Cyanobacteria....ALREADY?!?!? :'( Help...?

Piscean

Piscean

Reefing newb
My tank is now a few weeks old. I used live everything...


10gal tank
10lbs of live rock
1 1/4 inches of live sand


Just yesterday, I noticed a film of burgundy colored stuff... Which I now know is cyano, now, it is a mound of cyano about 1/4 inch deep, and 1 inch in diameter...

Is this just part of the cycling process?

If so, will it simply go away once cycling is complete??

If it is not part of the cycle... HOW DO I STOP IT?!? Lol. I've seen horrifying picture of tanks over-run by Cyano...

I'm so puzzled :ugh:

-James
 
The best way to beat cyano is by nutrient export.

How how many fish do you have, what do you feed, how much, how often? How often do you do water changes? Are you using tap water?

I would start sucking out as much as you can with a turkey baster and start with a water change sucking it all out. Do a 3 day blackout, do another water change, 3 more days of black out and then another water change.
 
I have two fish to help it cycle, I feed them frozen brine shrimp, and I feed them probably....half-a-cube a day. Feeding them in small amounts through the day.

No I have not done any water changes, I heard you're not supposed to during cycling.


..... :' ( 3 DAY BLACKOUT?

Lol awwww man, I JUST bought this rad, awesome LED lighting setup. Well... I guess I'll get to enjoy it in a few days... haha.


Also- Is cyanobacteria bad to get on your skin? I heard that it's harmful.
 
For starters, you should not be cycling a tank with fish. It is needlessly cruel to expose them to those toxic chemicals. Please return them until your cycle is complete.

Also, you really are limited to one fish for every 10 gallons, and you are seeing the result of having too many fish - problematic algae growth.

And you are right, no water changes while you are cycling. But you either need to do water changes to get your levels down so you dont kill your fish or you should return them until your tank is habitable for them.

Also, you are seriously over feeding. I feed 6 fish about half a cube a day. I would cut back to maybe a quarter of cube every other day. Also brine has almost no nutritional value, so i would find something better to feed them. Variety is key to healthy fish, i suggest feeding a variety of different foods, like mysids, clams, squid, premixed stuff. And if you have herbivorous fish, you should be putting an algae sheet in there.
 
Sorry, yeah... I didn't think that fish cycling was a good idea, the guy at my LFS told me too... and he seemed like he really knew what he was talking about, so I figured I should just listen. It's cool though, I'll get on that.

So just take the fish out, and proceed with the same instructions that you gave me? Will the levels go down after the fish is out? Will taking the fish out deplete the population of cyano?
 
I would still try and beat the cyano with a black out and a few water changes. I would also toss a piece of table shrimp in there and try and get the ammonia and nitrates really high to try and kill the cyano that way as well.

Also, take all the advice you get from the LFS with a grain of salt. Its their job to sell you stuff and if it dies, they make money when you come back to buy another one.
 
If you are using live rock and sand you dont need to use a fish that is really mean. Try throwing a raw shrimp in there like you get at the fish counter from the grocery store that will work fine.

I agree with LF I feed my 3 fish 1/4 of a cube a day also. If you thaw it in some of the tank water in a cup then drain the nasty water off until you just have meat left that will cut down on the junk in your tank.
 
Ok, after I do that, and the levels sky-rocket... How do I get them back down? Or will they just go down on their own?
 
The bacteria that process those toxic chemicals (ammonia and nitrite) will bring down for you, and you do water changes or grow macro algae to bring down the nitrates
 
little_fish said:
.

And you are right, no water changes while you are cycling. But you either need to do water changes to get your levels down so you dont kill your fish or you should return them until your tank is habitable for them.
Click to expand...

Hey LF, I don't necessarily agree with this, but everything else I do! even if there were no fish involved, there is Live rock involved, which is hopefully supporting worms, crustaceans and hopefully other good surprises! Water changes gives those critters the best chance for survival as they are just as sensitive to ammonia. Just my :twocents:! :Cheers:

Good luck with the cyano, Piscean! When I had it, I reduced the lights, siphoned it off, and it soon disappeared.
 
The way i see it is:

By doing water changes you remove the ammonia and nitrites so there is less for the bacteria to feed off of and you end up with a smaller total population of bacteria which will effect how well your system accepts the first fish. IMO you want as much bacteria as possible so dont cause a mini cycle by adding the first fish.

Some amount of those microfauna will survive to reproduce, and i would rather take longer to have them populate the tank than expose them to multiple cycles and your fish to a minicyle.
 
Well, I am more concerned about the Cyano... So I did a water change (before reading the rest of these responses), and I will probably continue to do so.. I just really want to be rid of the cyano...

James
 
The ladies have you covered, but cyano comes down to a couple of things

1. Manual removal whenever possible, remember you'll need replacement saltwater for any water removed while sucking it out
2. Keep up on water changes. It sounds like your tank is cycling at the moment, and the cyano is probably due to the two fish in the 10 gallon tank - so I would skip this for now
3. Nutient export via macoralgae / protein skimmer / water changes. Since this is only a 10 gallon tank I assume nutrient export will only be taking place via water changes for you
4. Flow - Make sure there are no deadspots in your tank, that is where cyano tends to appear
5. Lighting - Bulbs may be out of spectrum, which helps the cyano grow (this is what caused it in my tank) Make sure the bulbs are okay, and try a blackout as well

Again, since your tank is cycling, I'd focus on 1 and 4 above. Dont worry, the red plague can be beaten. A few weeks ago it covered pretty much everything but the fish in my tank. All that remains now is one small section on the sand that is currently on its way out
 

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