Cyano outbreak?

[nickyeager]

My 125 Gallon is in its 4th month, it was first setup with dry rock with 1 live rock to help seed the rest.

I removed a lot of this red slime off the rocks doing a water change day before yesterday. I don't want to kick this stuff up off the sand bed and cause a nutrient spike so I just removed from some of the rocks.

Can you guys confirm this is Cyanobacteria? I was considering this approach here http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/treat-aquarium-algae/treating-cyanobacteria

And if I do this, doesn't Cyano mean I have a phosphate problem? I use RO water and my tests say I don't have any Phosphate but maybe that is because the Cyano is consuming it?

I know some say to kill the lights for 3 days but i'm afraid my corals aren't going to like that and I don't have a protein skimmer to remove the stuff once its dead.

Current Stocking

2 Firefish
1 coral beauty
1 Foxface
4 Zebra Goby
1 Chromis
1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Coral Banded Shrimp

Torch Coral
2x Orange Zoanthids
Trump Coral
Green Star Polyps
Hollywood Stunner Chalice
Green Goniopora

 

[CodyRVA]

Sure looks like cyano; ultimately a nutrient issue. IMO you can use all the additives and chemicals you want, but you need to target the source. Are you relying on water changes; if so what % are you doing? Do you have a fuge? Are you running any reactors/media?

Keep in mind the system is still young so this really isn't that out of the norm, but you may want to invest in a skimmer so you're not relying so heavily on other means of nutrient export.

 

[nickyeager]

I have a 125 Gallon Tank and I do water changes of 44 gallons at a time (the size of my RO water trash can). I was doing one water change per month but now I will be doing a water change every other week. I have a wet dry sump with bioballs but I am considering taking out the bioballs and making a refugium In my sump now that I found a magnetic light I can attach to the side of the sump. Ideally I can grow rotifers, and phyto/zoo plankton and pods in that refugium and have them make their way past the foam filter and safely through the return pump and into the DT to be eaten by my fish and corals but I am not sure if that is just a pipe dream (haha pun not intended).

I have been told they can get through the foam block but some say the return pump would kill pods some say they would totally survive. I certainly have no idea if I can culture all those organisms in the same refugium without them eating eachother. if that scenario works that would be awesome if not then maybe I just leave it as is and add a GFO reactor and Protein Skimmer to my sump and spot feed all my corals because the nutrient increase will be considerable. Either way I have to get some food for my hollywood stunner chalice because it is brown and not happy looking and my green green goniopora is pretty retracted and with only 4 months behind this tank those corals are going to need some sort of supplementation. I plan to start a Seachem Fusion 2 part system regime to provide calcium and alkalinity and I do have a bottle of dead phytoplankton but i'm afraid dead phyto might just be adding more nutrients to the system and I don't know how helpful to the corals that would be. Attached are pics of my sump and the proposed change and the stunner chalice and the goniopora.

 

[CodyRVA]

Sounds like a solid plan. In regards to the coral, there may be a number of issues contributing to their poor health. Personally, I don't think they need spot feeding or any additional food. Considering the cyano in your system, you're providing more than enough nutrients to the water column. They are likely being affected by high nutrients and/or unstable parameters.

That being said, I would, as you mentioned, remove the bio balls and replace them with marine pure or sintered glass media. I'd definitely invest in a skimmer; not only for the nutrient control, but there are other benefits related to PH. If you can get a fuge going great, but not necessarily a must have. You're doing roughly 35% water changes, but the issue is you're doing them once a month. You'd be better of doing 20G changes every other week; again this is assuming you want to rely on water changes for nutrient export.

 

[nickyeager]

Thanks Cody, do you think I can grow these small live foods in the refugium and they would make their way to the DT with the proposed setup?

 

[Reef Nutrition]

Thanks Cody, do you think I can grow these small live foods in the refugium and they would make their way to the DT with the proposed setup?

You won't be able to grow rotifers and phytoplankton in the refugium; these organisms have special requirements and will need to be cultured separately. The only phytoplankton that will grow in the refugium are the type that are typical to aquaria like diatoms. Harpatcacoid (Order) copepods and other benthic types will be the best to add to the fuge.

You mentioned that you have a bottle of dead phytoplankton. Keep in mind that no matter what you feed your tank, alive or dead, you are adding nutrient and that nutrient will need to be exported. A skimmer is a great idea! Do you feed live food or dead food to your fish?

Chad

 

[nickyeager]

You won't be able to grow rotifers and phytoplankton in the refugium; these organisms have special requirements and will need to be cultured separately. The only phytoplankton that will grow in the refugium are the type that are typical to aquaria like diatoms. Harpatcacoid (Order) copepods and other benthic types will be the best to add to the fuge.

You mentioned that you have a bottle of dead phytoplankton. Keep in mind that no matter what you feed your tank, alive or dead, you are adding nutrient and that nutrient will need to be exported. A skimmer is a great idea! Do you feed live food or dead food to your fish?

Chad

. Ahh ok this is what I couldn't seem to figure out! In fact I was just asking this on the Aquarium Nutrition forum. So really copepods is all I can grow in the fuge and if I want live Rotifers and Phytoplankton I would have to culture in separate tanks or bottles. But do I need all of this stuff? I mean is it necessary to keep my Corals healthy and happy? If i Get a protein skimmer will that hurt my pods and plankton populations, physically or nutritionally? Is there one magic food (preferably dead) I can feed all my corals and just get a skimmer for the extra nutrients being added? I feed dead food, frozen mysis shrimp primarily and algae discs for my foxface and coral beauty.

 

[knowen87]

You might need to step up the nutrient export game. I had cyano in my tank . I think I had lots of die from a move. I upped the water change schedule and siphoned what I could to help the process. It may come back over and over for a while but it will start to subside. I don't feed any of my coral. There are lots of ways to export nutrients, I would highly recommend a skimmer. Refugiums can be good but id make sure to have a strong light on them. Like a big LED light 50 watts or more (not a 50w replacemnet but and actual led bulb that uses 50w). I dont think that you need a 400 Kessil. You can get high powered LED bulbs on ebay for supper cheap ($20) and a little light reflector at lowes. My cyano is gone now. It did take a couple of months but it was only really bad for about a month.
How much do you feed the tank?
PS I have no idea why my AI light fixture is on this post and i can't get it off!

 

[Reef Nutrition]

. Ahh ok this is what I couldn't seem to figure out! In fact I was just asking this on the Aquarium Nutrition forum. So really copepods is all I can grow in the fuge and if I want live Rotifers and Phytoplankton I would have to culture in separate tanks or bottles. But do I need all of this stuff? I mean is it necessary to keep my Corals healthy and happy? If i Get a protein skimmer will that hurt my pods and plankton populations, physically or nutritionally? Is there one magic food (preferably dead) I can feed all my corals and just get a skimmer for the extra nutrients being added? I feed dead food, frozen mysis shrimp primarily and algae discs for my foxface and coral beauty.

Copepods aren't the only thing you can grow in the fuge; amphipods and isopods will also do well there. A lot of people feed their fish and their corals separately. Our Oyster-Feast is the best bet for you if you are looking for easy and nutritious. Check it out here: http://reefnutrition.com/oyster_feast.php. Copepods and many other invertebrate will consume the small particles, eggs and ovarian tissue. I have fed this to copepods with no problems at all. You will definitely need to get a skimmer and keep up those water changes!

Chad

 

[nickyeager]

You might need to step up the nutrient export game. I had cyano in my tank . I think I had lots of die from a move. I upped the water change schedule and siphoned what I could to help the process. It may come back over and over for a while but it will start to subside. I don't feed any of my coral. There are lots of ways to export nutrients, I would highly recommend a skimmer. Refugiums can be good but id make sure to have a strong light on them. Like a big LED light 50 watts or more (not a 50w replacemnet but and actual led bulb that uses 50w). I dont think that you need a 400 Kessil. You can get high powered LED bulbs on ebay for supper cheap ($20) and a little light reflector at lowes. My cyano is gone now. It did take a couple of months but it was only really bad for about a month.
How much do you feed the tank?
PS I have no idea why my AI light fixture is on this post and i can't get it off!

I feed one frozen cube of Mysis Shrimp and Two Algae discs for the Foxface and the Coral beauty once a day. I really don't think I feed the tank much at all.

The fuge light i was looking at is 6500k daylight. The chamber i wish to use for the sump can not be accessed from the top so I thought would have to use something like the light I am linking here. It can't put out heat because it will be flush against the acrylic.

 

[knowen87]

That is not a lot of food so I dont think that you are overfeeding. You can still place an led light next to the refugium. They wont produce more heat than a t8 would. What ever you use, refugiums need a lot of light to work well .

I don't know what lights you have for the main display but they may not be enough for a Chalice. I am not an expert of tank lighting though.