Persistent Red Cyanobacteria

[Reef-Rookie]

Red Cyano!!!! Ahhhhh!!!! Hello everyone and good morning/evening depending. I am new at this whole forum thing so forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong section. This topic may be beat to death but I couldn't find the answers I was looking for, so here I am. I set up a 13 gallon reef tank back in October 2023 and at this point it is nearly 8 months old (today is May 31, 2024). I wouldnt say it's mature but my corals are happy, I have a good population of pods etc and coraline algae has set up shop all around the tank. I am running 2 AquaClear 20 HOB filters(with Chemipure Blue in both) 2 Jebao Nano sine wave makers (both set at medium) , a small surface skimmer, an old school air stone protein skimmer and a 100 watt titanium heater (temp set at 77 Degress F) The sand is Caribsea Aragalive (roughly 10 Pounds) Last thing to mention is the Kessil tuna 360 Led light set with a PAR meter when I first installed it. (15-20% power) thing is crazy bright. It's on a timer and comes on from 9:30AM and turns off at 4:00PM (6.5 Hours)

As far as my water quality and parameters I buy the "premium" saltwater from my LFS in a 5 gallon jug and also 5 gallons of their RO-DI freshwater for top off purposes. I try and take out 2 cups of "old" water every day and add 2 new cups of the "premium" saltwater. I top off as needed. Usually a half cup per day. I dose Seachem Reef Fusion 1 and 2 (1ml per day in the morning) I dose RedSea Foundation Magnesium (.5ml per day in the morning) I feed the corals Red Sea AB+ (1ml per day in the morning) and I've started dosing Brightwell MicroBacter 7 (.5ml per day in the morning) to help combat the cyano outbreak as of late. I DO NOT have a test kit for Phosphate, Calcium, Magnesium, KH or DH so I had my LFS come out and test those parameters since I have been battling cyano for about a month now. He said that everything looks great and to keep doing what I am doing. I even had him check my fish food brands, and how I feed them. He said it's perfect. I do have the API Saltwater Master test kit so I tested Ammonia, pH, Nitrite and Nitrate. Everything is spot on there. Now that we have established that my dosing, cleaning and feeding regiment is on par, how the heck is this red cyanobacteria still hanging on. When I water change the tank I suck as much of it as I can off the sand and blow it off the rocks with a turkey baster. I use filter floss to catch it and then throw it away after the tank clears up (1 hour usually) Does anyone have any advice?!?! This crap will not give up and it's a lot of work battling this stuff everyday. Thank you all in advance!

P.S. I do have flourescent lights in the shop that are on from 7:00AM to 4:30PM every week day. Could these lights be just enough to keep the cyano happy and thriving?? If that might be the case, I'm considering making a cover for the tank to protect it from the flourescent lights that are on for 9.5 hours every weekday.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Just my 2 cents:
-Stop dosing... you are dosing magnesium, but no magnesium test kit. Never dose what you can't test for. Most of that stuff is a waste of money. Bottles are a crutch in this hobby.
-API test kit is not good, to control algae you need good phosphate and nitrate testers. For corals you should have alkalinity and calcium at the very least.
-I would turn the flow up more, cyano generally grows in low flow area's.
-Invest in a rodi machine and make your own water, you have no idea how often they they change their filters, how long the water been sitting there, etc...

 

[Reef-Rookie]

Just my 2 cents:
-Stop dosing... you are dosing magnesium, but no magnesium test kit. Never dose what you can't test for. Most of that stuff is a waste of money. Bottles are a crutch in this hobby.
-API test kit is not good, to control algae you need good phosphate and nitrate testers. For corals you should have alkalinity and calcium at the very least.
-I would turn the flow up more, cyano generally grows in low flow area's.
-Invest in a rodi machine and make your own water, you have no idea how often they they change their filters, how long the water been sitting there, etc...

Thank you Mr. Mojo for the advice. You are right, I should have the test kits for what I am dosing. I also should have an RO-DI system here at the shop so I know the quality of the water I am topping off with. Good Stuff. I'll turn up the flow right now. Question... how can magnesium, calcium and alkalinity enter the tank if I am not dosing it? In the beginning of this tank I added some corals and they were not doing well at all. At that point I was not dosing anything. Once I started dosing the Seachem 2 part and the magnesium, they came back to life and are now doing well. Thanks again Mr. Mojo

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Thank you Mr. Mojo for the advice. You are right, I should have the test kits for what I am dosing. I also should have an RO-DI system here at the shop so I know the quality of the water I am topping off with. Good Stuff. I'll turn up the flow right now. Question... how can magnesium, calcium and alkalinity enter the tank if I am not dosing it? In the beginning of this tank I added some corals and they were not doing well at all. At that point I was not dosing anything. Once I started dosing the Seachem 2 part and the magnesium, they came back to life and are now doing well. Thanks again Mr. Mojo

Water changes remove waste water and also replenish minerals and trace elements, so calcium, mag and alk are all replenished during water change.

At a certain point, the corals will start to consume the alk and calcium faster than you can you change the water, so this is the time to start dosing. But to get to this point takes a lot of corals and a lot of testing, I test alk almost every day, and I'm 15+ years in the hobby. Calcium and phosphate I still check every 3-4 days. These are the 3 most important that you should know always. Good luck.

 

[Reef-Rookie]

Water changes remove waste water and also replenish minerals and trace elements, so calcium, mag and alk are all replenished during water change.

At a certain point, the corals will start to consume the alk and calcium faster than you can you change the water, so this is the time to start dosing. But to get to this point takes a lot of corals and a lot of testing, I test alk almost every day, and I'm 15+ years in the hobby. Calcium and phosphate I still check every 3-4 days. These are the 3 most important that you should know always. Good luck.

Awesome! Thank you tons! I value your experience and knowledge and will buy the calcium, magnesium and alkalinity testers ASAP. Take care and have a great day. I still need to solve the cyano issue, but in time I guess.

 

[Troylee]

Thank you Mr. Mojo for the advice. You are right, I should have the test kits for what I am dosing. I also should have an RO-DI system here at the shop so I know the quality of the water I am topping off with. Good Stuff. I'll turn up the flow right now. Question... how can magnesium, calcium and alkalinity enter the tank if I am not dosing it? In the beginning of this tank I added some corals and they were not doing well at all. At that point I was not dosing anything. Once I started dosing the Seachem 2 part and the magnesium, they came back to life and are now doing well. Thanks again Mr. Mojo

It enters your tank very easy! Reef fusion 1/2 are calcium and alkalinity supplements that you are dosing.

 

[Reef-Rookie]

It enters your tank very easy! Reef fusion 1/2 are calcium and alkalinity supplements that you are dosing.

Well, what I meant was.. If I do not dose anything at all, how do these elements get into my tank? To which he replied "through water changes" I did not know that all of the calc, mag and alk that the corals need would enter the tank via water changes. I of course realize that when I dose them they would get into the water column. Obviously. In any event this still does not give me a direction to go with my cyano issue.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Awesome! Thank you tons! I value your experience and knowledge and will buy the calcium, magnesium and alkalinity testers ASAP. Take care and have a great day. I still need to solve the cyano issue, but in time I guess.

I suggest you spend some time trying to eradicate it on your own, but if all else fails, you can try chemiclean. I normally don't suggest bottled stuff but this is different. Cyano is a bacteria, not an algae, and chemiclean is another set of bacteria made to specifically kill cyano, and it works amazingly. But if you don't resolve the underlying issue's, the cyano will just come right back.

 

[Troylee]

Well, what I meant was.. If I do not dose anything at all, how do these elements get into my tank? To which he replied "through water changes" I did not know that all of the calc, mag and alk that the corals need would enter the tank via water changes. I of course realize that when I dose them they would get into the water column. Obviously. In any event this still does not give me a direction to go with my cyano issue.

Yes water changes will work by them selves to a point then you need supplements and test kits… as for your cyano issue it seems seasonal in most tanks and I have some in my tank right now but it’s not out of control or anything… what’s the temps in your shop and in your tank? I’ve noticed with warmer weather I get a bloom then it goes away as it cools down.

 

[Reef-Rookie]

I suggest you spend some time trying to eradicate it on your own, but if all else fails, you can try chemiclean. I normally don't suggest bottled stuff but this is different. Cyano is a bacteria, not an algae, and chemiclean is another set of bacteria made to specifically kill cyano, and it works amazingly. But if you don't resolve the underlying issue's, the cyano will just come right back.

I agree 100%. I am trying to solve the underlying issue. This all started after I got busy at my shop and neglected the tank for about 3 weeks. I was still topping off and feeding but not changing water or cleaning the glass and filters. I have now been battling the cyano for a month with water changes, vigorous cleaning and trying to keep everything stable and consistent. I also dialed back the photo period fo the kessil and started feeding a bit less. This crap is hard to get rid of. I'm considering a UV sterilizer.

 

[Reef-Rookie]

Yes water changes will work by them selves to a point then you need supplements and test kits… as for your cyano issue it seems seasonal in most tanks and I have some in my tank right now but it’s not out of control or anything… what’s the temps in your shop and in your tank? I’ve noticed with warmer weather I get a bloom then it goes away as it cools down.

Shop temp as of late has been hovering around the 65 Degree F mark (southern california) and the tank bounces around from 76.5 to 77.5 Degress F. I have a controllable titanium heater set at 77 Degress F, I have one of those sticky strips on the side of the tank. It says 76ish, and I also have a cheap digital probe that says 77 Degrees F. I think this all came about due to me neglecting the tank for 3 weeks when I was super busy here at my shop. I am now trying to rectify that problem.

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

A lot of this advice you got is great.

Stop dosing what you can’t test for.

Make your own water to KNOW it’s good.( I learned this one hard.)

Those juice coral foods are a quick way to high nutrients that the algae consumes before it’s tested for in a newer small tank.(Learned this too the hard way.)

Tank looks great! Just get yourself some better tests. Hannah, nyos, and heck even salifert is better. Weekly testing and good water making/changing practices changed everything in reefing for me.

 

[Reef-Rookie]

A lot of this advice you got is great.

Stop dosing what you can’t test for.

Make your own water to KNOW it’s good.( I learned this one hard.)

Those juice coral foods are a quick way to high nutrients that the algae consumes before it’s tested for in a newer small tank.(Learned this too the hard way.)

Tank looks great! Just get yourself some better tests. Hannah, nyos, and heck even salifert is better. Weekly testing and good water making/changing practices changed everything in reefing for me.

Beautiful! thank you for the kind words and confirming the other replies. Take care out there!!!

 

[Troylee]

I can say it’s really hard to know what causes it in my instance I think it’s cause my tank is running hotter than normal and I’ve noticed that trend from others and their headaches.. you could try cutting the reef nutrition out but stay with the mb7 it will only help if anything… personally I don’t believe cyano is a nutrient problem because most tanks that get it are ran on very low nutrients like my tank that’s on zeovit… my p04 is normally bottomed out and my nitrates run 6-10 which is a very low range. And yet here we are playing with cyano lol… it’s a bacteria not an algae so it’s hard to say what it feeds off. Maybe @Randy Holmes-Farley could provide some insight. I suck at chemistry just give me numbers and I can get there haha!

 

[Reef-Rookie]

haha ok thank you very much for the helpful insight, I really think it is feeding off the low PAR flourescent lighting I have here at the shop so I think I'll try making a cover for the tank and keep up my water changes. Thank you sir!!!

 

[Dan_P]

Red Cyano!!!! Ahhhhh!!!! Hello everyone and good morning/evening depending. I am new at this whole forum thing so forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong section. This topic may be beat to death but I couldn't find the answers I was looking for, so here I am. I set up a 13 gallon reef tank back in October 2023 and at this point it is nearly 8 months old (today is May 31, 2024). I wouldnt say it's mature but my corals are happy, I have a good population of pods etc and coraline algae has set up shop all around the tank. I am running 2 AquaClear 20 HOB filters(with Chemipure Blue in both) 2 Jebao Nano sine wave makers (both set at medium) , a small surface skimmer, an old school air stone protein skimmer and a 100 watt titanium heater (temp set at 77 Degress F) The sand is Caribsea Aragalive (roughly 10 Pounds) Last thing to mention is the Kessil tuna 360 Led light set with a PAR meter when I first installed it. (15-20% power) thing is crazy bright. It's on a timer and comes on from 9:30AM and turns off at 4:00PM (6.5 Hours)

As far as my water quality and parameters I buy the "premium" saltwater from my LFS in a 5 gallon jug and also 5 gallons of their RO-DI freshwater for top off purposes. I try and take out 2 cups of "old" water every day and add 2 new cups of the "premium" saltwater. I top off as needed. Usually a half cup per day. I dose Seachem Reef Fusion 1 and 2 (1ml per day in the morning) I dose RedSea Foundation Magnesium (.5ml per day in the morning) I feed the corals Red Sea AB+ (1ml per day in the morning) and I've started dosing Brightwell MicroBacter 7 (.5ml per day in the morning) to help combat the cyano outbreak as of late. I DO NOT have a test kit for Phosphate, Calcium, Magnesium, KH or DH so I had my LFS come out and test those parameters since I have been battling cyano for about a month now. He said that everything looks great and to keep doing what I am doing. I even had him check my fish food brands, and how I feed them. He said it's perfect. I do have the API Saltwater Master test kit so I tested Ammonia, pH, Nitrite and Nitrate. Everything is spot on there. Now that we have established that my dosing, cleaning and feeding regiment is on par, how the heck is this red cyanobacteria still hanging on. When I water change the tank I suck as much of it as I can off the sand and blow it off the rocks with a turkey baster. I use filter floss to catch it and then throw it away after the tank clears up (1 hour usually) Does anyone have any advice?!?! This crap will not give up and it's a lot of work battling this stuff everyday. Thank you all in advance!

P.S. I do have flourescent lights in the shop that are on from 7:00AM to 4:30PM every week day. Could these lights be just enough to keep the cyano happy and thriving?? If that might be the case, I'm considering making a cover for the tank to protect it from the flourescent lights that are on for 9.5 hours every weekday.

Nice looking tank! And very useful pictures. Here is my impressions.

Believe it or not, an aquarium 8 months old can still be considered “new”. As such, I’d say you are probably doing nothing wrong, just the development path your system is taking. ChemiClean is about the only for sure method for fighting the red slime. It might go away on its own.

I noticed other growth on the rocks that looks like potential trouble ahead. I don’t like the looks of the black growth. It might just be very green hair algae though. Would need a close up to be sure. The rocks also have brown and green patches. Probably the normal new tank growth, but it might take off. Keep an eye on it. A close up might be useful fir an identification.

Good luck with the aquarium. Neat idea having it in the shop.

 

[Troylee]

haha ok thank you very much for the helpful insight, I really think it is feeding off the low PAR flourescent lighting I have here at the shop so I think I'll try making a cover for the tank and keep up my water changes. Thank you sir!!!

Doubtful but anything is possible I guess..here’s some good reading…

What are the root causes of Cyano?

Hello All, I am curious what are the root causes of cyano. I have zero experience with it in my aquaria... *knocks on wood*. I want to avoid creating an aquarium environment that fosters the growth of cyano for the future.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Reef-Rookie]

Nice looking tank! And very useful pictures. Here is my impressions.

Believe it or not, an aquarium 8 months old can still be considered “new”. As such, I’d say you are probably doing nothing wrong, just the development path your system is taking. ChemiClean is about the only for sure method for fighting the red slime. It might go away on its own.

I noticed other growth on the rocks that looks like potential trouble ahead. I don’t like the looks of the black growth. It might just be very green hair algae though. Would need a close up to be sure. The rocks also have brown and green patches. Probably the normal new tank growth, but it might take off. Keep an eye on it. A close up might be useful fir an identification.

Good luck with the aquarium. Neat idea having it in the shop.

Well, thank you very much for the kind words. I am 99% certain the dark growth you are referring to is in fact green hair algae. Ive been pulling if off of the rocks as much as possible. I also got an emerald crab which I hear take car of some of that. I ramped down the lighting and slowed the feeding of coral and fish to help as well. I didn't want to use the chemiclean at first since I thought proper maintenance would get this tank back on track but man this cyano is no joke. Thanks again for the help Dan.