HELP....HELP...HELP...please!!!!!!!

[hummer]

this stuff is in my tank and it verrrry fast growing !!!!!

what is it??????

how do i get rid of it ???????

[at]

cyanobacteria, syphon it off and water changes seem too work for me. I have read about some antibiotics you can put in the tank to kill it but Ive also heard they kill good bacteria also. It looks like you have a pretty bad case on your hands. I would siphon off as much as you can ASAP. Good Luck

[Reef_Angel]

You need to cut back your light cycle to about 6 hours a day. The lighting you have on your tank may be to extreme. Overfeeding Is another cause, so watch that closely. Feed only what they can eat. You can actually skip a day of feeding during your aggressive attempt to kill the cyano. It won't hurt your fish or coral at all. Take your baster and blow the cyano off everything, and get it moving in the water column. Grab your fishnet and start catching everything that is suspended. Do a partial water change also, and suck up as much of it as you can. I know this may sound silly, but it works. Do this in addition to the cut backs on food and lighting, and it should clear. Do you have a good flow from power heads located in different areas of the tank? This isn't going to solve your problem long term though. You will need to evaluate your lighting and feeding practices in order to determine what is causing your cyano problem. I can't remember off hand what you have for a tank and such, so more info would be helpful to make a real diagnosis! Is your tank possibly near a window where it could receive direct sunlight during the day? I'm not on as often as I'd like to be, but will try to check back to see how you're coming along! Please try to stay away from "off the shelf" cures. In the ocean there are no additives!! Good luck! Cyano is a pain in the butt! ...Angel

[hummer]

i have a 55 gal tank and 35 gal sump (the amount in it unless power gose out ) no light from the sun hits the tank

the lighting is bright its ...orbit extrems 520 wats 4 bulbs 130 wats each cp light the lights are on all most a total of 11 hrs

i do feed alot but only once per day most gets suck in to my over flow whitch drops in too a 250 micron sock at a rate of 1400 gal an hr it

all this started in my sump refuge it startet to get over run with culerpa to i gave it a trim a paise must of come threw pump and landed on my pom-poms that was 2 weeks a go

can i take the rock out and scrub it ond rince it off i would rather not make any more floter in the tank than i have too
i will test water and post it and i will cut back the lights to 6hrs.

that was the worst spot the most of the rock is starting to show signs that it has it

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww wwwwwww.....

[Reef_Angel]

Woah!! Cut back that lighting cycle!!! You should be good if you run your lights only about 8 hours a day at most. Do your best with the clean up I suggested, and you should get back to normal in a couple weeks. Your cyano breakout isn't going to go without a fight! Patience my friend and diligence, sucking out even the smallest pieces left over with a baster. Again, drop your lighting down to 6 hours per day until you get it under control. Do your water changes as usual, and it should clear up. Did you know that it doesn't hurt to turn your lights off completely for a day here and there. That also may help to keep cyano at bay in the future. .....Angel

[Reef_Angel]

I decided to break your reply down a little more. Patience and these suggestions will rid you of the problem!i do feed alot but only once per day Do not over feed. Only feed what your fish can consume in a 3-5 minute period! I'll just bet if you lessen your photo period, your problem will go away. Lights on for 11 hours is over kill bigtime! 6-8 hours is ample!! That and over feeding. As much as fish mooch, they will get busy and clean up what settled to the bottom if you don't make their dinner so readily available. You have spoiled fish!! hehehe
all this started in my sump refuge it startet to get over run with culerpa to i gave it a trim a paise must of come threw pump and landed on my pom-poms that w2 weeks a go Your culpera (or do you mean chaeto?) didn't have anything to do with the cyano bloom, but keep it cut back so there is a nice beneficial amount left in your fuge. Some people would be glad to take some off your hands, so you might want to offer it in a post! If you are over run with culpera, I wouldn't mind some myself

can i take the rock out and scrub it ond rince it off Anytime you remove live rock from your tank, the rock starts to die. If you take it out and scrub it, you can imagine the damage you will do to the rock, and the amount of life you'll be killing in the process. i would rather not make any more floter in the tank than i have too Sometimes you can actually remove the cyano in sheets...especially with the amount you are showing in your pictures. Give it a try with a plastic scraper. Slide it under the sheet of cyano, and slowly bring it to the waters top. Have a net handy to catch it if it slips off the scraper..

[melev]

Actually you might want to consider just turning off the lights for three days straight. Make sure you clean the skimmer every single day, as it will pull out more and more stuff as the cyano dies off during the darkened period. Take a look at page 9 of our club's recent newsletter:
http://www.dfwmas.org/NewsLetter/dfw...ter2007_06.pdf

Also clean out the filter sock often, every 3 days at the most. Sooner is better, because the longer waste sits in the sock, the more it breaks down to nitrate and phosphate - which you don't want. When feeding your tank, turn off the return pump and let the water stop siphoning down to the sump. Now you can feed and the food will stay in the display. Don't forget to turn on the return pump 15 to 30 minutes later (set an alarm if you have to).

Angel, nice to see you again.

[hummer]

thank you all so much i will try

[Iconz]

I'm fighting the same battle right now, Bob. But my case isn't as bad... Its mainly just on the sandbed and the glass. I'm fairly sure mine is being caused by my ATO and fresh RO/DI resivoirs. They're both at 23 TDS... Not good.

[carpenterwrasse]

angel it is great to see you back....