# Cyanobacteria



## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

So I was feeding my fish and suddenly saw a bit of Cyanobacteria on the bottom of my glass and a tad bit on one area of the sand. My NO3 stays at 20ppm throughout the week (towards 30ppm by water change day) and I do a 50% change weekly and also use a turkey baster to remove a lot of waste pushed into one corner daily. Feeding is okay, I hand feed twice daily, so no food ever hits the floor. Maybe it's the amount of lighting? I have the main lights on for 14 hours then 1 hour of moonlight before lights out.

Are there any other precautions I can take to eliminate this bacteria before it takes over my tank? I plan on having lights off for 3-4 days and reducing the feeding to once a day. Should I cover the tank with a blanket so no natural light gets in? I hear you usually have to boil everything in the tank to really get rid of it, which would be a pain..


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Do you have plants? I only get it when my plants start to languish. Fertilizer is the cure.

I've used erythromycin but some say it harms your biofilter.

Even with plants 8 hours daily is enough, but that is likely not the problem.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

Nope no plants, just rocks, cichlids, and pool filter sand.


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## Akari_32 (May 20, 2014)

Others say differently, but I used to have a group of Mystery Snails that loved cyano. They tripled in size in a month eating off the endless amounts my tank at the time was producing (plus whatever I fed them a few times a week). If nothing else works, that could be an option.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

I'll try that method if my current conditions doesn't improve. Currently added Seachem Phosguard to my tank to reduce phosphates and got blankets covering the tank for complete darkness. Also did a 90% water change and checked under rocks for any hidden waste.


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

I have read about different reasons for cyanobacteria. One of them is low nitrates. I have a 90 gallon heavily planted tank which had a serious cyanobacteria problem. I was picking sheets of it off my anubias.

Before I went on vacation, I moved some Endler's livebearers into the tank. I also skipped my weekly water change while on vacation. When I returned, the problem was gone.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

I've heard of the same thing, but at 20-30ppm NO3 in a 55g tank, it should be an acceptable level :\


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