How do most of you guys battle cyanobacteria and other algae

gabloo

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#1
Hello Guys,

I have my 55g tank setup for about 4 months now. I already have diatoms but it went away by itself. Now, I have Cyanobateria all over my tank. I am wondering

1. How do you guys battle cyanobacteria. I have seen many good looking tanks without cyanobacteria and I am wondering what are their secret.
2. What do you guys usually do to prevent other algae to taking over in your tank?

According my research most of the algae issue are caused by
1. over feeding
2. not enough flow
3. High phosphate
4. High Nitrate

I am not quite sure how to solve my over feeding issue. Since I have copperband in my tank, I like to make sure he has enough food to eat. He usually like split out 1/3 - 2/3 of the food so they end up everywhere. Is there anything I can do to solve this issue without reducing the amount of food I put in there?

I have two PP 8 that creating enough flow for the tank. I am planning get Bio-Pellet, GFO and carbon reactor to help me out with phosphate and Nitrate problems.

Any comments are welcome

Thank you!
 
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#2
Your research is correct. Flow is also pointing your wave pumps in the correct position. Running reactor is a big plus or you can dose nopox and run gfo. Fishes can go a day without feeding.
 

reefes pieces

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Also proper biofiltration. I think with tanks trending towards dry or synthetic rocks and more minimal aquascapes have lent a hand in cyano and diatom blooms. I've read up on ultra low nutrient systems with these issues eliminating NO3 and PO4 as the culprit, people blowing powerheads directly at the cyano with no luck. But common signs were that tanks were relatively new (couple years or less) and more importantly the rock was started fresh and not well established. Tank cycling is a long process and goes well beyond just being capable of sustaining fish. Some ways to help is dose good bacteria. Add more media in the sump (ceramic, siporax, or more live rock).
 
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#4
Best combative strategy against cyano, in my experience, is 2 days of lights off (your corals will be fine), 1 dose of UltraLife Red Slime Stain Remover, followed by 1 week of nothing special, followed by 2 days of lights off, 1 more dose of ULRSSR, and add dwarf cerith and regular cerith snails.

It occasionally pops up here and there (the slime is actually the waste), and cyano will always be in your tank, but never as bad as it was when I had to treat.

The cerith snails keep it at bay.

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#7
Your tank is very young, your gonna go thru all the stages of different types of algae. Post your tank parameters, that would help a lot as well. Do you have a sump? Chaeto helps with excessive nutrients
 

EyeReef

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#9
It was a battle for me and finally gave in with chemiclean. It worked like a charm and have been cyano free for the last couple of months. I would still consider it a last resort.


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#10
The flow factor is a myth. I have three mp40s rocking my 120g and still get patches of cyano (right in front of the QD also). I am still getting a little also, but i just turn the lights off for three days. I did chemiclean last time and my sps started RTNing.
 

gabloo

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Also proper biofiltration. I think with tanks trending towards dry or synthetic rocks and more minimal aquascapes have lent a hand in cyano and diatom blooms. I've read up on ultra low nutrient systems with these issues eliminating NO3 and PO4 as the culprit, people blowing powerheads directly at the cyano with no luck. But common signs were that tanks were relatively new (couple years or less) and more importantly the rock was started fresh and not well established. Tank cycling is a long process and goes well beyond just being capable of sustaining fish. Some ways to help is dose good bacteria. Add more media in the sump (ceramic, siporax, or more live rock).
You just described my tank. I used dry rock and my tank is only been 4 months old. I will try to get a few more dry rocks for my tank and sump.

Best combative strategy against cyano, in my experience, is 2 days of lights off (your corals will be fine), 1 dose of UltraLife Red Slime Stain Remover, followed by 1 week of nothing special, followed by 2 days of lights off, 1 more dose of ULRSSR, and add dwarf cerith and regular cerith snails.

It occasionally pops up here and there (the slime is actually the waste), and cyano will always be in your tank, but never as bad as it was when I had to treat.

The cerith snails keep it at bay.

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk
I am planning to follow exactly like you mentioned. I ordered slime remover from amazon.

Your tank is very young, your gonna go thru all the stages of different types of algae. Post your tank parameters, that would help a lot as well. Do you have a sump? Chaeto helps with excessive nutrients
my tank parameter are ALK : 8.64,CAL : 445,MAG : 1250,Nitrate : 25,Phosphate : .13. I have a 30 gallon refugium with some dry rock, 1" dry sand and chaeto.


Do you guys think i should get GFO, bio-pellete or both reactor for my tank?
 
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#12
You just described my tank. I used dry rock and my tank is only been 4 months old. I will try to get a few more dry rocks for my tank and sump.



I am planning to follow exactly like you mentioned. I ordered slime remover from amazon.



my tank parameter are ALK : 8.64,CAL : 445,MAG : 1250,Nitrate : 25,Phosphate : .13. I have a 30 gallon refugium with some dry rock, 1" dry sand and chaeto.


Do you guys think i should get GFO, bio-pellete or both reactor for my tank?
GFO would definitely help!! Increase your clean up crew for excess food laying around. Like mentioned by peeps above, I've used the red slime romovee before as well but as a last resort. It does work like a charm though, gets rid of it within 2 days
 

reefes pieces

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#13
I agree, only use red slime remover as a last resort. Also, instead of dry rock, take a look at some of the new ceramic filtration media. It's easier to clean, has alot more surface area than live rock and takes up way less space at the same time. As far as bio pellets and GFO, I would do one thing at a time slowly. GFO probably being the fastest acting and easiest to set up. Don't try to strip your phosphates too fast but try to gradually drop it. Finally, your tank is young and your biofiltration is still developing so have a little patience and eventually the tank will start correcting itself of these annoying problems. When you add more media into your tank you can try adding some bacteria in a bottle to give it a kick start.
GFO would definitely help!! Increase your clean up crew for excess food laying around. Like mentioned by peeps above, I've used the red slime romovee before as well but as a last resort. It does work like a charm though, gets rid of it within 2 days
 

lowbudget

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#18
i took the advice of [MENTION=3725]solitude127[/MENTION] and used chemiclean too
It was a battle for me and finally gave in with chemiclean. It worked like a charm and have been cyano free for the last couple of months. I would still consider it a last resort.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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