Cyano....soultion

[Bill M.]

I just read that people have had good results with a three day blackout to kill the cyano..... I want to do this, but will it kill my corals? I have mushroom and kenya tree coral......

[unleashed]

corals won't be affected to badly.

[Bill M.]

****bump*******

[coachfraley]

Bill, I don't think cutting the lighting will help:

"Cyano, being a hybrid, is difficult to remove. Factors for growth are multiple and dealing with the algae-bacteria needs to be on multi levels in order to be effective.

Growth factors include, light, nitrogen-nitrate, dissolved organic carbon, and CO2. All of these factors are basically interchangeable, meaning that one or two factors can be limited, but it won’t stop the algae-bacteria from utilizing the remaining factors, nor will it stun their growth. For the sake of completeness, some limiting factors influence the shape and appearance, but not the occurrence itself.

Light might be an obvious factor as Cyano is able to photosynthesize, but eliminating or reducing the light will not stop the growth. Recalling that Cyano is a hybrid, it will rely on bacterial characteristics to produce energy for growth"

Here is the whole article:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Good luck!

[2manyfish]

Coach is right. Once it's established, cutting light out totally will do nothing to it.

I have had the sad distinction of having cyano show up in every single saltwater tank I have ever had. And I have tried all the usual things to rid myself of it.....adding more flow to the 'dead spots', adding red legged hermits (didn't touch it) adding blue legged hermits (didn't touch it), more water changes, replacing light bulbs, bigger skimmer, etc...

But it always seemed to come back no matter what. So I resorted to using Red Slime Remover and that is now the first thing I grab when cyano shows up in a new tank. Never had a problem with using it and the cyano never comes back.

I have heard of people using other antibiotics but I have never done this so I have no personal experience on how well they work. But as with any antibiotic always check your water parameters to make sure you don't get another cycle. Follow all directions completely, etc...

Good luck!

[msjinkzd]

i have never kept saltwater tanks, but in freshwater tanks, erythromyacin is what is used to eradicate cyanobacteria...might be worth looking into.

[cocoa_pleco]

I have had the sad distinction of having cyano show up in every single saltwater tank I have ever had.

thats odd, ive rarely get any! even with my 55g reef being young all i had was a small outbreak of it, now all the cyano has left without cut lighting or adding hermits