What causes Red Cyano Bacteria (red slime)?

[roberttroy81]

I have a small case of red cyano bacteria(red slime).I was just wondering what causes this?I picked up some Chemi-clean today.Do i need anything else to treat this?What can i do to prevent this in the future?

Sorry if this seems like a dumb ?

Also i have alot of algea growth on my tank walls lately.What could this be from.Its green algea and i have added a piece a cured live rock lately.I also upgraded my lights a couple of weeks ago to compact 192 watts.Is it because of to much light?Or could it be going though a mini cycle?

 

[yote]

First off,what are your parameters?How long are you running your lights?How much flow do you have?What kind of food are you feeding?Frozen,flakes,pellets?
Cyano is usually caused by low flow and high nutrients.It likes to grow in low oxygen areas.

The quickest and easiest way to get rid of it,is to leave the lights off for a few days.It wont hurt any of your corals or fish.But if you have poor water quality it will come back.

 

[roberttroy81]

Ive just checked my water Two days ago,everything is fine there.PH is good, Ammonia is good, Nitrites is good.Ive got two powerheads circulating the tank.Is there anyway to check the Oxygen level?My protein skimmer does put out some bubbles.If that helps.

 

[reeffreak]

Dang Yote your sounding more and more like Biff.

Excess nutrients and phosphate is usually the source from where cyano feeds off.Where its coming from is why Yote was asking all the questions.Fish food,tap water,overstocking etc.I've never use Chemiclean so I can't tell how well it works or if its safe with corals/inverts.

Here some ways.
Use RO/DI water,tapwater is bad.
Reduce lighting but thats only a temporary fix if the source of food for cyano isn't reduced.
Feed frozen instead of flakes and pellets.
Running carbon/chemipure worked for me.Removing the organic waste seems to help.

 

[roberttroy81]

Ive only got Three fish.
Two common clowns
One Tomatoe clown
Royale Gramma

The clowns are getting along too!!!!I took out my Damsels because they were bulling he Royale Gramma soon as i put him the tank.I didnt want aggresive fish better for the future fish i get.I feed them Flake foods,and frozen brine shrimp.I was just reading the instructions on the Chemi Clean and the first thing it says is

Removes Disease Causing red cyano bacteria from live corals.

I just started adding corals about a couple weeks ago.Ive added five corals in about that time.Could that be the Problem?

 

[Rcpilot]

Brine is very low in protein. Think of it as potatoe chips for your fish. Tastes good--but not a lot of nutritional value. It's okay as a supplement or in combination with other, more nutritious foods. But I wouldn't use it as a stand alone food.

Dump that flake food in the trash.

Get frozen foods. I feed Marine Cuisine combo food. I also mix in a little brine, krill and Formula Two for greens.

Suck the cyano off with a turkey baster and get rid of it.

 

[yote]

My money is on the flakes.
Get your fish some frozen emerald entree,mysis,krill,cyclopes,and rotifers.
Mix it up as to which one you feed,and only feed once every other day or better yet,every third day.

I noticed you didnt mention phosphates?
Have you checked those?I'll bet that you have high phosphates,just from using flake foods.

 

[reeffreak]

Adding corals wouldn't cause cyano.I feel cyano is just another step to a mature and stable system,just like diatoms.I would go ahead and stop feeding flakes.They contain ash and phosphate.The last time I used a chemical to stop cyano,my corals didn't look to good for a long time.So use it as a last resort.

 

[Rcpilot]

Last time I found a little cyano, I sucked it off with a turkey bastor and started running a little bit of carbon in the return section of my refugium. Haven't changed anything else and no more signs of cyano.

 

[Bifferwine]

I agree with everything else that's been said, flake and pellet foods lead to all sorts of algae problems, switch to frozen only. I feed my fish mainly mysis shrimp, it's much more healthy than brine shrimp (potato chips for fish - haha!). You might also want to try running some RowaPhos, PhosBan, or PhosGuard in a little HOB filter for a while. Also try aiming your powerheads at the area that is getting cyano. If the cyano can't hold on, it can't establish itself. If all else fails, you can try to wait it out. I did this when I had a HUGE cyano outbreak a month ago (I was having to blast off my corals with a turkey baster twice a day). It usually will go away by itself as your tank conditions improve.

 

[Doc]

BTW, Biff causes Cyano. I am not afraid to say it. She caused an outbreak in four people's tanks just a little while ago, so don't piss her off

-Doc

 

[Doc]

seriously, seems like everyone has you covered. Good luck with it. Cyano is a constant pain in the butt in this hobby

-Doc

 

[HAWKS12thMAN]

I started running carbon and its working wonders for me. Just make sure you change it out every 2-3 weeks or else out break central.

 

[simpleman]

Power filters have been known to cause an abundance of nitrates/phosphates.

 

[Bifferwine]

And canister filters. And wet dry filters.

 

[yote]

Any filter system that you run will cause water quality problems if its not maintained.

 

[Namor]

Wow, never heard anyone say that flakes were a bad choice. Where can you get the frozen foods you guys talk about? I don't have a local store that stocks them.
also, wouldn't water changes be a good idea? I mean isn't that a better option to remove phosphates over chemical additives?

 

[Bifferwine]

Flakes are awful!!!

Petco and Petsmart both sell frozen food, pretty cheap. Water changes should be a part of everybody's regular maintenance. But even water changes can't get your phosphates down to 0 all the time.

 

[HAWKS12thMAN]

Flakes are awful!!!

Petco and Petsmart both sell frozen food, pretty cheap. Water changes should be a part of everybody's regular maintenance. But even water changes can't get your phosphates down to 0 all the time.

If you do 100% water changes you could. If your really quick the fish only flop around on the sandbed for a couple minutes!

 

[reeffreak]

Your can order frozen fish food online.Shipping is $20 so order bulk amounts.For me it still comes out cheaper than locally not to mention they have stuff the LFS doesn't always carry.