Cynobacteria

[Rychek]

Is there a fish or invert that eats cynobacteria?

[aprilmayjune]

Unfortunately not. I know there are a few starfish species which eat algae and bacterial blooms which have made me wonder if they would pick at cyano, but I doubt it.

[Rychek]

I figured that would be the case. Is RedSlimRemover "safe" to use in my display tank? I've read on other forums that people have used it with good results, but I'm wary about putting any chemicals into my tank.

[erikharrison]

I would not purchase any of those chemicals as they may say "reef safe" but with the diversity in the ocean can they REALLY claim that? I would bet that you don't overfeed since you have a very small bioload, correct? It's possibly from tap water, but from the sound of your setup, I would point to flow. If you add another powerhead, it may fix the situation.

[villjr]

I've used chemi-clean befor on my parents tank and have had excellent results. Just be sure to do a water change 2 or 3 days after like the instructions say. In the past I've also had cyano due to bulbs going bad. You may want to check the age of your bulbs before you try chemi-clean if you are wary of using any chemicals.

You could also try another powerhead as Erik stated, but in my experience (and this is just my experience everyone) the presence of cyano does not necessarily indicate a lack of flow.

[Rychek]

I do know my bulbs are old. I purchased the whole fixture (Current PowerPC 4 bulbs) used on craigslist. I've been hesitant to replace them because my tank is a FOWL at this point. I don't want to go reef until I've got RO/DI water in my tank. I do have a "slight" overfeeding problem due to a green mandarin. My fuge has been failing me (can't keep my cheato alive) and I've been feeding frozen brine shrimp (he eats them readily) twice daily in an effort to keep him alive. It sounds like I just need to replace my bulbs and get an RO/DI ASAP.

[JimD]

FOWLR tanks need super aggressive skimming. I dont know what your fish load is but its something else to consider.

[aprilmayjune]

I have always tried to add the least amount of chemicals and medications as possible. Instead of using red slime remover or chemi clean to rid of the cyano, try finding the cause first. Once you have fixed that it should start to take care of itself. Chemi clean may work (its worked for me when I felt I was loosing the cyano battle) but in my experience its only a temporary fix until you figure out what is causing it. And like I said, I don't like to use chemicals because the fish and coral never have to encounter them in the ocean, its not natural to them or their bodies and I think they react better to more natural approaches.

[Rychek]

FOWLR tanks need super aggresive skimming. I dont know what your fish load is but its something else to consider.

I've got 2 O. Clowns, 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Firefish, 1 Green Mandarin. I've got about a dozen nassarious snails, 2 trochus snails, 5 red leg hermits and an emerald crab. I don't think I have a large bioload. I don't have an optimal skimmer (CSS 65 in HOB mode), but it pulls out some nasty sludge.

I (hopefully) have a CPR BakPak coming in the mail from my brother. Should I swap it for the CSS 65? I know there are mods I can do to each of these skimmers and plan on doing some of them. I've already modded the impeller on the CSS with fish line. I'm contemplating doing a mesh mod on my Max-iJet 1200 and using it on the BakPak, but I want to see how it performs stock first. Any thoughts/suggestions?

[erikharrison]

Run them both. One week one skimmer and one the next. You can mod the one that is not as good and then retest. That sounds like fun to me! I totally forgot about the bulb issue, and if you are using power compacts, this could be a part of the issue. Try doing a water change, but spray off your rocks with a powerhead and siphon as much garbage out as possible. Not sure about your tap water, but it could be the reason why you are having trouble growing macro algae as their are metals and phosphates in the water that are somewhat if not totally undetectable.

[JimD]

This mod works really well for the BakPak with the stock pump.

http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38903&highlight=bakpak

[tony]

i traded my css65 for a bakpak, id rather have the bakpak

[Rychek]

I'll have to try that mod. I actually have everything I need to do it, so there isn't any reason not to.