[Samper]

Some of you guys know I was gone for about two weeks and that my girlfriend was watching my tank. A few days before I left I had been showing her the corraline that has been forming. I got back to the house last night and some form of cyano has taken over most everything to include covering my frogspawn so he cant open. She thought that it was corraline and that it was ok since it is a reddish color. How do I go about removing the cyano from the frogspawn without damaging him? Will a soft toothbrush or paintbrush work? Also I don't mind the cyano since it is natural, it's a bit unsightly but should I be worried? It has taken over most of the liverock.

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by Samper

Some of you guys know I was gone for about two weeks and that my girlfriend was watching my tank. A few days before I left I had been showing her the corraline that has been forming. I got back to the house last night and some form of cyano has taken over most everything to include covering my frogspawn so he cant open. She thought that it was corraline and that it was ok since it is a reddish color. How do I go about removing the cyano from the frogspawn without damaging him? Will a soft toothbrush or paintbrush work? Also I don't mind the cyano since it is natural, it's a bit unsightly but should I be worried? It has taken over most of the liverock.

As you said, it is going to stop your corals from opening..... which will ultimately kill them... I don't have a frogspawn, so I'm not sure what they could take, but your best bet would be either a turkey baster, or maybe a low-power powerhead, increase the flow across the frogspawn (and anything else it is smothering)... it's pretty soft, it will usually come off pretty easily..... you will want to catch and remove any large pieces of it that you can tho, cuz it will just grow elsewhere if you let it. If you have sand, you could try to scoop up any large sections with your hand or maybe with a gravel siphon (depending on the size of the sand). You need to remove it from the rock as well as you can also, because it can/will suffocate anything living in the rock, as well as blocking light/nutrients for the coralline algae and bacteria. In other words..... natural or not, it's a bad thing.

Oh yeah... and ... Welcome Back! (I missed u )

[Samper]

I cant blow it off with the baster or a powerhead, hmmm

Anyone know what I should do? I'm thinking a very fine paintbrush or something.

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by Samper

I cant blow it off with the baster or a powerhead, hmmm

Anyone know what I should do? I'm thinking a very fine paintbrush or something.

Well, I have used small paintbrushes on things like star polyps and button polyps.. don't know if it would work on frogspawn..... try it gently, and if the coral reacts badly, stop..... seriously, what worse damage could you do? At least it would be able to breathe if you get the cyano off there!

Are you sure it's cyano? My experience with cyano is that it comes off pretty easily, except maybe out of very fine cracks or crevasses.

[Reefland]

If it is in fact cyanobacteria, it should be very light and blow off very easily; it doesn't really attach itself, just "coats" where it is growing.

[Samper]

From all of the pictures I have seen I'm positive it is cyano. In most places it isnt attached and seems to float above the rocks but on the frogspawn its different. I'm sorry I don't know all of the scientific terms so I'll explain as well as I can. The cyano has attached to the lip of the tube that the frogspawn comes out of and acts like a tarp covering the entire animal so he can only extend about a fourth of an inch. He definately isnt gonna live if I dont figure something out. How worried should I be about this stuff taking over everything? I mean if it covered my other animals they would surely die.

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by Samper

From all of the pictures I have seen I'm positive it is cyano. In most places it isnt attached and seems to float above the rocks but on the frogspawn its different. I'm sorry I don't know all of the scientific terms so I'll explain as well as I can. The cyano has attached to the lip of the tube that the frogspawn comes out of and acts like a tarp covering the entire animal so he can only extend about a fourth of an inch. He definately isnt gonna live if I dont figure something out. How worried should I be about this stuff taking over everything? I mean if it covered my other animals they would surely die.

I think that a small very soft paintbrush might well do the trick... Just be very gentle. If it is actually cyano, it will come off very easily, so you shouldn't need to exert much pressure. Try to catch any pieces you can, so they don't just settle somewhere else and grow..... As for how worried... hmm, would you let your baby play with plastic bags? Thats probably pretty close to the equivalent ... the cyano can and will suffocate your corals if you let it.. just like hair or any other nuisance algae. Cyano isn't actually algae, but it is very similar in behavior, which is why so many call it "red slime algae".

[Samper]

Went and bought a paintbrush at an arts and crafts store, very fine brush and used it. The frogspawn retreated while the procedure was taking place but he seems happy now. I guess I will just keep an eye on it and not let it take over any other inverts maybe over time it will just go away. Shouldnt be a problem since I'm here to watch it now. It's pretty crazy, when you watch an aquarium all the time you notice little changes here and there but to be gone for two weeks and such a drastic thing happen.........Gonna research tomorrow and try to find out what I need to do.