Cyano....whats up with that???

[DOMINATOR]

How bad is it? should i be concerned? Im assuming its cyano( looks like the velvet on a deers antlers in spring) dark wine red color.....

[skabooya]

sounds like cyano. I have it. It can spread like wildfire if conditions are right. manual removal, low trates, good flow and blackouts are common remidies. I still have some but its getting better since i replaced my bulbs.

[DOMINATOR]

my bulbs are brand new and i have great flow......what do you mean by blackouts???

[bryceschutte]

Blackout = 3 days 0 light. cover it if possible. Works great.

[C2Sky]

I have had excellent results using the vodka method. Disappeared within two weeks...

[monocus]

use coral snow-also watch what salt you are using.when i was using h2ocean my cyano bloomed everywhere

[Madreefer]

It's normal for a new tank. Follow others suggestion and keep up on regular waterchanges and maybe cut back on your feeding.

[DOMINATOR]

You guys rock!!! What the heck is vodka dosing?? Sounds yummy

[Frankly Canadian]

I had Cyano really bad the redish black stringy kind you are describing and I walked into Red Coral in Calgary and talked to Kevin & Doug, problem solved! First thing I did was water flow Doug calculated what my water flow should be for my 75g tank and wow was I ever short of that, so I bought some power heads and increased water flow by 3,000g/hr Second thing I did was I bought some Coral Snow and I've been using it ever since. Third thing I did was changed the food I was feeding my fish, now I use Phylankton, which has virtually no phosphates. Fourth thing I did was increased my water changes to between 5% & 10% every week. Fifth thing I did was bought two Sand Sifting Yellowheaded Golbies, and they do wonders in keeping the sand clean.
Anyways I wouldn't advise doing the blackout thing because I did it and ya it worked ok for a few weeks but it always came back. I also tried Red Slime by Chemiclean and it also worked for a few weeks, (closer to a month) but it always came back. Myka has a great article on this web site that deals with problem algae’s and cyano, the causes and how to get rid of it. Good luck! Again I haven't had any return for over a year now.

[mattdean]

Originally Posted by monocus

use coral snow-also watch what salt you are using.when i was using h2ocean my cyano bloomed everywhere

I never had cyano with H2Ocean. Actually, I've never had ANY problems with that salt. Are you sure it was the salt? Could be many things.