For me this has got to be one of the most annoying aspects of reefkeeping..cyanobacteria.
Out of the blue it seems to appear...I do everything suggested to get rid of it, siphon it out, blow it off, keep my nutrients low, feed less, make sure my bulbs aren't old, use & change filter socks, bigger water changes, more frequent smaller water changes, brush it, scrub it, change the rocks..the list goes on and on.
It's on the sand, get it off the sand, now it reappears on the rocks and the sand looks great, then back off the rocks and nows it's between the sand and the glass...I want to take up mind altering drugs...:irked:
This stuff has been know to be on the planet Earth for 2.8 billion - 3.5 billions years (depending on what you read on the web), and sometimes it feels like it's been in my tank for that long. They say it's blue-green algae, yeah, yeah, yeah..the stuff is red in my tank, brick red... I'll give cyano credit in that it carries a lot of the responsibility for us to be able to live here on this rock in the solar system, but I still don't want the stuff being so obvious in my reef tank.
For my own purposes it was nice to find that it is photosynthetic. Of course it also didn't hurt that I stumbled across a really, really long thread over on Reef Central and these folks were talking about successfully getting it to GO AWAY. Before and after pictures too. IIRC the thread started back in 2007 and people are still using the suggested method and poof...2 or 3 days later, almost instant gratification.
So without having to make you read the entire thread (I will add the link shortly), here's a quick recap of what I am doing to win this battle...
The suggestion is to kill your lights entirely for 3 days. You need not worry about sunlight or ambient room lighting..that's fine. My T5's, actinics (8 bulbs in all, 3 overdriven) and moon lights will be off for 3 days (though I might take a peek after 2 full days and nights since there are 2 small anenomes in the tank..). You don't need to cover the tank either. (** see below) You feed normally, and yes, your fish will still stay out & about and they can easily find the food in the available light.
Folks who has a fuge light did leave it on 24/7 during the period of 'lights-out' to aid in keeping the PH more stable.
It is suggested that after the 3rd day you put on your actinics first..so as not to shock your occupants and then resume your regular lighting schedule (though some folks started with shorter periods).
It was mentioned that people with a lot of SPS might want to do this for 2 days instead of 3 as some folks had some minor effects, but even they said they would do it again in the future if the cyano came back again.
The concensus was that the cyano will usually stay away for about 2 months before you need to repeat this process, and it some cases, it didn't come back at all.
The last recommendation was to do a water change before you turned your lights back on to clean up the 'dead' bacteria from the water column.
I shut my lights off on Monday morning and am planning to turn them back on this Thursday at their 'regular' time. I've got my fingers crossed!
Wish me luck!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532
*** After getting more feedback on this thread I feel the following warning shold be posted here (thanks Wally's world!) - if you have an anenome in your tank and try the 3 days lightas out method, be aware that there is a good chance that your anenome might decide to change it's location due to the lack of light and could possibly harm other corals!
**I did add a piece of cardboard to my canopy to shield the lighting from a 4 bulb fluorescent fixture (daylight bulbs..cause I like them) that is about 1 1/2 foot above the side of the tank (and over my desk) and throws (obviously) a lot of light.
Out of the blue it seems to appear...I do everything suggested to get rid of it, siphon it out, blow it off, keep my nutrients low, feed less, make sure my bulbs aren't old, use & change filter socks, bigger water changes, more frequent smaller water changes, brush it, scrub it, change the rocks..the list goes on and on.
It's on the sand, get it off the sand, now it reappears on the rocks and the sand looks great, then back off the rocks and nows it's between the sand and the glass...I want to take up mind altering drugs...:irked:
This stuff has been know to be on the planet Earth for 2.8 billion - 3.5 billions years (depending on what you read on the web), and sometimes it feels like it's been in my tank for that long. They say it's blue-green algae, yeah, yeah, yeah..the stuff is red in my tank, brick red... I'll give cyano credit in that it carries a lot of the responsibility for us to be able to live here on this rock in the solar system, but I still don't want the stuff being so obvious in my reef tank.
For my own purposes it was nice to find that it is photosynthetic. Of course it also didn't hurt that I stumbled across a really, really long thread over on Reef Central and these folks were talking about successfully getting it to GO AWAY. Before and after pictures too. IIRC the thread started back in 2007 and people are still using the suggested method and poof...2 or 3 days later, almost instant gratification.
So without having to make you read the entire thread (I will add the link shortly), here's a quick recap of what I am doing to win this battle...
The suggestion is to kill your lights entirely for 3 days. You need not worry about sunlight or ambient room lighting..that's fine. My T5's, actinics (8 bulbs in all, 3 overdriven) and moon lights will be off for 3 days (though I might take a peek after 2 full days and nights since there are 2 small anenomes in the tank..). You don't need to cover the tank either. (** see below) You feed normally, and yes, your fish will still stay out & about and they can easily find the food in the available light.
Folks who has a fuge light did leave it on 24/7 during the period of 'lights-out' to aid in keeping the PH more stable.
It is suggested that after the 3rd day you put on your actinics first..so as not to shock your occupants and then resume your regular lighting schedule (though some folks started with shorter periods).
It was mentioned that people with a lot of SPS might want to do this for 2 days instead of 3 as some folks had some minor effects, but even they said they would do it again in the future if the cyano came back again.
The concensus was that the cyano will usually stay away for about 2 months before you need to repeat this process, and it some cases, it didn't come back at all.
The last recommendation was to do a water change before you turned your lights back on to clean up the 'dead' bacteria from the water column.
I shut my lights off on Monday morning and am planning to turn them back on this Thursday at their 'regular' time. I've got my fingers crossed!
Wish me luck!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532
*** After getting more feedback on this thread I feel the following warning shold be posted here (thanks Wally's world!) - if you have an anenome in your tank and try the 3 days lightas out method, be aware that there is a good chance that your anenome might decide to change it's location due to the lack of light and could possibly harm other corals!
**I did add a piece of cardboard to my canopy to shield the lighting from a 4 bulb fluorescent fixture (daylight bulbs..cause I like them) that is about 1 1/2 foot above the side of the tank (and over my desk) and throws (obviously) a lot of light.
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