Getting rid of minor cyano without blackout / chemicals?

[ryanyde]

Hi guys,

Noticed a small 'furry' bloom of cyano in my tank earlier today. It was in the center in a 'dead zone' of flow (since I installed a new powerhead I've tried to get good circulation). The cyano is built up in a branching bit of live rock (what used to be branching coral in the ocean), and so has been hard to scrape off. I scraped off what I could, and put the powerhead there to hopefully clear it out. Also added a deep blue phosphate pad. Also did a 10G water change.

Anything else I should do besides reducing feeding?

I have a 90 gallon and everything else seems to be pretty healthy, with most of my corals growing (except a couple stubborn ones).

Don't want this to get out of hand, but also don't want to do something drastic when normal husbandry will do.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Best,
Ryan

 

[MofoCorals]

Try doing a couple more water change and syphoning sent of the ciano with the hose. It comes off better with the hose.

 

[ryanyde]

Great, thanks will do. Also, is there any reason the skimmer would be going crazy when I scraped it off?

 

[ryanyde]

Quick update, I seem to have deep maroon 'encrusting' algae spreading / growing. This is not easily scraped off (tried with my long steel tweezers and nothing comes off). Could this still be Cyano, or is it possible that it's Coralline algae? Are there any tests I should run?

Weird because I never had this kind of bloom before when I was using tap, but have been using RO/DI water for a few weeks now...

 

[reefstarter]

coraline is not always pink or purple , depends on your lighting too . if its hard and encrusting then it could be coraline . If so no worries leave it be . you Can check your magnesium levels that Might...... give some evidence

 

[Moe_K]

A good picture would enable the crowd to diagnose the "cyano"

 

[ryanyde]

Sure, I will post a picture later when I get back home. Thanks for the offers to help.

I ordered a phosphate kit because that was the only test I didn't have. I'm not sure I understand the basics of how the chemistry affects Algae / Bacterial build up, so if there's a good thread on that, that would also be helpful. A lot of this seems more like witchcraft than science sometimes

 

[ryanyde]

Guys,

Here is a link to an album with pictures. http://imgur.com/a/sB8vI

I tried to get different shots (as well as some context) to give a sense for what is there, and hopefully a color baseline.

Would be curious:
1) Does that look like 'bad' algae?
2) What is the white stuff (in the last pictures)? That stuff has gotten on my emerald crabs too so they now look white.

Would appreciate any help--checked Nitrates pH Salinity and Temp yesterday all within range.

I'll check Magnesium tomorrow as it takes a little while.

Thanks again for all of the help!

 

[ryanyde]

Any thoughts on the pictures? Would definitely appreciate a little help so I can do anything necessary to prevent an outbreak.

Has anyone used the phosphate pads for removing Phosphates in a pinch?

 

[MofoCorals]

Kind of hard to tell... The first picture does look like green slime. That can be taken care by water changes with ro/di water, and good flow.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1371653

The other algae i'm guessing is the 2nd and 3rd pics. Theh purple algae would be coraline. I have seen in in brown, different shades of green, grey, orange, and brown depending on tank conditions. It's calcium based and when scraped looks powdery and disintegrates. Not a bad algae.

 

[delta]

How is the tank? you can go through an algae stage at about 3-4month and cyano can popup during that time. I do not see anything alarming in those images. some small patches algae/cyano and Coraline algae. If it is a fairly new system just keep the in tank flow up and keep your maintenance going strong

 

[ryanyde]

Guys, changed the flow and so far so good. One of my mushrooms has melted a bit, but otherwise OK. I also severely decreased my feeding and stuck in a Phosphate pad so hopefully that removed any excess phosphate. The deep red stuff appears to be Coralline which is nice. Changed 2 x 10 gallons of water.

Will keep y'all posted. Is there any kind of Algae I should be keeping in my sump at all that could prevent this? Right now I have a clean sump with just a bit of LR.