People will tell you that medicating is a quick-fix and doesn't address the underlying problem. Of course, no one knows what the underlying problem is...
It's very clear to me and should be to the professional and amateur community that I directly depicted the causes for imbalance in a closed eco-system that fuel the problem at bay. Further more I've dedicated reliable resources for the reference of my argument to make it painfully clear that there is a cause for this issue.
Medicating IS a quick fix, it will only come back, and I don't think subjecting corals (creatures which we have an infinitely acute understanding of) should be subjected to the chemical burdens of our degraded ability to care for them in a captive system. I would argue that it is the least that we can do to at least try non-abrasive methods of treatment for the growth and understanding of our community which is both driven by motives of science and leisure.
I just don't think you can dismiss these problems so easily I guess.
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180 FOWLR- Carribean Biotope Stocked mostly by Dynasty Aquatics Wholesale.
140 Show Reef- North Australian Reef Biotope (Lyretail & Sunburst Anthias) SPS & Clams.
46 Breeder- Retired pair of Ocellaris Breeders, etc. tank currently being renovated.
Skimmer of choice? AE Tech ETSS 600 DownDraft (but so expensive)
All tanks use ESV B-Ionic, ESV Strontium, & Tropic Marine Pro Reef Sea Salts for perfect conditions.
the way i cured cyano in my 37 gallon acouple weeks ago was from daves advice. Reduced feeding, i was feeding way to much. Then i vacummed my sand bed from me prevoiusly over feeding. My skimmer collection cup was up all the way so i could get a dry foam. I moved it down almost all the way to get a real wet foam which pulled out alot more junk. Also, i moved my powerheads. I had two maxi jets at the top just blowing at each other. I moved one to the back and on the otherside move in to the front and down low to blow accross the sand bed but not enough to blow it away. Then for 2-3 days removed all cyano that grew. After a point it grew in little 1 inch patches on the sand bed in only a few spots and never got bigger. Removed them and bam. It was all gone in a matter of a weeks time. But your tank maybe different. My source of phosphates though they tested zero because the cyano was using it, was over feeding. I feed once every 3 days now instead of the twice a day i was. Find your source of phosphates, eliminate it, and your cured!
It's very clear to me and should be to the professional and amateur community that I directly depicted the causes for imbalance in a closed eco-system that fuel the problem at bay. Further more I've dedicated reliable resources for the reference of my argument to make it painfully clear that there is a cause for this issue.
Hi: My comment that no one knows what causes cyano was not directed at any one individual. Also, I may have missed it, but I did not see any cited scientific references in this thread that identify the cause of cyanobacteria algae.
Indeed, the literature is, at best, divided on the cause of cyano in reef systems.
Fossa and Nilsen sum it up well in The Modern Reef Aquarium: Vol. 1.
"The slime algae are the more disagreeable type of blue-green algae by far. They show as a bluish-black or bright red layer that can appear all of a sudden and without any apparent reason in aquaria that have been set up quite a long time. Aquarists call this phenomenon the "red pest". Very often it starts with a seemingly harmless small spot of black or red colour on the botom of the aquarium. They remain like that and do not start growing until later so that they usually go unnoticed. But, very suddenly, within a few days they grow explosively and the whole aquarium decorationis covered with an ugly, slimy coating. These algae emit substances which very effectively impede the growth of other algae or even kill them. Moreover, they are very harmful for many other inhabitants of the aquarium.
It is really very difficult to get rid of these slime algae. We can try to remove them mechanically, i.e. by brushing and then siphoning them off. Yet the aquarium decoration will soon be covered by them again....Once they have spread in the aquarium, it is mostly too late. Obviously, there is no safe therapeutic method to fight slime algae without doing harm to other organisms at the same time. Adding antibiotics to the aquarium, e.g. Tetracycline or Erythromycin, will kill the algae....As a matter of principle any sort of medication should be avoided in the coral reef aquarium. The effects it might have are completely unpredictable and often completely different from what was expected....
Slime algae seem to appear most easily in unstable aquaria or in tanks that were subjected to sudden changes of the mileu, e.g. when a large number of animals is introduced within a short period of time, or when the quality or the quantity of light changes considerably.
A number of observations suggest that stable aerobic conditions with a sufficient supply of oxygen impede the growth of slime algae to a certain degree. This has, however, not yet been proven. We think that problems with slime algae are usually due to the accumulation of nutrients and biological imbalance.
Red slime algae are closely related to the bacteria. It is possible that a change of the normal bacteria flora may result in an intensive growth of red slime algae.
It has been shown that slime algae can grown even at a redox potential of far more than 400 mV, a potential which indicates highly aerobic conditions which can be reached by ozonisation. On the other hand, there have also been some reports that an increase of the redox potential stopped the algae growth.
It may be some consolation for us to know that the slime algae can also disappear by themselves as suddenly as they appeared."
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Medicating IS a quick fix, it will only come back, and I don't think subjecting corals (creatures which we have an infinitely acute understanding of) should be subjected to the chemical burdens of our degraded ability to care for them in a captive system.
I agree. Medicating is a quick fix, and it's not without risks. But leaving the cyano in your tank is also a risk. There is no good solution here. Medicating will kill the cyano. It might also have adverse effects on the reef tank. Of course, it also might not. We just don't know. As I've said before, some people have had success with water changes, limiting feeding, increasing flow, increasing O2, etc. Often, none of these methods work. The key point that most folks don't understand about cyano is that it is a bacteria-like algae. Antibiotics, when used properly, will erradicate the cyanobacteria. I disagree with your statement that cyano will return after one finishes a course of antibiotics. This presumes we know what causes cyano, or at the very least, presumes that there is some unknown persistent condition that causes cyano which will still be present after the meds are used. If one is willing to admit that the etiology of cyano is unknown, then it is easy to see how meds might be a quick and permanent fix.
Quote:
I would argue that it is the least that we can do to at least try non-abrasive methods of treatment for the growth and understanding of our community which is both driven by motives of science and leisure.
I just don't think you can dismiss these problems so easily I guess.
I would agree with this if we knew of effective non-abrasive treatment methods. But we don't, so I disagree here as well. If your tank is over-run with cyano and you spend months trying a variety of 'non-abbrasive' methods which have no proven track record of success, you could be hurting your tank more than if you had just used antibiotics from day 1. If you knew you had strep throat, would you try a bunch of herbal remedies first before taking an antibiotic? Maybe. Maybe not. This is going to depend on your risk-tolerance.
I don't begrudge anyone for not wanting to medicate their tank. But I also think it's rather naiive to outright dismiss a risky but successful treatment in favor of a no-risk, less-successful treatment, particularly when the cyano has such a detrimental effect on your reef. Of course, if the cyano was simply unsightly and not harmful to your reef, I would always advocate trying the "safer" less-successful methods first.
While I don't agree with using any of the various medications to kill off red slime algaes, Submerged makes some good points.
I have used medications to kill off red slime algae, and they do work. The problem is that if you have solved the underlying problem, you will only get one kind of nuisance algae replaced by another. In my own case, I got rid of the red slime algae only to get it replaced by green hair algae. Well, at least the green looked better, and provided a home for pods to reproduce.
I would say that if you have spent months, and I mean 6 plus months, of trying everything else, for extended periods, and you just can't get rid of the red slime algae, then and only then, resort to medications, and realise that you are taking some risk with them. I would also do large partial water changes after the medication was done.
How do you syphon sand????
Also, I now know I have been way over feeding, and am cutting that way back.
Although I do like handfeeding my star fish.
Anyway, when I syphon and blow water more, a LOT of junk comes up and through my
overflow box, hope that is right term, I have a sump.
My sump filters and skimmer get's a big work out then.
Any way I can cover my down spout hole to catch large stuff when I change water?
Also, I have a seaclone skimmer and a 75g tank. Is this big enough?
Thank all,
alane
Most LFS carry various "gravel washer" siphons. The only difference for using them on SW is that in SW you usually you usually filter through a larger net filled with filter floss.
This is because we don't to simply discard the water removed in the process.
Most LFS carry various "gravel washer" siphons. The only difference for using them on SW is that in SW you usually you usually filter through a larger net filled with filter floss.
This is because we don't to simply discard the water removed in the process.
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noticed a small patch of film(cyano??) dark red/maroon forming in one spot near bottom on a rock. parameters are all in check, so i suppose its daily feeding. gonna cut back and see what happens. the only thing that kinda upsets me is that it formed 4-5 inches IN FRONT of the powerhead lol, so much for not enough flow. hopefully its just the feeding. the only other thing which it could be is that my light fixture was used, therefor so were the bulbs. Person i bought from said they were used for 5 months and ive been using since Jan 08, possible they need to be re-placed. Going to do that tonight anyway, but the area with the cyano/film is in the shade so not really quite sure how lights would affect that. If the lights were bad wouldn't i have other nuisance algae growth elsewhere i.e. on glass etc.. on a side note i'm pleased to see vibrant purple/pink growth spots appearing on back glass,return nozzle,overflow and even the mag float!! just curious why it doesnt form on front or side glass.
For some reason, coraline algae seems to like the back and sides of the tank more than the front, but I get plenty growing on the front of my tank. It's really more of a pain than a blessing once it's established. Some even consider coraline algae to be a nuisance algae.
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