ralliart314 Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 i have just walked past my cichlid tank and noticed a weird smell,smells dirty,i do 2 water changes a week,feed twice a day have 2000lph of filtration on my tank,its not over stocked,i noticed brown algae patches on the back wall of the glass so am scrubbing them off now,and going to do another water change see if that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 cyanobacteria ('bluegreen algae', although it isn't an algae and can also come in red, green and brown) can cause a tank to smell off... It lies fairly flat and peels off in small sheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralliart314 Posted March 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 what should i do to stop the smell,or to get rid of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 Above all, don't do anything drastic or you could risk even more problems, IMO. Make sure your filter is functioning properly (check flow, but don't overclean the biological media itself). Cut back on feedings if you can. Vacuum the substrate (but try to do it a few days before or after cleaning the filter so you don't risk knocking out all the beneficial bacteria in one go). Keep up with the water changes. Give it time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 good advice. I would say step up the waterchanges though. Don't increase the volume, just the frequency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralliart314 Posted March 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 did a partial water change and vaccumed argonite,have limited amount of rocks in the tank for now to increase the water flow,will open and clean cannister filters one at a time, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 I had a problem with cyanobacteria in my 200L tank (Lit with 2 x 39W T5HO). I fixed the problem by turning off the light for 3 days, then reducing lighting hours to 6 for a further 4 days, and then returning to normal 12 hour cycle after. Cyano just died off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 I think I've got cyano in my tank too. Its sort of blue-green and slimy looking. No noticeable smell though I normally do 1 water change per week. What should I increase this to? I was thinking of reducing light hours as per breakaway's advice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralliart314 Posted March 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 i have no slime tho,i had small patches of just algae but brown and came of easy as,i did a water change last might and scrubbed all glass,reduced amount of rocks in tank to help water flow and smell has gone,i run t5 lights aswell, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 i have no slime tho,i had small patches of just algae but brown and came of easy as,i did a water change last might and scrubbed all glass,reduced amount of rocks in tank to help water flow and smell has gone,i run t5 lights aswell,Well done. If you have plants, start thinking about ways to get them growing well, that will help suck up the excess nutrients that can feed nuisance algae. I think I've got cyano in my tank too. Its sort of blue-green and slimy looking. No noticeable smell though I normally do 1 water change per week. What should I increase this to? I was thinking of reducing light hours as per breakaway's advice too.With mild cases cyanobacteria can resolve easily without drastic measures. Remove what patches you can see by vacuuming it away (try not to release it into the water column if you can). Consider increasing surface agitation and definitely increase water flow to those areas. Keep a 10 hour photoperiod which will help the plants to thrive and use up excess nutrients. Try increasing the frequency of water changes, twice a week might be a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 Southerrrngirrrl I would just clean out as much of the cyano as possible (by hand, net and syphon) then black out the tank (throw a blanket over it) for 3 -4 days. Do not feed the fish during this time either. Then do a water change and syphon out any dead cyano. See if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 Thanks Jennifer. It seems to be all over the plants, so do I have to remove the plants too? I've never had this type of bacteria before. Only thing that has changed in the tank was that I added that Bio ball you sent me! Thanks Caryl. Will try that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 Cyanobacteria is a bit of an opportunist. You may have fed more than usual and did not notice a small ammonia spike, or higher than normal nitrates but these can all play a factor. Blackouts can be very effective but keep in mind that a few things will happen when you do this: firstly your plants will not grow which can lead to excess nutrients in the water which can lead to other nuisance algae. Secondly, rapid die off of cyanobacteria will release toxins into the water, including ammonia which of course can stress the fish and can trigger other types of nuisance algae. It you choose this method, it can be useful to keep up on the water changes to help dilute the nasty effects. If it were me, I would do as I explained earlier but since the plants are also affected I would remove them and dip them into a dilute bleach solution for a few minutes then rinse well and put them back in the tank. Keep removing the cyanobacteria as you find it. if it doesn't get any worse, you know you are targeting the problem, which is really what you need to do. Prevention is better than the cure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Hmmm.. well I've already got lots of black beard algae too, which I don't even bother trying to fight. I had increased feeding a little because of the skinny loach thing. Which I also still need to sort out. I might just pull the plants out and replace them. Was planning on getting more anyway. I wonder if it was that bio ball that caused it? Because when I took it out it smelled BAD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Don't know. I have never used one before. I guess that's the risk with trying new things. Seems kind of strange that it would do that, but you never know! Don't be discouraged though, we all have setbacks and want to throw in the towel sometimes. Just persevere and hopefully by next month you will have a happy and balanced tank again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Oh yes I know. I won't throw in the towel. Maybe I'll just take the opportunity to improve my tank. I picked up a nice looking bit of driftwood at the beach yesterday...could replace the current bit with the new improved bit! Do a bit more planting. I've been wanting to add more gravel too, because I think I don't really have enough for the plants to grow in properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Well I pulled most of the plants out (left the twisted val and dwarf chain sword in) andl I got new plants (an assortment of about 10 different plants) 45 cuttings in total, floated them in the tank until they started to grow roots and then stuck them into the gravel. They seem to be doing well, I can see that they've grown but I can now see algae starting to grow around the edges of the leaves of some of the plants. I scrubbed the driftwood and left it out in the sun for about a week to kill the black beard that was growing on it. I removed as much of the cyano as I could but it seems to be coming back. I don't really want to go down the mycin dosing path. What if I just started using Flourish Excel or something like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Is it cyanobacteria? If so you need to correct the water conditions or it will keep coming back. Faster flow in the areas that it grows can help to get rid of it too. If it is black brush algae (aka black beard) then excel will kill that. Might pay to continue with excel because bba is often a sign of not enough CO2 so the liquid carbon in excel will help sort that problem too (unless you want to use DIY CO2 or something like that). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 I have both. Pretty sure its cyano, its a blue/green colour and slimey looking. Its on some plants, and on the bottom of the tank. not sure how I'm going to increase the flow there. I've been reading up a bit on the cyano, both here and other forums and seen it mentioned several times that cyano is triggered by low nitrates. So if I add some nitrates (in the form of ferts I assume) this will help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Imbalance of nutrients can cause all sorts of problems. Your plants will really appreciate a daily or every other day dose of ferts and it will help get the tank in balance. I prefer Flourish Comprehensive because it contains macro and micronutrients in the proper ratios. Easy, and unlikely to cause any problems at all when used at a dose rate of 1ml/40l/day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 Well I've just been to the LFS (yay I'm getting new Yoyos!!!) and they only have Flourish excel and Flourish Iron? And lots of empty spaces for the other varieties available I'm guessing. I'll go to the other one see what they got. I'll look out for that flourish comprehensive. Hope my loaches don't react badly. I also read that you have to be careful when using Flourish with loaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 It is Flourish Excel that you have to worry about, you don't have to worry with Flourish Comprehensive which only has trace minerals, amino acids and small amounts of macronutrients. It is like adding a multivitamin to the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 Ah ok. Will remember that. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.