Cyanobacteria On Sand

[AK77]

Hi Guys,

For a long while now, I've had the purplish-brown cyanobacteria growing on the sandbed. I grow chaetomorpha macroalgae to remove nitrates and phosphates (its worked well for the nitrates, although the phosphates were at 0.75ppm, but have since added some renaphos in a sachet/bag to deal with this).

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to how to rid the sandbed of this, as its a bit unsightly. I have plenty of hermit crabs although I could probably use a few more snails. I was contemptaing gettign a couple of Florida fighting conch to clean the sandbed. I have read that they are very affective against cyano and work their way through the substrate looking for things to eat, without disturbing the lower regions.

I saw that someone had a chalk goby the otherday. Do these also reed on cyano or do they just filter then sand looking for cocepods and other small life? I couldn't find much information on them, but wouldn't mind investing in one.

I'm also planning on getting a powered gravel cleaner to help remove detritus from the substrate too.


Does anyone have any other critter suggestions/recommendations for cyano removal from the sand?

Many thanks,

AK

 

[Flagfin]

Hi Guys,

For a long while now, I've had the purplish-brown cyanobacteria growing on the sandbed. I grow chaetomorpha macroalgae to remove nitrates and phosphates (its worked well for the nitrates, although the phosphates were at 0.75ppm, but have since added some renaphos in a sachet/bag to deal with this).

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to how to rid the sandbed of this, as its a bit unsightly. I have plenty of hermit crabs although I could probably use a few more snails. I was contemptaing gettign a couple of Florida fighting conch to clean the sandbed. I have read that they are very affective against cyano and work their way through the substrate looking for things to eat, without disturbing the lower regions.

I saw that someone had a chalk goby the otherday. Do these also reed on cyano or do they just filter then sand looking for cocepods and other small life? I couldn't find much information on them, but wouldn't mind investing in one.

I'm also planning on getting a powered gravel cleaner to help remove detritus from the substrate too.


Does anyone have any other critter suggestions/recommendations for cyano removal from the sand?

Many thanks,

AK

Hya

Not a very technical reponse but I was gettling loads of that in my seahorse tank. Nitrates etc were reading fine but I tried really cutting down on food to see if it made a difference. It made no difference to the Nitrate readings but the cyano disappeared. After one of the seahorses gave birth I upped the food for a couple of days for him and hey presto the cyano came back but Nitrates always stayed the same. I was syphoning it up with the top layer of sand during water changes - washing it out with syphoned out tank water then putting it back.

 

[SkiFletch]

You could always use a diamond goby

 

[AK77]

You could always use a diamond goby

Now this is what I'm talking about. Why use chemicals when you can cram another fish in your tank to do the same thing. Liking it.... liking it

To the LFS tomorrow I shall go.. for my weekly perve and in search of a diamond goby

EDIT BTW is that the same as a Diamond Watchman Goby ??

 

[Lynden]

Very few creatures will eat cyanobacteria. Even some animals that will eat it die afterwards from it's toxins. Simply stirring the sand bed will not work either because cyano seems to be able to store energy and can keep dividing for days even in the shade. However, if it stays in the shade for an extended period it will quickly collapse.

If you do choose to physically attack cyano colonies make sure you remove most of what you disturb; a large amount of dying cyano can poison a tank.

The best way to keep it from thriving (it is omnipresent in marine aquaria, so forget about 'getting rid of it') is to introduce more competitors such as corals, macroalgae and even pest algae (looks better than cyano) or upgrade your lighting so that your present competitors will shift into overdrive. Removing phosphate will help as well (cyano does not require nitrates).

Do not even consider antibiotics. These will destroy your biofilter and rapidly kill the cyano, causing toxin release.

 

[AK77]

After a water change a few days ago and adding the renaphos 36 hours ago, the phosphates are down from 0.75 to about 0.35.

I might invest in some more, decrorative macro algaes. Can anyone suggest any that are particularly hardly, like Chaetomorpha, but are a bit more athestically pleasing??

 

[Donya]

After a water change a few days ago and adding the renaphos 36 hours ago, the phosphates are down from 0.75 to about 0.35.

I might invest in some more, decrorative macro algaes. Can anyone suggest any that are particularly hardly, like Chaetomorpha, but are a bit more athestically pleasing??

Razor Caulerpa works great; I think it's also called Mexican Caulerpa? Not sure on that last common name, but it's pretty recognizeable. Moderate growth rate, not picky about lighting, IME as hardy as Chaeto, although given enough nutrients Chaeto can out-compete it. Other macro is also good, but either is less hardy, poses risk of releasing spores (although also IME this risk is overblown as far as its effect on a stable tank), or is a favorite food of many common snails and hermits.

And before someone comes in with the doomsday quotes about all Caulerpas going sexual in the tank...I have not once been able to get razor Caulerpa to go sexual and release spores in response to any kind of change in conditions or physical stress/damage. I've put pieces of razor Caulerpa through a lot of abuse to see where it's boundaries are, and it just doesn't seem to react the way other Caulerpas do. Stress triggers spores for other types of macro, particularly feather Caulerpa species, but it doesn't seem to phase razor Caulerpa. So, as far as I'm concerned, the issues with sudden release of nutrients for that one is along the same lines as Chaeto, which would be as close to nil risk as you can get.

 

[SkiFletch]

I'll second that razor culerpa reccomendation. And also consider Halimeda. SLower growing, but looks really nice. Downside: requires a decent calc/alk balance to grow since it is a calcifying algae

 

[Lynden]

I could never grow halimeda. Always tended to bleach and disintegrate.