More Algae or Cyano Questions

[An t-iasg]

I just read some other posts in this forum about algae, and I think I may have cyano in my tanks.

I noticed my betta eating the algae (a light, greenish coating -- looks greenish under water) on the suction cups. It didn't seem to hurt him. But I started doing some research on algae. It is greenish and slimy, but it's only on the suction cups of the heater and filter. The silk plants are slimy too, but they look ok. I read that cyano is often between the substate and the sides of the tank, but this isn't the case for me. When I wipe off the suction cups with a paper towel (removing them from the tank first) the paper towel is brownish-yellow.

So, is this cyano? It didn't hurt the betta when he ate it. I've been wiping off the suction cups at every cleanning now. When I do this, it has a terrible odor.

I looked at a link that Allivymar posted in one of the other algae topics. My algae doesn't look like any of the hair, beard, brown, etc. pictures. The main problem is that it's so smelly. It doesn't smell unless I lift the lid, but then, yuck! My poor betta has to live in this. Well, since I did the last water change and wiped everything off, last Friday, the water hasn't smelled again until today.

I have a sponge filter. I could turn it up a little, but in general, it isn't going to create a current in the water. I do have bright lights, and I have been turning them off sooner at the end of the day. I don't think they are too bright for the bettas, though. They are under-counter halogen lights, so I can't change them. I have been using Novaqua and Amquel, 5 or 6 drops per gallon. I know Novaqua has phosphate in it, but I thought as long as I don't put too much in, I'm ok. I don't know what the nitrates are. My test kit always says 20ppm, even after a water change (I use half tap water and half RO water).

So, any suggestions? I'm worried about my betta in this stinky water. I was thinking about getting a live plant, maybe next month. Will that help? If it might, I'll get it sooner. Thanks!

 

[lmw80]

From your description, it does sound like you have cyano. Cyano, in my experience, can start anywhere in the tank. Mine was on the sides of my tank, on my live plants and on top of my driftwood.

Yes, it does stink! It's terrible stuff! What type of tank is this? What is the WPG for the ligthing? The problem is that cyano can get on plants and somether them by coating them so much, they can't get any light to make food. On the other hand, if you have too much WPG and no live plants, this is what the algae is "feeding" off of.

 

[An t-iasg]

It probably is cyano then. Yuck! I think I have too much light, but I almost have to use the under-cabinet lights that we have in the kitchen. The tanks sit on the counter, under the lights. Since they are not aquarium lights, it's hard to say the wpg for sure, but I think it's around 6 wpg. Lori, you used erythromycin once, didn't you? That won't fix what's causing it, though. I have 2 betta tanks, (5.5 gallons each), and I think one tank has it worse than the other one.

 

[lmw80]

I did use erythromycin on my tank when I had cyano. You are correct than using the erythromycin won't solve the problem causing the cyano. 6 wpg (I know it's just a guess) is quite high for a 5.5 gallon with no live plants.

If you do decide to use erythromycin, make sure you clean out all the visible cyano before the first dosing. Also, IMO, during the 5 days of medicine, I would take the tank(s) out of the light.

If you decide to stick it out without medicine, or after the use of erythromycin, I would definitly cut down on the amount of hours a day your tanks are under that light. Live plants would help, but IMO, I would wait until the cyano was gone before I put the live plants in there.

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks, Lori!

during the 5 days of medicine, I would take the tank(s) out of the light.

Does this mean just don't use the under-cabinet lights? Or totally put the tank in the dark -- put towels over the tank? For the past few days I haven't turned the cabinet lights on. I think the room light is enough for the fish. Should I be careful of all light until the cyano is gone?

 

[lmw80]

Your welcome

The two most popular methods I have heard of to treat cyano is to cover the tank with towels and leave it completely dark for 5 days OR use the erythromycin for 5 days. If you decide to use the erythromycin, I don't think it's necessary to use the towel and create complete darkness, but I do think it would help.

If you do decide to do both at the same time, let us know how it goes, I am very curious!

 

[malkore]

hmmm....I wouldn't say that cyano smells 'terrible'....it does indeed have a strong odor, but in my experience, it reminds me of fresh cut grass...super concentrated...to the point of being sweet smelling.

normal green algae is kind of stinky though, and since it's a true algae, and you have 6wpg, I think you can't jump to this being cyano. Just my two cents though, as I'm dealing with cyano in a 20 gallon...on day 3 of the marycin treatment, at half dosage, which seems to be doing the trick.

 

[An t-iasg]

it does indeed have a strong odor, but in my experience, it reminds me of fresh cut grass...super concentrated...to the point of being sweet smelling

I'd say that's how my tank smells...I was trying to think of a way to describe it. I just smelled the tank a few minutes ago, and my nose is still stinging. Anyway, if I try the maracyn dosage, I see that everyone uses a 5 day dosage. Most meds I have used on the 5 day dosage schedule go like this: a dose on day 1, day 3, and day 5. Is this what you'd do to treat cyano?

PS. Lori, happy birthday...to you and me!

 

[lmw80]

Happy Birthday!!

Yeah, the best way for me to describe the smell of cyano is a strong cucumbery smell....I mean strong...to me, that is a nasty smell that is why I say it stinks...it's personally how you perceive a smell I think.

With the dosing, I did a dose every day as per the instructions on the box. A lot of people half dose it, or do a dose every other day.

 

[malkore]

I'm doing a half dose every day, except day 1 I did a full dose.
So far I am seeing a decrease in the cyano. I didn't manually remove it because every time I do, one of my blue rams seems to die. Since cyano can release toxins deadly to fish, I didn't wanna risk it this time.

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks everyone! There seems to be a lot of cyano topics recently. I started the erythromycin on Saturday night. I used the full dose on Saturday, and then I used half a dose tonight (Sunday). Already the smell was not as bad as it had been. I also taped some newspapers to the tank to cut down on the light entering the tanks. I'm not using the under-cabinet lights now, but there are two flood lights nearby and they shine into the tanks too. I didn't put newspapers over a small part of the tanks, so I can still see the heater and the thermometer (and the betta!)

Lori, I found the post on your 5 day maracyn dosing. I noticed that you took your bio-wheel out, so I took the sponge filters out, put them in ziplock baggies, labeled them with each betta's name, and put them in the frig. I'll do an ammonia check on the bag water before I put the filters back in. Hopefully the ammonia will be 0!

When this outbreak is over, I don't think I'll use the under-cabinet lighting for the betta tanks again, until I get some real plants. In the meantime, I think the room lights are good enough to give the bettas a little bit of light.

 

[An t-iasg]

I thought I'd post an update of how my cyano eradicating experience went. After 5 days of treatment with erythromycin, and newspapers covering the tanks, on the 6th day, I did a 25% water change, and ran a small corner filter filled with carbon. I don't keep this filter in the tank; I just use it to remove meds. But I may think about running it once every week or two, since it removes odors well.

After roughly 24 hours, I took the carbon filter out of the tank and tested the water that the sponge filters were in (in the frig). It seemed to be between 0 and .25. The color wasn't green, but it wasn't pure yellow either. I rinsed the sponge filters in RO water, and put them back in the tank. I tested the tanks today, and the ammonia was 0. I'll test a few days in a row to make sure. The awful smell is gone, and the water is so clear! For now (hopefully forever!) I am rid of the cyano!

 

[lmw80]

Yeah! Destroy that cyano!