Soldier Down My Tanks Been Hit

[rhysiboy]

well i suppose i dodged diatoms and hair algae so its about fair that i get cyano but damn its orrible stuff. It hasnt developed into thick 'sludge' yet and remains as strands covering half of my sand. Its definately cyano becuase its slimy and ive seen a bubble 'splodge' (pop doesnt seem apropriate) out of a piece. I tryed syphoning it off but that seemd to of made it worse so today ive put the skimmer on full wack, feeding once a day and my photoperiod is 8 hours now as opposed to 12. At the weekend i hope to buy some rowaphos or the like (please if you know any other good products just incase they dont have any in stock then tell me) and also im gonna not do a water change for a week (suicide i know but i want to see if its 'chemical' related or photo related because hopefully it should exhaust itself. Anyway any tips or tricks will be greatly appreciated and i now have funding from my mum and dad so i can buy things without having to save ..... kaching

 

[sianeds]

I had Cyano in my tank for ages and although it was getting better slowly I was struggling to beat it.....until...

I treated the tank with Octozin as my clownfish was unwell. Not only did it help the clownfish but it decimated the cyano. Coincidence??

 

[SkiFletch]

I had Cyano in my tank for ages and although it was getting better slowly I was struggling to beat it.....until...

I treated the tank with Octozin as my clownfish was unwell. Not only did it help the clownfish but it decimated the cyano. Coincidence??

I'm pretty sure (although not positive) that cyanobacteria is a gram-negative bacteria. Octozin sounds like an antibiotic that probably treated all gram-negative bacterias, this healing the clownfish, and killing the cyano. Cyano killing antiobiotics (like red slime remover) do work but they come with 2 drawbacks. First, you could run the risk of creating an antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria (especially if you dont finish the treatment). And second, you could kill beneficial bacteria in your tank. I usually never advise antibiotic treatments for cyano unless its a persistant problem ongoing over nearly 2 months. Conventional safer methods should be tried sooner.

 

[SkiFletch]

Some personal tips, add rowaphos or any other Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO) phosphate remover. GFO's are rust-brown granular substances with particles bigger than aragonite sand but smaller than activated carbon. I know that Phosban is another GFO, but dont know about other brands. If its white, dont waste your money, those ceramic ones stink.

Here's a wild idea, vaccum the sand bed, and then do as close to a 100% water change as possible. Yes your corals and rocks will be out of water for a short period, but they will be fine. Messing with the photoperiod isn't going to work. This stuff can survive on less light than any of your other beneficial photosynthetic organisms. Pretty much nothin short of throwing a black garbage bag over the tank for a week won't kill it. That being said, an 8-10 hour photoperiod is just fine, 12 is overkill.

 

[rhysiboy]

i honestly cannot fund a near 100% water change but i will try and do near 50% thanks for the advice. Also i hear ya on the lighting. Something tells me its gonna be an uphill struggle for a while ....

 

[Danno]

If possible can you skim off the very top of your sand carefully and throw it out? I'm still new in saltwater seeing that I haven't gotten into this "stage" yet but newbie ideas can sometime work.

 

[rhysiboy]

i think that would just fuel it more because when i even try to syphon it it brakes into pieces and the next day itss back better than ever. Thanks for your idea though and i agree sometimes the person who people think wont come up with the answer does

 

[amstar15]

http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...p;N=0&Nty=1

this product worked great for me to get rid of cyno bacteria. used it then did a water change. only had to do it once.