Advice with green cayno.

[cginter]

So as the title says... I'm having a problem with this algae. It's pretty much only on the sand bed and some zoas.

Specs on tank: it's a 180g with 40g sump. Lighting is 4 led units (added one about a month ago, pre algae). Was at 10 hr/day but backed down to 7 hours/ day. 2 mp40qd on NTM at 90%. Tank is getting plenty of flow IMO. Running a protein skimmer ratted on the low end . Running GFO High capacity (1cup) changed when algae on glass gets noticeable. and rox .8 carbon ( 1 cup changed every 2-3 weeks). Water changes do monthly but I've done two 40g wc this month trying to solve this issue.


Should I be running more GFO? Or is there something I'm missing.


Params:
Alk 7.5
Cal 430
Mg 1450
Nitrate less than 5
Phosphate doesn't read on my test kit (API). I know is a very bad test kit for phos. All other tests are done with Red Sea pro.

Any help or advice would be great.
Thanks!

 

[cginter]

Also the tank was set up in April of this year but everything was transferred over ( all live rock and 40-60g water. Sand was new.

 

[cloak]

I'm not exactly sure why it's showing up, being that your parameters look ok and your taking the appropriate measures, but you might want to siphon the top layer of sand out and then see if it comes back again. This shouldn't be too hard to do.
Also, If you want to reuse that sand again just rinse the heck out of it and then pipe it back down. GL.

 

[cginter]

Also the tank was set up in April of this year but everything was transferred over ( all live rock and 40-60g water. Sand was new.

 

[brownsalt92]

Watching I have the same problem.in my 29 but no gfo running

 

[reefaboo]

this is my expirience with the same thing ..

thats not green cyano .. its just green algae ..


phosphates and nitrates come back low cause that green algae is consuming them and growing ..

here is what i did .

1. i turned off the whites and ran only blues at 50% of my regular intensity for 3 days,
2. 4th day ( or 3rd day) you would see that algae peeling off like sheets of nori . thats when i did the gravel vaccum and siphoned off all the bits and pieces of algae i can find .. and did a 20% water change ..

couple of sps did brown out and are coloring back up but its been about 2 weeks now and it hasnt come back ..


oh now i leave my fuge light on 24hrs

hope this helps
thanks

 

[cginter]

I'm not exactly sure why it's showing up, being that your parameters look ok and your taking the appropriate measures, but you might want to siphon the top layer of sand out and then see if it comes back again. This shouldn't be too hard to do.
Also, If you want to reuse that sand again just rinse the heck out of it and then pipe it back down. GL.

It comes back with in a week. I just remembered that I added some rock to the tank about a month and half ago. But I cured it properly to my knowledge.

 

[cloak]

Dang, that sucks. I'd still continue to remove it though, as opposed to just throwing your hands up in the air and waiting for the storm to blow over. GL.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How often do you end up changing the GFO?

 

[Ocean reefer]

first off great aqua scaping..I had this problem a time before with my flow...make sure u have enough flow toward the bottom of the tank..just my 2 cents worth

 

[cjsreefaus]

Could be that their is a bit of phos still kicking around. Api kits arnt great especially the phosphate one. After using api for a while the first time i used a hanna was an eye opener.

 

[Naiad]

I would remove as much of it as you can then test your parameters the next day. See how much nutrients are being produced in a day just to be used by the algae.

 

[cginter]

How often do you end up changing the GFO?

Roughly once a month. I tend to go by how much algae is growing on the glass, but ends up being around a month, month and a half.

 

[cginter]

Could be that their is a bit of phos still kicking around. Api kits arnt great especially the phosphate one. After using api for a while the first time i used a hanna was an eye opener.

Oh I agree with you on that API isn't gonna give me the readings I want.

 

[cginter]

first off great aqua scaping..I had this problem a time before with my flow...make sure u have enough flow toward the bottom of the tank..just my 2 cents worth

Thank you for the comment. I do believe I have enough flow. The Zoas that are on the sand bed have plenty of random flow.

 

[cginter]

Did another water change tonight and added my new skimmer. Skimz sm253. Had the skimmer for a month was just waiting for the sump to be built, so hopefully that will help.

 

[Cory]

Most of your degradation of organics comes from bacteria in the sand eating the leftovers. It doesnt seem like a bad place for algae to live then does it?

Youve got a few options:
- keep your sand moving or churning like on a beach to get those organics out. Flow.
- get either smaller or larger particle sand to help prevent detritus from settling. Size.
-remove all sand and run a sandless tank, glass bottom or faux sand/ white plastic bottom. Removal.
-wait for it to go away. Time.
-run more gfo.

Nice corals!

 

[cginter]

Most of your degradation of organics comes from bacteria in the sand eating the leftovers. It doesnt seem like a bad place for algae to live then does it?

Youve got a few options:
- keep your sand moving or churning like on a beach to get those organics out. Flow.
- get either smaller or larger particle sand to help prevent detritus from settling. Size.
-remove all sand and run a sandless tank, glass bottom or faux sand/ white plastic bottom. Removal.
-wait for it to go away. Time.
-run more gfo.

Nice corals!

Thanks for the reply and compliment. Only option I see is run more gfo, but that can get expensive... I hope with the new skimmer installation (sm253) that this will help defeat the algae. The algae is not really affecting my corals too much, it's just more of an eye sore seeing that green all over the sand.

. Pic was right before it got out of hand.

 

[Cory]

Here is a quate for you:

"Both bacteria and cyanobacteria will actively secrete enzymes into the surrounding environment, and these enzymes will dissolve organic particulate matter so that it may be absorbed"

He says

"These organisms LIVE by dissolving organic matter around them..."

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-06/rs/feature/index.php

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here is a quate for you:

"Both bacteria and cyanobacteria will actively secrete enzymes into the surrounding environment, and these enzymes will dissolve organic particulate matter so that it may be absorbed"

He says

"These organisms LIVE by dissolving organic matter around them..."

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-06/rs/feature/index.php

FWIW, some species of cyanobacteria may do this, but many others may not. They "live" by photosynthesizing.