cynobacteria problem

[anna]

I am getting a brown slime alge that I have been fighting for a couple of weeks. I have cleaned my skimmer and serviced the pump. It is pulling out a lot. My params are all 0. Alk 9.5 Ca 450, I use a RO/DI filter and just replaced the filter canisters. I have tried more frequent water changes and upping the water flow.

A couple of possibilities

1) the lighting is about 9 months old at a 12 hour/day cycle I have 2 250 W 10K MH and 2 110 Actinics

2) not enough snails (I have 10 in a 75 G)

Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[liquid]

Any way you can verify that your water is pure (0 TDS)? Also, if you just changed your RO/DI filters it's still going to take a while for it to go away...

Shane

 

[hsosa]

I would lower the light cycle. maybe change the bulbs. more flow. I get this on my glass no flow in that area.

 

[Jolieve]

I thought that cyano grew in low light areas. Check the places in your tank where the cyano is growing anna. I find cyano growing in shadows in the tank, such as underneath powerheads and overhangs in the rock structure. I just siphon it out during water changes and move on.

 

[Supergenius74]

what kind of salt do you use? mine went away with frequent water changes and a switch to tropic marin.

 

[anna]

I am using tropic marin and the TDS readings are 0. What is the typical life of the MH bulbs?

One thing that I am also fighting is scum on the top surface. When I blow the stuff off the rocks I get a scum on the surface of the water. I clean my overflow but it doesn't seem to take the scum out.

Anna

 

[tripsied]

One of the wierder things I found out is that using Windex or ammonia-based sprays around the tank can cause brown/green algae blooms.

I recently wiped down my tank with Windex (poured on the cloth) and in a few hours had brown and green alage all over, where I didn't before and water parameters were fine.

Try running some carbon and a 50 micron sponge also (I found this helps quite a bit)

 

[Supergenius74]

ok, another thing i did was I got some cerith snails, about a dozen since they are small, and a sand sifting star and they helped too. if you have lots of algae or cyano it usually means there is plenty of nutrients for it to eat, nutrients as in phosphates, try a phosphate sponge in your filter to absorb it out. It took me a while to get rid of the cyano, months, but it has been gone for a while with no sign of return so maybe just be patient for it to die off.