a little confused with an algae problem, i think its cyano....

richiero · Mar 8, 2013

i have a 75g tank with a 32g sump, total water volume is 75g. my tank is 6 months old with 80 lbs of live rock in the display and 20 in the sump.. as of now i have my sand bed is about 4 1/2 inches to 5" deep. i have 6 fish one zoanthis and 2 anemones and various hc, and snails. my water parameters were just measured today again. i have zero p04 p03=2.0ppm, mag= 1440 cal= 480 kh 7.7 alk 2.73 temp is 78 ph= 8.3 salinity 1.026. i also have about 4" of sand in my sump. i have a mp40 for flow along with an mp10 and a nac6 skimmer which is rated for a 150 gallon tank. i am running a phosban reactor and a carbon reactor. i don't overfeed what ever the 6 fish can eat in 2min, my fish are also small. 4 clowns one warsee and 2 damsels and one blood shrimp. i do 10% w/c every week with rodi water and esv salt. over the last two weeks i also did 2 30gal w/c in addition to my 10 g w/c but this stuff just comes back. i leave my lights out for three days its gone put my lights on and its back. what to do? are these just the growing pains of a new tank? any help is welcome.:neutral: my lights are on for about 10hrs led 42 3 watt bulbs 14 cw 14 rb and a mixed string with 6blue 4 green and 4 uv the whites are only set to 70% and are only on at that intensity from 1-3

always reefin · Mar 8, 2013

how are you testing for phosphates and nitrates?

richiero · Mar 8, 2013

saifert test kits

mcarroll · Mar 8, 2013

Hopefully Robert will be able to stop by and give a better explanation of "why cyano" but the root cause is excess nutrients building up in the system.

Excess food, use of mechanical filtration (like sponges or a canister), expired/exhausted media in you RODI, detritus settling into the rocks of sandbed are all common causes. Over stocking is another one but I agree you aren't over stocked.

Another factor which can contribute is your low alkalinity. This can allow pH swings, especially local to any detritus deposits (always generating carbonic acids) which tends to allow more nutrients to dissolve. These deposits are often (not always) where the cyano grows thickest. So Alk is an easy/obvious contributor - maintain at least 9-11dKH for a more stable environment. I would go for the top end of that range if you're keeping stony coral.

Anything else you can to find to correct among those other factors I mentioned should take care of the cyano. Find where the "muck" is hiding and eliminate it at the root!

Good luck!

-Matt

P.S. Even if it's not part of the problem now (which would be a little surprising) I would siphon out most of that sandbed. Go with 1"-2" at most. I would ditch the live rock in the sump too...improve flow, increase system volume, remove one more detritus trap.

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richiero · Mar 8, 2013

thx for the info mcarroll, rock in the sump is not needed? how would i be able to get between the rocks in my display?i dont over feed i feed cyclops-ease and and new life spectrum pellets. like 2 pellets a fish..... i count it all out. i don't a canister filter, rodi is good i have a tds reading zero on the output.. how do i raise my alk 2 part dosing? would you dose alk at night? what about my light my whites were on for almost 8 hrs, i just read most people do their whites for about 5-5 1/2 hours.. the pods whould then just live in the cheato?

mcarroll · Mar 9, 2013

richiero said:
thx for the info mcarroll, rock in the sump is not needed? how would i be able to get between the rocks in my display?i dont over feed i feed cyclops-ease and and new life spectrum pellets. like 2 pellets a fish..... i count it all out. i don't a canister filter, rodi is good i have a tds reading zero on the output.. how do i raise my alk 2 part dosing? would you dose alk at night? what about my light my whites were on for almost 8 hrs, i just read most people do their whites for about 5-5 1/2 hours.. the pods whould then just live in the cheato?

You have more than enough rock in the display and lights are fine I think. I'd suggest using a power head to blast out the rocks, but get creative!

Use a stick or your finger (if you're brave) to swirl around in the sand bed to see if you can kick up any detritus there. If you find anything much in the sand, I'd consider removing the entire bed and either start over with something a lot more shallow or go bare bottomed.

Also just in case it applies, don't handicap your Vortechs by having them aimed at your rocks. The rock structure should be built as far under their "area of effect" as possible to maximize their flow capability. They aren't strong on velocity, so they depend heavily on being able to establish momentum in the water...can't do that with rock in front of them. ;-)

Pods will live *everywhere* there's no fish - including inside the chaeto ball.

-Matt

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Sugo · Mar 9, 2013

mcarroll said:
You have more than enough rock in the display and lights are fine I think. I'd suggest using a power head to blast out the rocks, but get creative!

Use a stick or your finger (if you're brave) to swirl around in the sand bed to see if you can kick up any detritus there. If you find anything much in the sand, I'd consider removing the entire bed and either start over with something a lot more shallow or go bare bottomed.

Also just in case it applies, don't handicap your Vortechs by having them aimed at your rocks. The rock structure should be built as far under their "area of effect" as possible to maximize their flow capability. They aren't strong on velocity, so they depend heavily on being able to establish momentum in the water...can't do that with rock in front of them. ;-)

Pods will live *everywhere* there's no fish - including inside the chaeto ball.

-Matt

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I'm dealing with the same problem. Great advice!

richiero · Mar 9, 2013

thx mcarroll i will try that and see that happens.

richiero · Mar 9, 2013

also going to raise my alk

mcarroll · Mar 9, 2013

Forgot to co-sign with you on using two-part reagents. To adjust calcium, use something like calcium chloride. To adjust alkalinity, use something like sodium carbonate or bicarbonate. In other words, don't try to make adjustments with something like limewater or an all-in-one product.

I like to recommend using Brightwell Calcion and/or Alkalin8.3 if you're just starting out dosing. If you read and understand their instructions on the bottle, you'll be an expert doser in no time. (I honestly don't know another product that has directions suitable for teaching a beginner to properly test and dose.) At that point, you'll be equipped to use any brand that will at least tell you the concentration of their product. (This concentration number is what JDeik's Reef Chem. Calculator is based on too, fwiw.)

Don't hesitate to ask more questions on dosing if you have any! (New thread tho.

) Check the sticky threads in the Chemistry Forum too.

Hope this helps!

-Matt

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richiero · Mar 9, 2013

thank you again, i made my own 2 part .An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com i have brs calcium with brs 1.1ml a min dosers . i made the alk from baking grade baking soda. i used the calculator you mentioned and got these number to get it up to 9.5 alk.. 64.2 ml; 2.1 fl oz; 12.8 tsp, as of now i wont have to dose my cal b/c its at 480.... according to the calculator balanced cal is 428. so as of tomm night i will start dosing alk. whats a good ammount of alk to dose per day to reach that 64.2 ml number?

richiero · Mar 9, 2013

i used recipe one

richiero · Mar 9, 2013

i seems that Randy's sugested dose it a lot less then the dose i am being told to give by the calculator on this site, but may the dose on randys wont get me up to 9.5 alk

mcarroll · Mar 10, 2013

Your testing dictates the correct dose...not me or Randy. ;-)

Start by correcting alk. Once you get a good number in testing for alk, then retest Ca. It's likely your Ca isn't as high as the test indicates due to the low alk. After retesting, make any adjustments to Ca called for, then retest Mg too. Make sense?

-Matt

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richiero · Mar 10, 2013

yes, its sounds like your saying dose until you reach you desired levels then just maintain from there. i used this calculatorhttp://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html i am just looking for a staring point on how many ml i should dose a day, i know they say you should not raise your alk more then .5 a day....

richiero · Mar 10, 2013

Reef Chemistry Calculator

Mike J. · Mar 10, 2013

Okay, I'm going to tell you about red slime algae in very basic terms. Red slime algae is a byproduct of cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria grows on detritus. So that's backward. Detritus on sand bed or rocks - cyanobacteria feeds on the detritus - red slime algae is a byproduct of cyanobacteria. Cyano bacteria is in every body of water. Red slime algae is photosynthetic. Red slime algae can help you to clean your tank. Get a 3/8" hard tube and attach it to a tube long enough to reach your bucket. When the red slime algae is in full bloom (before lights out) siphon the red slime algae out of the tank. Do not blow it around or stir your sand bed as that will make your problem worse. Sucking out a little sand with the red slime algae is just part of it; you can replace the sand with new. Keep on top of the red slime algae - a 5 gal. bucket every day or every other day. This method will take a few weeks, but you'll have a clean tank in the end that you'll be happy with. So to sum it up: Suck up the red slime algae and you'll be cleaning the detritus and cyano out of your tank. Read this article:Issue 17, November 2012 | Redfish Aquarium Magazine