Cyanobacteria

[Ancelot]

okie, i may sound like a siao guy from some siao lang keng hospital but i am just glad to find cyano growing in my tank. i understand there will be gurus out there to have a say abt the condition of the tank but i have everything under control. i understand whats the need abt cyano, just cut away their food source and then they go hungry liao... then die! haha.. but the bad news is i am short of cash so no money for this week to buy phosphate guard. but i will definitely buy! anyway its just a very small patch growing. suspicion comes from the addition of red anthias causing my bioload to reach its maximum and i switched my lights one day for 16 hours so if cyano didnt come diatoms will! so solution i thought out is to upgrade which is already in the process of doing so after my Os. so is there other things gurus can teach me for this battle? i just love to stand side by side with the cyano-battlers to battle this monster! anyway whats ur ways of battle cyano methods u have tried out? i mean anything? be it u wrap ur tank in black papers or etc.? love to hear them? i am looking for opinions and comments and suggestions.. this is a open thread and this is a open guy u are talking to.

[Fireclown]

Haha... Finally you got them. Take out that patch of sand and wash it will hot water.

[Ancelot]

okok... but i disturbed the entire patch liao...oops..

[Ancelot]

i will be getting my rowa phos soon or maybe go dwn to PR to get contraphos

[Achilles Tang]

Upgrade your skimmer... that helped me a lot because my bioload/feeding was too much for my old skimmer... i battled cyano and hair algae for many months.

[Ancelot]

thanks AT, that rings a bell!

personally i have not got any skimmer yet partly because i am saving up for my mh and my sump.. so a bit tight, but i will remember that piece of advice! thanks AT!

[SpiderOne]

dun touch it. dun disturb it. dun take it out and wash. just leave it alone.

[Ancelot]

dont touch the cyano? then how? if it grows over my corals, corals gonna die leh

what u mean is it just by adding rowaphos then can liao?

[SpiderOne]

I have tried every physical means to remove it. And now i learnt, the only way to combat this is chemically

[KingFish]

Am glad that you recognise the fact that you need to address the fuel source.

IMO, the combat effort should be multi-pronged; show no mercy as it will not, and overtake your tank.

- reduce feeding (feeding regime)

- siphon them out as much as you can to prevent spreading (physical means)

- most importantly, get your skimmer

After upgrading to my AquaC EV-120, the cyano finally went away.

IMHO, you should coonsider getting your skimmer first before buying the MH.

Changing lighting scheme will undoubtedly cause other/more algae bloom.

[Ancelot]

Thanks Rumour! a very nice skimmer u got there!

sadly, my father will not provide me with that kind of money to buy that sort of skimmer. i have considered about getting weipro but thats the later story. MH is my dream so i am thinking of getting MH before the skimmer. but surely i will get the skimmer but thats later.

i am planning to get a sump hopefully a bigger water volume can decrease the bioload on the main tank. i think that will do a bit of the trick right?

Lightings i am just running on one tube of PL 10K 36w. surprised eh? i do have t5 ballast but i didnt use it yet. cos no money to buy the tubes. will the ballast corrode inside the casing i never use it will it spoil? no electricity running through it so should be okie right?

SpiderOne: haha..u are quite right. i notice the bacteria spreading after i disturbed them so i think i will like u said not touch them! battle them chemically! haha...

Rumour: thanks for ur advice. but i am really concerned for my anthias they never seem being fed enough. whatever i throw for them they shoot and eat! haha.. gluttons! but i really like them morover its a gift from my dad so must treasure it ! i appreciate ur advice and i will look into giving them timed feedings. thanks rumour!

[Achilles Tang]

I suggest you take Rumour's advice seriously. Get the skimmer before the lighting... as I am sure you are not keeping any corals now that require a MH anyway.

Get your water quality up to speed with a good skimmer right away. That should be a priority. You have nutrient-loaded water (evidenced by the cyano) and putting up an MH is a bad bad idea because later you will battle far worse algae than cyano that will take MONTHS to get rid off.

Keeping anthias means feeding them regularly enough daily. Without a skimmer.... your bioload will remain the same... with nothing to export out.... it's a timebomb. Your thinking that a sump to reduce your bioload is wrong... it's just dilution... and as I said.. with nothing to export nutrients... it'll accumulate again quickly and back to square one.

Without sounding like a broken record.... GET A SKIMMER FIRST!!!

[Ancelot]

[Achilles Tang]

Well.. take a look at what our sponsor, eAquanature, is offering!

[Ancelot]

but those are way off my budget and my dad's budget!

[Tanzy]

Decreasing bioload is the cheapest way to combat cyanobacteria.

Time for some fishies to move!

[IcecruncherZ]

I also kena big time cyano after serious overfeeding to get my darling idol (who has since RIPed) to eat.

Will Rowaphos help control cyano?

I'm using M Mud... so I cant really add a skimmer...

[KingFish]

Ancelot, we haven't much information about your tank specs, loading et cetera, but one thing you can certainly do is save up and buy the best equipment suited for your setup (plus some excess capacity for scalability).

Meanwhile, plunk some cash down to buy some salt and do a 50% or more water change, that should at least alleviate the situation while you tighten your belt and put some cash aside.

It is an expensive hobby ... but those in the know will tell you that upgrades will cost you more in the long run, so its better to purchase the right equipment at the onstart.

Good Luck

[Ancelot]

yeah, well said!

i understand the price of this hobby but i am not regretting abit. i am currently sourcing for skimmer as u can see! but i think the bottomline of the day i still need to tell my dad about the entire process and where are the money going to. its his money mind me! hee~ well, i guess i fed my anthias too much so gonna decrease their makan sutra! haha.. anyway i have lots of detrius on my sandbed. heard that theres one type of snail that eat these junk right? anyone has it now? can i get some from anyone? cos i think my sandbed is dying thats why there comes the unwelcomed devil...

[Ancelot]

Ancelot, we haven't much information about your tank specs, loading et cetera, but one thing you can certainly do is save up  and buy the best equipment suited for your setup (plus some excess capacity for scalability).

Meanwhile, plunk some cash down to buy some salt and do a 50% or more water change, that should at least alleviate the situation while you tighten your belt and put some cash aside.

It is an expensive hobby ... but those in the know will tell you that upgrades will cost you more in the long run, so its better to purchase the right equipment at the onstart.

Good Luck

Rumour: okie i shall go do a 50% water change but i think that gonna stress my fishes right? hope they pull through. and also give a skimmer! i think getting my rowa soon.anyway i am saving up very badly liao! my mum just started giving me more money for a month slightly more la like 30 bucks more but i am saving hard. patience is always a virtue! sorry gurus if i cannot treat this problem immediately but i shall give in my best shot!