Disappearing cyano algae

meiyouwenti · #1 09-10-2008, 11:15 AM

I have had a problem with a red cyano algae appearing on the substrate of my tank every afternoon and evening...overnight it completely disappears! I haven't been able to figure out what is going on but I used a Chemiclean Red Slime remover..and it seems to have worked in the past two days. I guess this means that it really was a blue green algae (cyano)...anyway I recently read that "(the amphipods,clopepods and isopods as well as a range of worms, among other creatures)...make a major contribution to algae control in the reef aquarium particularly in keeping down cyanobacterial growth. They are most active at night and are the reason that in many tanks with cyanobacteria problems, the cyanobacterial mats seem almost to disappear overnight but grow back during the day."..SO MY QUESTION now is: Does this mean that if I cut down even further on my feeding that I still have a large food supply of amphipods,clopepods and isopods that my fish are able to feed (or are feeding )on?
Thanks

phillybean · #2 09-10-2008, 04:03 PM

I have the exact same thing! Only it's in my fuge. I run a reverse cycle in there and last night I looked in and it was just about all gone. This morning before I went to work I checked on it and it was all back. I'm very curious to know why!

ElGuappo · #3 09-10-2008, 06:12 PM

It can be a flow issue . and it is photosynthetic. i did nothing more than shut my lights down for 3 days to rid my tank of it. then added another PH to get some flow in that particular area. havent seen any since.

Your CUC is really doing nothing for this. aside from stiring your sandbed your cuc is really not feeding on the cyno.

I have never seen anything eat or manage cyno. this is just my opinion but what is taking care of your cyno at night is not your pods and such, but rather the fact that there is no light.

Whatigot · #4 09-10-2008, 06:24 PM

sounds about right to me el guappo.
there are a few inverts known to occasionally snack on Cyano although off hand I can't remember which.

I have read that Cyano loves low oxygen as well, so having good air/water interraction at the top of your tnk is important too.

I had MAJOR cyano when my tank was on it's first legs and as soon as i had a ph blasting water along the surface of my water....poof
no more cyano.

phillybean · #5 09-10-2008, 08:44 PM

Makes sense.

Time for a little test, tonight when I get home I'll take a picture of the fuge.

I'll move the power head up, for more surface movement/oxygen exchange and leave the light off until Friday evening. I'll take two pictures a day to see what happens.

Whatigot · #6 09-10-2008, 09:51 PM

sweet.
Im subscribed now and looking forward to seeing this theory tested.

phillybean · #7 09-11-2008, 12:05 AM

Day One:

The following picture is after the fuge lights have been off for about 6 hours. Will allow the lights back on and will take another picture late tonight / early tomorrow.

meiyouwenti · #8 09-11-2008, 04:25 AM

well I used the redslime algae remover and dramatically increased the water flow and no more red ..so I guess that takes care of it (I hope)..I don't trust it not to come back after the 20% water change that I just did and turned skimmer back on and phospate filter...Maybe if it comes back I will try to lower my lights (if I could just figure out the controls on these--you need a degree in computer programming to do this)..I have a 120 gallon reef with 25 gal sump ....Bubble king skimmer and Solaris 48" light strip....and so far I seem to have beaten the cyano problem...but will see tomorrow what happens....

Trigger Man · #9 09-11-2008, 05:31 AM

If your bulbs are getting old it could be that. As the bulb ages its output declines.
When I had red slime issues I ran chemiclean Red slime remover (2 cycles). That removed all of my red slime and it has not come back since. I also use Aqua Connect Contraphos and find it has gotten rid of basicly all the algae in my tank (does not affect my coralline which I want on my lr) With the Contraphos, there are no english instructions, but basicly for my 125ish tank I started with putting 100 ml in the provided filter bag and putting it in for a week. Then I would change the media and put the new stuff in for a week. After 3 weeks I now change the media around once a month and have no algae problems. I tend to over feed so i know my fish are producing a lot of waste and some food just gets lost in the tank. So you can try the above out and hopefully it works for you if you still have the algae probs.

meiyouwenti · #10 09-11-2008, 05:58 AM

thanks..My bulbs are fairly new though and I don't think they need replacement until about 50000 hours or something ridiculous...they are solaris..my problem is controlling the computer that controls the lighting...Everything in my parameters looks like I am overfeeding but I am hardly feeding at all...maybe one cube every second day total...and there are about 9 medium fish, 10 chromis, and a few other small ones...so I don't know why I can't get my parameters down....but as I said i seem to have the cyano algae undercontrol (I hope)...

but what is the contraphos that you used? is that just an algae remover? I can't read the language it is written in