Need help getting rid of stuff killing corals!

[Guest Rileyporter]

Ok guys!

 

I have a problem with a maroon looking film thats covering my corals and mostly covering the sand in my tank. I have no idea what it is it started i guess around the time of the last meeting when i got a few frags? I am not sure.

 

Heres a link to the images.

 

Maroon/Red Junk

 

Please help me out guys.. oh yah did a 20% change a few days ago didnt seem to phase it.

 

Riley

[Black Mammoth]

Well to the wonderful world of cyanobacteria. There is a lot of information on WAMAS and ReefCentral about the stuff. But here are the bullet points.

 

1. Find the cause instead of trying to mask it.

2. Usually caused by one or more of the following: Overfeeding, low flow, inadequate cleanup crew, inadequate husbandry.

3. To help clean it up here are some suggestions (find the problem and then clean up): Siphon as much as you can, get cleanup crew guys that also eat cyano, and do more frequent water changes. Then to help it along, you may want to cut back on feeding and add some flow.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

Well to the wonderful world of cyanobacteria. There is a lot of information on WAMAS and ReefCentral about the stuff. But here are the bullet points.

 

1. Find the cause instead of trying to mask it.

2. Usually caused by one or more of the following: Overfeeding, low flow, inadequate cleanup crew, inadequate husbandry.

3. To help clean it up here are some suggestions (find the problem and then clean up): Siphon as much as you can, get cleanup crew guys that also eat cyano, and do more frequent water changes. Then to help it along, you may want to cut back on feeding and add some flow.

 

Agree with all that. I've had good luck with turbo snails when trying to get it under control in the past.

 

I've watched them sit there and chow down on it.

 

tim

[jason the filter freak]

its cyano it can be nasty stuff. when was last time you changed the bulbs in your light fixture?

[scott711]

Do water changes, check your RO/DI unit for the TDS, decrease food, add more cleaning crews.

[JMsAquarium]

I agree with all what has been said so far. Increase the water flow in your tank. By that I mean, try to create more turbulences were the cyano is as they tend to appear in low flow/no flow areas.

[Guest hound66]

When I had my cyano outbreak a few months ago, I found the scarlet let hermit crabs and turbo snails did well to clean it up. I also added a powerhead and adjusted the flow I already had to try to circulate around more of the tank.

[Guest Rileyporter]

its cyano it can be nasty stuff. when was last time you changed the bulbs in your light fixture?

 

 

Just a few weeks back Jason.

 

Thx guys I will try the crews... and do some more water changes

[Origami]

Cyano is also photosynthetic (in fact, it's the basis of chlorplasts in plant cells). So, you can really cut back on its presence by plunging your tank into darkness for 72 hours and bringing your light cycle back up gradually. I've also cut my temperature back a few degrees. This doesn't get rid of your nutrient problem (reduce feeding, skim heavily, use carbon, and possibly a phosphate remover), but it will knock it back a lot.

 

 

 

That's how I've been dealing with a small outbreak on my relatively young (<6 months) tank. The lack of light really sets it back.

[jnguyen4007]

Just a few weeks back Jason.

 

Thx guys I will try the crews... and do some more water changes

 

When I had an outbreak of cyano last time, I found that by adding a filter socks to trap stuff that goes into my sump, then use a turkey baster and blast around the sand, rocks and wherever cyano is at so that they flow into the overflow and down into the filter socks. This and water change every few days for the next couple of weeks, helps rid my cyano problem.

[NRehman]

High phosphate can cause cyano to bloom. Test for phosphate. If high, use a phosphate remover (rowa, etc. by placing in a high flow area - after reading the instructions as you probably need to wash it first).