Cnobacteria

[Anonymous]

I have a cnobacteria bloom in my tank. I have read about a quick fix with anti- biotics. Do you recomend this? What are some things I can do to help controll this in the future?

[Rob]

i will take this questionf for the next show.
but until then here is some quick info.
while you can use the chemicals and such to treat the Cyno imediatley, you haev to make sure you address the root cause, or it will come back for sure.

my recommendation is to test your water and make sure your nitrates are low to none. also make sure you are not using tap water, use only distilled or RO water. and the final thing is that sometimes causesthis is the use of a silicate based sand/substrate.

i would recommend trying to correct this issue the natural way, once you start to resolve the potential nitrate or phosphate issue, the cyno will start to subside.

To remove it now, you can try to siphon it out, this is usually done quite easily.

i will provide some more detail in the next show.

thanks

[mopecula]

Another thing I find that causes cyno is high organic levels in a tank (food) which then creates high levels of nitrate etc which will feed this type of bacteria. Also low water flow will allow this stuff to grow. Oh and sometimes lighting, if the bulbs are old they could shift in spectrum. I think if you over feed the tank cut back to maybe once a day and increase your flow in the tank. Some people think they have a lot of flow in there tank but really most of the time it is no where near enough leaving dead spot in the tank. As a last resort I would use the meds they sell to eradicate this cyno but like Rob said it will come back if you do not take care of the cause.
Take care

[8251Reefer]

Great advise Rob!
I had some cyano a when I got back from deployment. (Tank in my 13 yo sons hands for 6 months ) Needless to say I got rid of it using ALOT of cleanup, Got my Nirtates and Phosphates back to 0 ppm and Red Slime Remover. Been cyano free for 2 months now. With no ill effects on any tank inhabitants
The trick with the Red Slime remover is to not skim or change the water for at least 2-4 days, then run carbon for a day and then after that turn your skimmer back on cause it will drive it nuts if you dose it with a skimmmer on! I also changed my PC bulbs after 9 months of use ( this may have helped it out a bit). Best thing though is good husbandry and you won't have much to worry about dealing with it at all... Good luck.

[Jimm]

I had a similar problem after a long underway where I left my tank on an autofeeder while we were out. It was a bad idea.

Here's a good thread on Cyanobacteria on our local Reef Club's boards.