cyano bacteria, HLLE

If I haven't had enough problems with my system, I now have cyano bacteria, and my flame angel is still fighting HLLE.

Just did my tests.

hmmm... that is interesting.  I have a lot of flow in that my little 29 gal tank (two 500 gph power heads, plus the return).  I have some purigen, I think I will use it.  Do you know if purigen is also linked to HLLE, or is that just activated carbon?

Edited by Davidwillis - January 28 2011 at 7:17pm

Cyanobacteria is also called Blue-Green Algae because in freshwater the most common color is blue-green. In marine environments it is most often called Red Slime Algae because of it's most common maroon color.  It has characteristics of both bacteria and algae and is one of the very oldest organisms on earth. For that reason some scientists give it it's own Phylum separate from bacteria and separate from algae. Cyano does respond to light, sometimes dieing off in low light and sometimes avoiding growth in high light. This is probably because there are millions of strains or because just a few strains have the ability to grow in a myriad of different conditions.

I don't remember saying to turn off the Hiatt system but I do remember saying that something just didn't look right. The tank was too clean to be healthy. Anyway, that cyano is nothing to worry about. Cyano is probably the easiest algae to control. Most often, just stopping the feeding for days and feeding less from then on is all that it takes. In this situation it might take a little more thought than that.

If you have some Macroalgae in the system(sump) or can put some there, I would light it 24/7 for now. In time the bacteria and good algae living in the system will mature to the point where the light on the Macro can be put on a more normal photoperiod. If I remember correctly, the sump is in a dedicated room so the light could be set as RDP and the sump can soon become a Refugium. 

Oh and the algae will eat up the PO4.


Edited by Mark Peterson - January 28 2011 at 9:04pm

Chris Scott wrote: you can use the chemiclean red slime remover to get rid of the cyano. It is a temporary fix, but works really well to get rid of it. I have had bouts with cyano from time to time, and I usually dose chemiclean, then alter something else...skimming/flow/photoperiod/etc... It's a good jump start though.

These products do kill Cyano, but in the process they also kill some other bacteria. The other bacteria is useful and it is generally better not to kill it. That's not the biggest issue though. The biggest issue for me is that killing the Cyano does nothing about the root cause. If nothing else is changed, the Cyano will return, but on the other hand Cyano will quickly disappear when the root cause is eliminated.

I'll share with you something I have seen about hobbyists changing lights. Cyano certainly responds to light, but sometimes less light and sometimes more light can initiate a reduction in Cyano. Most hobbyists are not scientists trying to figure out which factors had the most effect on the problem. At the same time they buy new light bulbs they are also being more diligent with many other aspects of tank maintenance, including replenishing the snail population, being more careful about feeding and doing other tank cleaning that fell behind.
Because of this, I believe that new lights is less likely to be the major reason for a decrease in Cyano.


Edited by Mark Peterson - January 29 2011 at 11:02am

I have been following along with that thread too, I am just not sure I have the same issues.  My LS has all kind of life, bristle worms, other small worms, amphipotds, etc.  Nothing dieing...  My macro algea is not growing though, but my cyano is (but it is getting less now).  I wonder if my small dust particles from my carbon was providing a carbon source for the cyano?  Remember the carbon I used is made specifically to provide a carbon source, kind of like vodka does for those dosing carbon.  I have taken the carbon out, and put in a bunch of filter floss to take out any dust already in the water....

It it the Hiatt tri-based pelitized carbon.  You have to run it with the Hiatt "right now" bacteria to give it the carbon source to reduce nitrates and phosphate.  They claim it is a carbon source, but I don't know how.  I do know that my nitrates have always been 0 even though my top off water contains nitrate, but my phosphates have not stayed at zero...

charcoal is almost entirely carbon. It can't be too far of a stretch for Hiatt to produce something that is just becoming popular

Well I don't know, and Hiatt doesn't really say how they do it.  I just thought it might be a possiblity, since I was getting a lot of carbon dust (from a carbon that claims to provide a carbon source for bacteria) that it might be one of the reasons.