Cyano Right now

[oro50]

I have a cyano bacteria problem.


I read from a article about this today on this forum that nutrient control is really important.

Two main questions I have.

Well to ask the first one, you should know that I began feeding my new juvenile red maroon clownfish twice a day, because it always and still seems to eat anything I give it (be it flake food, it didn't like frozen for @#$%.)

So I stopped this practice, and now I only feed it once a day. Yet I am still concerned I might be feeding it too much, even though I expanded my cleaner crew from 9 to 12 the other day, and I expect whatever leftovers will be eaten by the cleaner crew.


So my first question is how do you really measure a pinch of flake food?

Do you use any special tools to measure exactly how much is appropriate for one meal period that will be it's only food for 24 hours?


Second question

I am wondering instead of doing water changes for awhile (or less so) as this adds in new nutrients into the water, instead I just start syphoning the water near where the cyano is growing specifically and then just gradually do it to all the water in my aquarium using a filter sock, and then gradually putting this modified water back into my aquarium?

Here is a picture of my tank today (right now).

 

[oro50]

Yeah I forgot to ask my second main question. So can I buy filter socks individually and if I can, fish stores sell them or is this a special item you need to order online only?

 

[jvu61]

in my 300 gal I have about 100 cleanup guys and I did have a cyno outbreak. the way to get rid of it is with good water changes good protein skimming good water movement and keeping control over feeding (don't over feed) part od over feeding is not only the excess food but the increase of bio load in the form a waste that over feeding will cause. in the end controlling cyno is a function of several factors not just the one.

 

[fredro]

Most good LFS' have filter socks in various sizes and particle sizes.

 

[piranhapat]

I tried everything for 6 months. Nothing worked. I added bacteria I removed LR from sump. Doing weekly water changes to stop doing water change. Remove sand bed in DT. I did see improvement when only removing cyano and using a filter sock while replacing the same water into DT. But when I added a 20 gal frag tank tap it into DT the cyanyo was gone. So instead of removing and doing a Changing water. Try same thing and run a tank with fresh batch And run it into your system for a few days. Like a transfusion. It worked for me and was shocked because I wasn't expecting it to remove cyano by doing this.

 

[Clink51]

i used chemiclean. turn off the skimmer and throw in two air stones.
Water change
feed every other day after that.

this is what worked for me

 

[fishman77]

Special blend worked for me but it takes a month or two to work.

 

[jackson6745]

Special blend worked for me but it takes a month or two to work.

+1

understand that cyano is not from your nutrient level, but the lack of bacteria population to deal with it.

 

[piranhapat]

Not to sure on nutrient or bacteria. Because I have plenty on LR and system running 4 yrs plus. Had bad out break of cyano. I added two large bottle of special blend. After 4 months still had cyano. I find it hard to fully understand have we know if your nutrients levels are high or low without testing them. Same with bacteria level. Bad enough to get an accurate reading from tests we do have. Now I feed more and no cyano go figure.

 

[Jlavine]

With the picture of your tank, it seems the cyano is not help by the most likely poor water flow in the area between the rocks. Do you have a power head pointed directly at the area?

Is the comment about a tool to measure out a pinch of flakes a joke?

 

[oro50]

No that was not a joke.

Using a tool to measure out a pinch (since a pinch can be interpreted by different people) to be slightly different amounts) seems totally workable and would serve as a benefit, as the second guessing would be gone.

Anyway since this post I have kept my lights off now for about 3 days going on 4. I have noticed already a moderate amount of the cyano I had gone, or reduced significantly. I am worried about keeping my lights off for much longer than that, because I've noticed at the same time what seems to be a reduction of algae on my rocks that my cleaner crew eats.

Another concern for me, is if I ever had a a coral fragment, this stuff if not dealt with sufficiently would grow all over it, and possibly suffocate the coral. I read this somewhere that someone else wrote said happened to his coral frags when this person was dealing with their own cyano outbreak.

 

[Jlavine]

You need more flow in the center of those rocks.

 

[Dan_P]

I have a cyano bacteria problem.


I read from a article about this today on this forum that nutrient control is really important.

Two main questions I have.

Well to ask the first one, you should know that I began feeding my new juvenile red maroon clownfish twice a day, because it always and still seems to eat anything I give it (be it flake food, it didn't like frozen for @#$%.)

So I stopped this practice, and now I only feed it once a day. Yet I am still concerned I might be feeding it too much, even though I expanded my cleaner crew from 9 to 12 the other day, and I expect whatever leftovers will be eaten by the cleaner crew.


So my first question is how do you really measure a pinch of flake food?

Do you use any special tools to measure exactly how much is appropriate for one meal period that will be it's only food for 24 hours?


Second question

I am wondering instead of doing water changes for awhile (or less so) as this adds in new nutrients into the water, instead I just start syphoning the water near where the cyano is growing specifically and then just gradually do it to all the water in my aquarium using a filter sock, and then gradually putting this modified water back into my aquarium?

Here is a picture of my tank today (right now).

DO NOT STARVE YOUR FISH BECAUSE THE AQUARIUM HAD NUISANCE GROWTH.

Feed your fish several times a day as much as it can eat in a minute or two. What this means is add small doses of food over a minute or two, waiting for the fish to finish each little dose before adding more. For example, take a small pinch of food and divide into smaller amounts and give these smaller amounts after the previous amount has been consumed.

If you would like to consistently feed the same amount of food at each feeding, use the smallest measuring spoon you have to measure a small amount of food. Pour this onto a flat surface, and using a sharp knife, divide this pile in half. Then divide each portion in half again. When the portions of the divided food looks like what the fish eats per feeding, you can save each litle portion in a little bottle or bag for future feedings. Alternatively, stick the little portion of food to Scotch tape and use it as a visual reference guide every time you take out food to feed the fish.