail safe from losing siphon. My system went great until my lifter pump died and it went downhill from there.

 

[RYANLAWRENCE]

Ok where would you get those? Know of a good online store?

 

[bavass]

Marinedepot.com, bulkreefsupply.com, aquacave.com

 

[RYANLAWRENCE]

What size of sump would a 40 gallon tank need?

 

[RYANLAWRENCE]

Sorry to revive this thread guys, but I don't know what size sump to get for a 40 gallon tank...can anyone help me with that?

 

[Rutrag]

There is no really set answer other than you want one as big as possible. The sump adds water volume to the tank and needs to be big enough to contain your skimmer (assuming it's going in sump) and return pump (again, assuming it's a submersible). If you are using any media reactors or if you are making a chamber a refugium, you'll want to take that into account as well. The sump needs some excess capacity so that if you lose power, the sump doesn't overflow from the water back-siphoning or draining from your tank. I didn't re-read the thread to see if your tank was drilled or if you were using a hang-on overflow.

To help further answer your question, what are you going to put in your sump?

 

[bavass]

Sorry to revive this thread guys, but I don't know what size sump to get for a 40 gallon tank...can anyone help me with that?

I would say go as big as you can go. If you are using an aquarium i wouldnt go less than a 20g long.

 

[RYANLAWRENCE]

Thanks for the help guys, I think a 20 gallon would be sufficient. I want to have a bio ball section where the water enters the sump, a protein skimmer section, and of course the return pump. I do not think I would do macro algae since I'll be gone to college again in a few months, and it would just be something else for my parents to take care of. I'll be using an overflow box since my tank is not drilled.

 

[spoonman]

If you want it to be easy to take care of, dont use the bioballs. Just put the skimmer and live rock in there. Maybe a filter sock for the drain side.