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Lyngbya (Cyanobacteria)
Last updated on November 17th, 2023
About Lyngbya
Lyngbya is a fast growing cyanobacteria that closely resembles hair algae, but is brown in color. Lyngbya is easily removed due to not having a root structure.
What Causes Lyngbya
Lyngbya is a form of cyanobacteria, similar to red slime algae. Presence of Phosphates in the reef tank can lead to cyano formation, like lyngbya. Once lyngbya is in the aquarium, it can spread quickly. Especially if it is blown around with a powerhead or turkey baster.
How to Get Rid of Lyngbya
Lyngbya can be removed with a siphon or scraped from the glass, and caught with a net. Removing it from the aquarium completely. Even when removed, lyngbya will generally regrow quickly until the phosphates are lowered in the reef tank. Lyngbya seems to be able to regrow from fragments making it important to remove as much as possible if trying to clean by scraping.
You can lower phosphates by keeping a good refugium with cheato macroalgae and a strong refugium light. This macroalgae will grow, and consume both nitrates and phosphates from the reef tank. Starving the lyngbya of phosphates, preventing it from growing as quickly.
What Eats Lyngbya
There are a number of creatures that eat lyngbya. Specifically, nerite snails, cerith snails, and hermit crabs are all likely to eay lyngbya cyanobacteria.
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