If a sand bed has degraded enough , it becomes a nitrate factory. So IMO plausible.
But yep. Randy Farley Long ago wrote an article on replacement of other organisms , specifically diatoms , as a beneficial organism.
Cyano. What am I doing wrong
- Thread starter B-ridge
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But yep. Randy Farley Long ago wrote an article on replacement of other organisms , specifically diatoms , as a beneficial organism.
You can borrow mine , if you don’t mind crayon.
biophilia
Well-Known Member
Seems like it would be really hard to control for all of the potential variables between tanks and know for sure, but I’ll look around! I know silicate is somewhat commonly used to treat cyano blooms in eutrophic lakes by environmental cleanup orgs.
Coincidentally, there was a algae toxicology researcher on the radio yesterday talking about potentially using diatoms to remedy the toxic red algae (dinoflagellate) bloom going on in Florida right now.
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Cyano definitely needs light, honestly don’t worry so much about the lights if your running leds, if your running t5s definitely would want to think about changing out your bulbs, and the reason your getting 0 ppm on your phosphate tests is because the cyano is sucking it up! Remember the chemiclean will only temporarily take care of the problem! You still need to take a proactive preventive multi approach! Sandbed of like 1 in, consider getting a couple gyres or at least increase the flow, cut back on feedings, adjust the lights to no more than 12 hours a Day with a 4 hour ramp up , ramp down included in the 12 hours max, run carbon reactor, high capacity gfo reactor, and finally a nice clean up crew, snails of different variety, crabs of different varieties and shrimp of different varieties! That’s should solve your problem! And of course daily maintenance
B-ridge
Valuable Member
Ok I did a little cleaning today. I plugged skimmer back in and it was still acting crazy bubbling over and filing cup like mad. So I turned skimmer off and got to cleaning. I siphoned/vacuumed off sand bed. Especially in the area of the tank where I could visuaslly see a bunch of deitrus. Man was that side filthy. Had couple spots of hair algae here and there where I manually removed. The little cyano that I could see I siphoned/vacuumed out. I Turkey blasted the rocks. Wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I then went in basement to clean up my sump and my fuge. I vacuumed detrius off of sump floor. I then tackled the fuge. Looking at my macro algae and some are definitely not looking good since I turned off fuge light. Vacuumed the floor of the fuge also. Looking at my chaeto ball doesn’t look like it grew any either since lights were off. I then looked for my reactors so I could run gfo/carbon. Reactors there. Pump not. That’s ok. I have a manifold. Just my luck no hose to connect my reactors. I go to Home Depot and of course they don’t have my size hose that I need. While I’m out I go pick up some extra snails. Sooooo I hook up new Mp40qd. Trying to find my sweet spot that I like. It’s tough. Flow is moving nice on that side of tank. Now I have to go in fusion and remember how to set up the other 4. Was looking for some custom mp40 set ups from people. . Guess no one had any. Or they didn’t want to share. Now I had a extra bottle of microbacter7 laying around. When I’m finished with water change I’ll pour the bottle in. I was also able to scour some copepods/amiphods that I plan on putting in main tank. And other bottle in fuge. Of course when lights go out. Now that brings me to my lights. It was mentioned numerous times here to dial them back some. So while I have time I’m looking for a light schedule that will work that way there not on too long. I’m repacking my lights with 4 brand new hydra52hd’s that should be here early next week. If anyone wants to help/assist me in setting up a light schedule please let me know. So that’s all for now. I plan on grabbing some more snails tomorrow. I already have 3 fighting conchs. Thinking of adding a sand sifting goby to keep sand clean but we all know how they are with throwing sand on our corals. Will also be picking up some shrimp this weekend. And possibly 25-50 pounds of pest free bacterial filled coralline love rock from a established tank of a local reefer. Will throw straight into my sump and fuge. Unless there some tonga or plating rock I can place in display tank. Out of breath. Well that’s all for now. Still taking suggestions and help. Thank you all
Your on the right track! Now that you got rid of the cyano with the chemiclean, run a high capacity gfo , good quality carbon like red sea spec, and of course most importantly cut back on feeding and flow,flow and more flow
B-ridge
Valuable Member
I still have the new Chemiclean that I ordered for my size tank. I’m gonna hold off on it and see if what I’m doing now works.
I’m using high grade gfo from bulk eeef supply. I have rox 08 carbon or whatever it’s called. Just have to either find a pump for reactors or get hose for manifolds.
Flow I’m working on it. Playing with the mp40’s
I’m using high grade gfo from bulk eeef supply. I have rox 08 carbon or whatever it’s called. Just have to either find a pump for reactors or get hose for manifolds.
Flow I’m working on it. Playing with the mp40’s
SnakeCharmer
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When I have had cyano outbreaks in the past, I have learned the following:
*shut off lights for 48 hours at a time helps
*manually remove as much of it as possible (stirring it up only spreads it around), syphon out the top layer of contaminated sand and discard it
*meds were only a temporary fix
*replaced the phos resin in the reactor weekly
*make sure there are no dead zones in the well lit areas(lack of current)
*make sure light bulbs were not dated (if not LED)
*make sure the tank NEVER gets lit up through the window
*reduce fish feeding schedule
*lower fish load
*run lights on for a shorter span
*change water to lower contaminates
*cyano is frustrating to control but it eventually goes away!
I feel it's a good idea to remove a portion of your live sand (for those who are using substrate) every 6 months or so and replace it. Contaminates bond to substrate.
*shut off lights for 48 hours at a time helps
*manually remove as much of it as possible (stirring it up only spreads it around), syphon out the top layer of contaminated sand and discard it
*meds were only a temporary fix
*replaced the phos resin in the reactor weekly
*make sure there are no dead zones in the well lit areas(lack of current)
*make sure light bulbs were not dated (if not LED)
*make sure the tank NEVER gets lit up through the window
*reduce fish feeding schedule
*lower fish load
*run lights on for a shorter span
*change water to lower contaminates
*cyano is frustrating to control but it eventually goes away!
I feel it's a good idea to remove a portion of your live sand (for those who are using substrate) every 6 months or so and replace it. Contaminates bond to substrate.
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After chemiclean
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HOW IS YOUR WATER MOVE,EMT IN TANK ? TRY AIMING NOT AT SANDBED BUT TO AN ANGLE WHERE THERE IS CURRENT TOWARDS IT. WILL ALLEVIATE THE ABILITY TO ADHERE TO THE BOTTOM AND ROCKS. I ALSO HAVE HAD EXCELLENT RESULTS USING CHEMI-CLEAN. Very reef safe !!
tigé21v
Active Member
It seems when I get busy and don't dump tons of food in my tank, the cyano starts to show up on the sand.Are you sure it is cyano and not diatoms or something else. 0 nutrients in the tank is not a good thing. And remember, these test kits are only measuring what is left over in the water. Get your nutrients up a bit and give it some time. If it is cyano, it isn't a terrible problem, just try to clean it out as much as you can and it will go away once your tank parameters stabilize and equalize. A 6-8 month old tank is bound to have a few issues every now and then.
I've been back to feeding heavily the past couple of weeks, and the sand is white again.
I'm not saying you should run over to your tank and do this. It's just what I've witnessed in my system.
My lfs said to stop siphoning my Sandbed; they said it liberates nutrients and displaced the pods (compared vigorous Sandbed cleaning to a natural disaster, which separated communities & created lost time in pod work hours as they struggle to rebuild their lives! Sniff!). So, added Dr. Tim's Ecobalance & left the sand alone. All the cyano turned "green" and stringy, like a thick mat. Cleanup crew ATE IT (nassarius, cerith, conch) and it was just gone.
I also noticed that pH seems to play a big role, in blooms. I have to dose everything manually, & am somewhat LAZY with testing. So anything mossy or slimy is a reminder to dose up!
With an almost brand--new Sandbed, tried a syringe of Hydrogen Peroxide on localized areas after syphoning off the main glob of cyano. Worked great! Underdosed usual recommendation by 75 %, out of Fear, but it cleaned the patch Like Magic, no return at that area after a month .
After that, the whole thing seemed less scary! My best wishes!!!
I also noticed that pH seems to play a big role, in blooms. I have to dose everything manually, & am somewhat LAZY with testing. So anything mossy or slimy is a reminder to dose up!
With an almost brand--new Sandbed, tried a syringe of Hydrogen Peroxide on localized areas after syphoning off the main glob of cyano. Worked great! Underdosed usual recommendation by 75 %, out of Fear, but it cleaned the patch Like Magic, no return at that area after a month .
After that, the whole thing seemed less scary! My best wishes!!!
B-ridge
Valuable Member
I’m doing ok with the cyano for now. Now my issue is my skimmer. Still overflowing. I just added carbon to a media bag and placed in between my first baffle in sump before return area. Don’t know if it’s still the chemi clean or because of the mini cleaning
I had same problem as you with chemiclean, besides carbon in your reactor , add a big bag in your sump to suck up the chemiclean, as far as the skimmer goes raise it up until it skims correctly, no matter how high! You’ll see in a day or 2 youll be back to normal
PhreeByrd
Active Member
This goes back quite a few years, but long ago when I was having cyanobacteria issues, I considered using Chemi-Clean. But I didn't want to add it to a reef tank without knowing what the heck it was, and the ingredients were not disclosed. Searching through the web and the multitude of reef forums, the consensus was that its active ingredient was erythromycin (or some very similar antibiotic). I contacted Boyd Enterprises by email and requested an MSDS and information on the composition of the product. I was reasonably politely told to go pound sand, that the ingredients were proprietary. After a few very civil back-and-forth email exchanges, I asked if they would just either confirm or deny that the active ingredient was erythromycin. They declined to do so. I took their refusal to deny as a pretty strong indicator that the consensus was quite probably correct.
That's the background. And, although I had already bought the stuff and was at the ready to dump it into the tank, I decided against it and never used it. I did extra water changes, siphoned out as much of the cyanobacteria as I could when I did the water changes, and waited it out. After a few weeks it dissipated on its own, and has never returned in that tank, which has been running for more than 20 years. This tank has a 3-4" deep sand bed which has never ever been cleaned (by humans, at least). In almost all respects, it's your typical mixed reef, nothing terribly fancy for equipment, and I don't run reactors for GFO, carbon, calcium, or anything else. I have some of those reactors in the garage in case I ever decide to clean them up and sell them... along with a lot of other junk I didn't really need and will never use again.
My suggestion would be to try the simple things first. Advice is free, and a lot of it is worth what you paid for it (my advice is also free, btw). Go slowly but whichever route you choose, be thorough. Suggestions, of course, will tell you to turn off your lights, turn off your white lights, stop feeding the tank, run GFO, use Chemi-Clean, buy a new skimmer, test your No3 and PO4 eleven times per day, add macroalgae to your sump, acid wash your sand, nuke your rock, and stand on one foot while howling at the moon for 6 minutes on November 17th. Some of those might actually have some merit, particularly the last one.
I can tell you that you don't need to do twelve different things at once.
Be patient, be thorough, don't look for the quick solution. The resolution will take some time, but it will happen if you just stay on a reasonable course.
That's the background. And, although I had already bought the stuff and was at the ready to dump it into the tank, I decided against it and never used it. I did extra water changes, siphoned out as much of the cyanobacteria as I could when I did the water changes, and waited it out. After a few weeks it dissipated on its own, and has never returned in that tank, which has been running for more than 20 years. This tank has a 3-4" deep sand bed which has never ever been cleaned (by humans, at least). In almost all respects, it's your typical mixed reef, nothing terribly fancy for equipment, and I don't run reactors for GFO, carbon, calcium, or anything else. I have some of those reactors in the garage in case I ever decide to clean them up and sell them... along with a lot of other junk I didn't really need and will never use again.
My suggestion would be to try the simple things first. Advice is free, and a lot of it is worth what you paid for it (my advice is also free, btw). Go slowly but whichever route you choose, be thorough. Suggestions, of course, will tell you to turn off your lights, turn off your white lights, stop feeding the tank, run GFO, use Chemi-Clean, buy a new skimmer, test your No3 and PO4 eleven times per day, add macroalgae to your sump, acid wash your sand, nuke your rock, and stand on one foot while howling at the moon for 6 minutes on November 17th. Some of those might actually have some merit, particularly the last one.
I can tell you that you don't need to do twelve different things at once.
Be patient, be thorough, don't look for the quick solution. The resolution will take some time, but it will happen if you just stay on a reasonable course.
I had a real bad cyano problem too... and I tried everything. I did water changes, I increased my flow, I cleaned my sand, I cleaned my sump, I reduced feeding, I gave it time to run it’s course, but it still came back. It was to the point where it was killing my corals. I reluctantly used chemiclean and it knocked it out! It works like a charm. Melev Reef did a video on using chemiclean. What he recommended was dosing chemiclean normally for the first 48-72 hours. If it’s gone then add carbon and do a water change to remove it. If it’s not all gone then increase the amount of chemiclean in your tank until it’s all gone (Essentially, slowly double dose your tank). It worked for me with no bad side effects! My tank looks beautiful now!
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