Another "Help With Cyanobacteria" Post

[Rovert]

OK, folks. Ive read the posts, I've done the tests, I've used Chemiclean, and this stuff just keeps coming back. Been looking at this for a solid month, the tank is 4 months old now. Ample live rock, a mix of CaribSea SeaFloor and Ocean Direct sand.

I plan another 20% water channel tomorrow, but in advance of that, I tested for PO4 and NO3, and they're all as low as can be
(see pics below)

Other parameters:
(Note these were lower before I started my CaRx up a week ago)
pH: Average about 7.9, high of 8
Sal: 35-ish ppm
Alk: 9.6
Ca: 490+
Mg: 1475

What gives?

 

[keatonmjenkins]

I would keep doing water changes daily, sucking up as much of the cyano as possible so something else can put compete. Stay on a regular feeding schedule to keep nutrients up so you don’t get Dino’s. Also for a 4 month old tank you need to let it mature so stop nuking it with chemi clean. 4 months is still very new to this hobby.

 

[saltyfins]

OK, folks. Ive read the posts, I've done the tests, I've used Chemiclean, and this stuff just keeps coming back. Been looking at this for a solid month, the tank is 4 months old now. Ample live rock, a mix of CaribSea SeaFloor and Ocean Direct sand.

I plan another 20% water channel tomorrow, but in advance of that, I tested for PO4 and NO3, and they're all as low as can be
(see pics below)

Other parameters:
(Note these were lower before I started my CaRx up a week ago)
pH: Average about 7.9, high of 8
Sal: 35-ish ppm
Alk: 9.6
Ca: 490+
Mg: 1475

What gives?

Bacteria. someone also mentioned on here, DIY reef snow with microbacter7. I used biodigest, and it cleared my tank in 2 weeks. hasn't been back since!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Increase flow
And adding a few drops of microbacter7 every night IMO does help get rid of it.

 

[Rovert]

Bacteria. someone also mentioned on here, DIY reef snow with microbacter7.

Increase flow
And adding a few drops of microbacter7 every night IMO does help get rid of it.

Turn off the skimmer when dosing MB7? I tried that last week, but it was ineffective and thought it might be because I skimmed it all out.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Turn off the skimmer when dosing MB7? I tried that last week, but it was ineffective and thought it might be because I skimmed it all out.

There is no quick one-time immediate solution, you have to suck that stuff out every night, then dose a few drops of bacteria every night. Cyano is a bacteria, so you want to remove this bad bacteria and add good bacteria to replace it with, sooner or later, the good bacteria will outcompete the bad bacteria. Adding some coral frags and snails is another good way of getting good bacteria into your tank. Stronger flow is also helpful is slowing it down.

No need to turn the skimmer off, bacteria grows on the inside of the skimmer as well.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

Have you identified it as cyanobacteria with a microscope?

 

[Rovert]

There is no quick one-time immediate solution, you have to suck that stuff out every night, then dose a few drops of bacteria every night. Cyano is a bacteria, so you want to remove this bad bacteria and add good bacteria to replace it with, sooner or later, the good bacteria will outcompete the bad bacteria. Adding some coral frags and snails is another good way of getting good bacteria into your tank. Stronger flow is also helpful is slowing it down.

No need to turn the skimmer off, bacteria grows on the inside of the skimmer as well.

That's the part that puzzles me. I have a tank full of bacteria. Water, live rock, 'live' sand, corals, fish, pods... so it's hard to figure why this is happening. There isn't an excess of nutrients, either. I've never had this problem before, at least not this persistently.

I plan on doing a water change today (hopefully), and will suck out the cyano at that time. Let's see what happens... stand by.