cyano making me psycho

jrbates08 · May 11, 2014

Ok so I'm gonna sum this up quick since I've already wrote it all once in fine detail and then my stupid phone kicked me off and I lost the whole thing. So here it is short and sweet. Powerhead broke. Went 4 days with no powerheads. Developed cyano. Got new powerheads. Cyano was not budging. I created a sand storm thing to siphon out. Didn't work. My sand it too fine. So I scooped out top layer. Was fine. 2 days it was back. Scooped off top layer again during water change. Params are great. Cyano is back again. I have nothing in the tank except LR nassarius and cerith snails and 2 peppermint shrimp. I'm going crazy. I was told it would go away. It's not. It's a pain in my ars to keep scooping out and my CUC don't seem to attracted to it. What do I do? Flow is fine. Skimmers fine. Lights fine. However it is only a 2 month old tank but has already cycled. WHAT IS GOING ON IF MY PARAMS ARE GOOD? Could it be because NOTHING is in my tank(like fish) or because???? I don't feed the CUC (upon instructions) and my peppermint shrimp were doing good on the aiptasia but those are gone now. So I have some orders coming monday. What do I do about this cyano if i can siphon my sand bed? It was an awful mess and I tried every technique. My sand is just too fine

jrbates08 · May 11, 2014

If i CANT* siphon my sand bed....correction

trido · May 11, 2014

I dont always recommend this but, Chemiclean. Most will say its a bandaid for the underlying real problem and they are right. But in some cases all the tank maintenance and Water Changes you can afford wont get rid of Cyano.

jrbates08 · May 11, 2014

But that's just the thing!! I can't figure out WHAT the problem may be?? I've done almost a 100% water change, this water is actually from the tank at the store because mine busted so he helped me out with about 75% of my water. However everything was fine until my powerheads broke. Now I cant get rid of this crap. It's ugly and not fun lol

NanaReefer · May 11, 2014

Your not alone! Been battling this crap myself, for the past 2 months

Wound up killing my 3yr old Clam trying to use most common remedies. ChemiClean & lights out. Neither worked for longer then a couple days.

Aqua fire/medic · May 11, 2014

Sounds like a case of new tank syndrome

. Just be patient...... Try the 72 hrs lights out and see how it works. I've also heard good things about chemiclean. Post up some of your parameter numbers here as well as tank info. There is way too many knowledgeable ppl here, and most will not let you go psycho over cyano

REEF911 · May 11, 2014

What worked for me

Ok guys I have been down this same road and this is what worked for me. First thing I did was dose chemi clean. After the treatment I did a 25 percent water change and loaded a filter bag full of granular carbon. Placed the carbon in the sump were there was good flow. Next thing I did was hook up my phosphate reactor. I added brand new gfo to the reactor and made sure it was stirring correctly in the reactor. Next thing I did was cut down on my feeding. Making sure that the food I was putting on was getting eaten. Another thing I did was add a deep sand bed into my sump. This will help with your anaerobic bacteria which convert nitrate into nitrogen gas. Although the DSB in the sump was not needed I'm sure it also helped. Hope this helps out guys. And I know this sounds stupid but use ro or rodi water when u mix salt.

REEF911 · May 11, 2014

What worked for me

Ok guys I have been down this same road and this is what worked for me. First thing I did was dose chemi clean. After the treatment I did a 25 percent water change and loaded a filter bag full of granular carbon. Placed the carbon in the sump were there was good flow. Next thing I did was hook up my phosphate reactor. I added brand new gfo to the reactor and made sure it was stirring correctly in the reactor. Next thing I did was cut down on my feeding. Making sure that the food I was putting on was getting eaten. Another thing I did was add a deep sand bed into my sump. This will help with your anaerobic bacteria which convert nitrate into nitrogen gas. Although the DSB in the sump was not needed I'm sure it also helped. Hope this helps out guys. And I know this sounds stupid but use ro or rodi water when u mix salt.

rozy · May 11, 2014

First of all don't use chemicals, don't do huge water changer, and relax. Go get as many hermits you can afford and other snails. They will eat and clean it all up. Keep it simple....

VicD81 · May 11, 2014

I had a bad Cyano prob for about 3 months. Did reg water changes siphoned out the top layer even 3 day lights out. All worked for 3-5 days then always came back. Found that my biopellets were starting to deplete, so added more and upped the flow. Havent seen any Cyano in months. Good luck.

loquillo3411 · May 11, 2014

water changes every week and reducing ur lights on period should do it

loquillo3411 · May 11, 2014

and remember chemicals it's not always the solution

dankreef · May 11, 2014

Gfo. I overdosed my tank with aminos, I have been trying to push it to the max to see how big of a dose I can do without problems and maximum effect. Just hit that mark got cyno outbreak over night, my gfo has it cleared up in almost 3 days.

jrbates08 · May 11, 2014

Ok sorry but I haven't had a chance yet to learn all the lingo...GFO? I have a 75g tank and it busted a seam about a week and a half ago. We bought a new tank and was able to save about 15 gallons of our cycled water. Then the owner of the LFS gave us 60 gallons from his tank to help us out. I have 200 nassarius and cerith snails along with about 4 or 5 blue legged hermits. It just seems like too much for them to handle and it gets worse by the day. Should I be stirring the sand? I only do 10-15g water changes every week and we use a RO/DI unit and we mix our own salt. Well anyways, I read to mix ur sand, keep ur lights to a minimum and/or try 72 hours of no lights. But I just don't understand...how does someone keep livestock if this stuff is so brutal? I have to find the reasoning. My lights are only 4 months old and everything else is brand new

Sully · May 11, 2014

How is the flow in your tank? Low flow can be a factor in getting rid of cyano.

VelasCorals · May 11, 2014

Lights out for 3 and add another power head. During the lights out period blown off rocks twice a day and then on third day do a 20-30% change. Happens with almost every new tank I setup and this always works.