At a stalemate with cyano/PO4

[Scorpius]

I've been battling cynao for months. It's slowly going away on its own. I advise against using chemicals.

 

[Sherman]

Don't you get GHA?

So far a bit here and there

 

[Sherman]

I think it's more important to look at the tank and its parameters instead of looking for a quick solution. Yes, we dose KNO3 if nitrate gets too low(IMO that's usually when we see that some cyano is coming. Sometimes at 2ppm and sometimes at 0,5 ppm). But we also dose KH2PO4 when phosphate gets to low(we have a 26000L reef/bamboo shark tank that we "treated " with carbon source and KH2PO4 for about 3 months to get the nitrate and phosphate to 4 ppm and 0,04. And the small outbreak of cyano disappeared).
But just dosing and adjusting NO3 and PO4 isn't enough IMO. It's important to keep as many parameters as possible stable for a long time. And to have patience(yes, I know, it's boring ). I've seen cyano outbreaks caused by change of light schedules for example.
So my advice is look at your tank and try to figure out how to make a change for the better, and don't try to copy anyone else's method completely.

I know I think of larger tanks when I write about this stuff(worked at public aquariums for 10+ years, still do), so I'm aware of that smaller tanks could use different solutions. So take that in consideration

IMO using medication or chemicals with unknown ingredients in a reef tank might not always be a great idea. I've stopped doing that. Sure, the algae or Cyanobacteria you want to get rid of might disappear, but what more happens in your tank? IMO you risk the stability in your tank, which might give you cyano or dinos. Or corals and fish might get affected.
So what I prefer to do is to try to adjust the parameters and keep them stable for a long time, to get rid of what might cause cyano(quick changes or low nutrients).

Sometimes you might get cyano when there's high nutrients in a tank, that's another story But stability might help in that case too IMO.

About the red turf algae on the pictures. I think urchins will eat those. At least they did in our tank with similar algaes.

Sorry for a long post.. Just one more thing
Together with stable water parameters, I like the animals to the work in the tank instead of me(or medication/chemicals). There's a lot of options when it comes to a clean up crew. In our large tanks different sea urchins, tangs and rabbitfish to a great job. Smaller tanks might need other CUC I know.

I hope this makes some sense. I just woke up

/ David

I love that. Ensure stable parameters.
What is this KH2PO4? Where to get ? Now to increase my PO4 I just do heavy feeding.
Thank You Sallstrom for sharing

 

[Sherman]

Ah gotcha. I am very curious to know what the equivalent ppm for no3 you were/are dosing, as well as what your testable no3 and po4 levels are now. If you find out please let us know.

Thanks!

Last nite just do a PO4 test still high 107 ppb. NO3 never measure yet.
Cynao has reduce by a lot . Now only see small dots here and there on the rockscape.
No more in sheet form like 2 week ago.

 

[jasonrusso]

Last nite just do a PO4 test still high 107 ppb. NO3 never measure yet.
Cynao has reduce by a lot . Now only see small dots here and there on the rockscape.
No more in sheet form like 2 week ago.

107ppb is 0.33ppm. That's really high and your cyano is going away???

Like I said before, my PO4 was at 0.04 and NO3 was 10 and cyano keeps coming back.

This is why this is so fustrating and why there is no one fix for this.

 

[Sherman]

How you export your nutrient? Skimmer or/and fudge.
I only has fudge now. Still pending if I should add skimmer.
I am delaying. I want to try with Fudge only

 

[BigJohnny]

Sorry, I don't.

It's cool thanks

 

[jasonrusso]

How you export your nutrient? Skimmer or/and fudge.
I only has fudge now. Still pending if I should add skimmer.
I am delaying. I want to try with Fudge only

I have a nano all in one, no room for a fuge. I run an aggressive skimmer and phosguard.

 

[Sherman]

I have a nano all in one, no room for a fuge. I run an aggressive skimmer and phosguard.

Phosguard I believe same as Rowa phos should bring PO4 down very fast.
Skimmer should also be able to export any nutrient buildup.
You have a lot of livestock? And you feed a lot of live

 

[BigJohnny]

Last nite just do a PO4 test still high 107 ppb. NO3 never measure yet.
Cynao has reduce by a lot . Now only see small dots here and there on the rockscape.
No more in sheet form like 2 week ago.

Cool. That's always been one of my fears in dosing no3, po4 plummeting. I had a buddy who killed many acro colonies that way. Def test occasionally just in case. Good luck.

 

[jasonrusso]

Phosguard I believe same as Rowa phos should bring PO4 down very fast.
Skimmer should also be able to export any nutrient buildup.
You have a lot of livestock? And you feed a lot of live

Nope, 2 clowns, 2 firefish and a goby. I feed frozen, not too much. I feed corals ever 4-5 days flreef chilli and reef energy every day.

 

[Sallstrom]

I love that. Ensure stable parameters.
What is this KH2PO4? Where to get ? Now to increase my PO4 I just do heavy feeding.
Thank You Sallstrom for sharing

We buy KH2PO4 from the same place as we buy KNO3, a small shop for planted fresh water aquariums. So it's fertiliser for fresh water plants.
Yes, more feeding might increase the phosphate as well. Adding KH2PO4 is just another way to do it. I like to be able to calculate how much we need to add and to increase the slowly. So we use a solution with KH2PO4 and dose it little by little, often with dosing pumps.

I don't have the "recipes" for the KNO3 and KH2PO4 in my head, I'm not at work this week. Maybe @Lasse could help with that?

/ David

 

[Sherman]

We buy KH2PO4 from the same place as we buy KNO3, a small shop for planted fresh water aquariums. So it's fertiliser for fresh water plants.
Yes, more feeding might increase the phosphate as well. Adding KH2PO4 is just another way to do it. I like to be able to calculate how much we need to add and to increase the slowly. So we use a solution with KH2PO4 and dose it little by little, often with dosing pumps.

I don't have the "recipes" for the KNO3 and KH2PO4 in my head, I'm not at work this week. Maybe @Lasse could help with that?

/ David

Thank You Sallstrom for sharing.
So is also use by planted tank. I go check with them