Cyano in Floating Plants

[tam]

I had a few small patches of cyanobacteria around the tank and did a blackout before Christmas, which seemed to clear it. It's now back again but almost exclusively in the floating plants. There are a few thin penny sized patches on the substrate but I think it's where I've disturbed it in the floating plants and it's settled as it's not spreading.

I've not seen it grow that way, any ideas on getting rid?

 

[Oldguy]

any ideas on getting rid?

I would try a glass angled so that as water entered the glass patches of the floating bga would be sucked into the glass and could then be discarded. Labour intensive and fiddly but a start.
Could also try spraying the patches with 3% hydrogen peroxide.
Good luck.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I've not seen it grow that way, any ideas on getting rid?

That is the only place I ever get it in the tanks, <"an occasional "smear" on"> the Nile Cabbage (Pistia stratiotes) leaves. I haven't <"seen very often since">, most recently in the "total lack of maintenance" lab. tanks in <"times of COVID">.

I would try a glass angled so that as water entered the glass patches of the floating bga

I'd try that. I actually took the Pistia plants out of the tank and washed them under the cold tap, with water running pretty forcibly.

cheers Darrel

 

[tigertim]

Have you tried upping the Nitrate level, do you add any tap water to your mix ?
I get similiar slight cyno issues on floating plants when i use 100% pure rainwater yet when i add 10% tapwater to the mix issues go away unfortunatly adding the tap water also raises the ph and hardness.

 

[tam]

Thanks, a dip test (I know not super accurate) didn't show any nitrate. I'll try adding a bit more tap with my rain water. I'm going to put some root tabs under the swords too as they look hungry.

I'll try a glass and and a shower to get out what I can before hand and hopefully the combo knocks it back.

 

[copperband]

I've accepted that Cyano is a battle that is always happening, in my experience at least. The bloody stuff caused me to strip my last tank down and start again, since starting afresh I find that it's still very much there, but reasonably well contained. My learnings and efforts to contain / combat i:

• Good flow in all areas of the aquarium to minimise nutrient build up in dead spots. I have the return from Oase 600 Thermo plus a Gyre bar.
• Weekly water changes where i start by using a powerhead and blast all round the aquarium, the plants, hardscape and substrate. That gets as much of the organics into the water column and even if not extracted by the water change, it spreads them more evenly for the plants to use.
• In addition to above, I will occasionally syphon any patches out.
• Be careful with the lighting. My tank is less than 2 months old and i'm still very cautious with the intensity of the lighting. 95% of any cyano I see is in the moss up high in the aquarium. I have not seen it in the floating plant, but I suspect that's because its spinning round like fairground waltzers!
• I dose with a "startup bacteria" each water change as I believe that helps with the faster establishment of a beneficial bacteria in the substrate which will suppress the Cyano bacteria (unproven).
• Finally, whilst I haven't yet resorted to the Hydrogen peroxide, I have previously used it as a "pre tank wash" whereby I put some in a bucket with a plant with any algae and let it sit for an hour. Its incredibly effective. In your case, you could remove all the floating plants and in a separate bucket try this method.