Cyanobacteria Assistance

[Lavey29]

I’ve seen him explain this on ig, believe it’s reefsite. Gonna see what this can do for me!

It's simple and really works well.

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Did a large Water Change yesterday in the system. Sucked out a bunch of cynao on the sand and blew off all rocks. Took @SunnyX method with the coral snow and will see where that gets me over the next few days!

I will continue to keep everyone posted here!

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Small update:

It has been about 5 days since my last water change and I did not see much cynao coming back. There were a few spots here and there, but today it seems to have been growing back a bit more.

Current Levels:
Nitrate: 18
Phosphate. 0.13

Going to see what happens over the next day or so. If nothing happens or if I see more growth I think Chemiclean will be going into the mix.

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Small update:

It has been about 5 days since my last water change and I did not see much cynao coming back. There were a few spots here and there, but today it seems to have been growing back a bit more.

Current Levels:
Nitrate: 18
Phosphate. 0.13

Going to see what happens over the next day or so. If nothing happens or if I see more growth I think Chemiclean will be going into the mix.

Did another test yesterday and it seemed I may have made an error with my phosphate levels.
Retested results as of 1/21
Nitrate: 16
Phosphate: 0.06

Still continuing to does phyto and continuing with heavy feeding. Did another round of coral snow.

Cynao does not seem to have gotten any better, may have grown a tad after my last water change.

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

@Mikeltee

Update:

Finally went ahead and did chemiclean. It’s been about 24 hours or so. Seems to be working pretty well on rocks. Still have some in the sand of the tank so going to let it rock for another 24 and see where that gets me!

 

[Mikeltee]

@Mikeltee

Update:

Finally went ahead and did chemiclean. It’s been about 24 hours or so. Seems to be working pretty well on rocks. Still have some in the sand of the tank so going to let it rock for another 24 and see where that gets me!

Nice! Stick around and tell others that don't want to use chemiclean your story. It usually comes off better than Brute forcing someone to use it. Lol

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Nice! Stick around and tell others that don't want to use chemiclean your story. It usually comes off better than Brute forcing someone to use it. Lol

I absolutely will, one of the reason I wanted to start this thread amongst the mass amounts of the same thread. To give others my perspective on someone who was trying to beat it without the use and sharing my story/experience. I will continue to keep updating here.

 

[Mikeltee]

I absolutely will, one of the reason I wanted to start this thread amongst the mass amounts of the same thread. To give others my perspective on someone who was trying to beat it without the use and sharing my story/experience. I will continue to keep updating here.

Great! We appreciate it. It's not uncommon to see people against chemiclean recently. I am all for solving problems naturally, but at some point, we are doing more harm than good to the animals. A classic example is "I don't want to quarantine because it stresses the fish". If you don't want to stress the fish, leave them in the ocean. Lol

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Great! We appreciate it. It's not uncommon to see people against chemiclean recently. I am all for solving problems naturally, but at some point, we are doing more harm than good to the animals. A classic example is "I don't want to quarantine because it stresses the fish". If you don't want to stress the fish, leave them in the ocean. Lol

Haha thats a very valid point! But totally agree, I am all for trying to do things naturally and do as much as possible. Of course, that is not always the case.

I am about 36 hours in. Cynao has definitely cut back but we will see what happens today as the lights turn out. I am getting ready for a large water change and hopefully with the Chemiclean and water change I can put this to rest.

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Okay so here is a larger update on this and feedback/thoughts would be great. I am about 48 hours into chemiclean treatment. It seems to have been removed from my rocks but I am still seeing it on the sandband and even growth during the day.. Disappearing at night and coming back.. I came across an article which is attached in my quotes below and did a test with hydrogen peroxide since there are two different types of cynao.

Here is a video of my tank and the sand bad and also the test I did. Any thoughts on hydrogen peroxide or what my next move should be? Or is this more from the water movement disrupting the cynao.

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

So i went ahead a did a water change this morning. Only to fid out that the cynao is coming back on the sand.. Seems to be more of a biodiversity type of issue with the sand and the cynao is just overpowering it. It is complety gone from all other places such as powerheads and rocks.

Not really sure where to go from here other than adding some TBs sand and getting that biome up and helping my nutrient levels.

 

[jeremyjay692005]

Stay away from nopox or any carbon source as it fuels cyano! Manual removal or just use chemiclean and be done.. I’ve never had a issue with chemiclean

Ive heard using chemiclean will kill snails and shrimp. Did you have snails or shrimp when you used it?
Thanks

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Ive heard using chemiclean will kill snails and shrimp. Did you have snails or shrimp when you used it?
Thanks

Yes I have snails, crabs, conch, stars, shrimp and nothing from what I can see was affected.

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Figured I would resurface this thread, I went about 4 weeks without cynao.. had a spike in phosphate around .17 and it has one again came back on my sand. Dealing with some hair algae as well but very minimal. Seems that this cynao is going to test my patience!

Got a big increase in my CUC from a recent order from reef cleaners. Installed GFO to keep the phosphates down over the weekend. Will continue to post here and continue to hear ideas on this battle.

 

[Mikeltee]

Try weekly dosing of coral snow with Microbacter7 after blowing off the cyano. I have a newish tank and got cyano. It's so new that I just let it grow. I don't have any coral yet so I don't care. It took over half my rock. I blew it all off with a 600gph pump and then dosed the above recipe. I turned the return off and let it circulate a few hours and then turned the return on and used a 5u filter sock.

A few days later, a little grew back. After a week of the first dose, I repeated again. Same method but better results. I only have a little on my sand 5 days in.

If I had coral and my tank was mature I would have used chemiclean. Had I used chemiclean this time with the new tank, I probably would have gotten dinos. YMMV

There's an article floating around here with this method. I got a bag of Calcium Carbonate off Amazon. Get food grade of course. It's dirt cheap. Here's the article:

Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!

Edit 10/092023: Note that I have tweaked the formula a bit. You can find an updated video here: Coral Snow Link: Coral Snow Hello all! I have been reefing now for about 25 years, and over those many years I have picked up many tips, tricks, and best habits/practices. From a hobbyist and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Mikeltee]

Oh yeah I forgot. I've ran this tank 14 years with 2 mp40s. I recently added 2x icecap 4ks on alternating gyre for the reverse action. I'm using more rock this go around and wasn't getting any flow behind and on the sides. I'm happy with the results so far. I need to learn more about this wave engine. I wish I would have got the bigger one so I could control my MP40s too.

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Try weekly dosing of coral snow with Microbacter7 after blowing off the cyano. I have a newish tank and got cyano. It's so new that I just let it grow. I don't have any coral yet so I don't care. It took over half my rock. I blew it all off with a 600gph pump and then dosed the above recipe. I turned the return off and let it circulate a few hours and then turned the return on and used a 5u filter sock.

A few days later, a little grew back. After a week of the first dose, I repeated again. Same method but better results. I only have a little on my sand 5 days in.

If I had coral and my tank was mature I would have used chemiclean. Had I used chemiclean this time with the new tank, I probably would have gotten dinos. YMMV

There's an article floating around here with this method. I got a bag of Calcium Carbonate off Amazon. Get food grade of course. It's dirt cheap. Here's the article:

Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!

Edit 10/092023: Note that I have tweaked the formula a bit. You can find an updated video here: Coral Snow Link: Coral Snow Hello all! I have been reefing now for about 25 years, and over those many years I have picked up many tips, tricks, and best habits/practices. From a hobbyist and...

www.reef2reef.com

Great points on both your comments! I've seen and done the coral snow for quite some time. Probably implemented this about a month or two ago. I does coral snow once a week with biodigest and ecobalance.

I have used MB7 in the past and did not see many results with it.

I am going to continue this process with blowing off the sand etc as you mentioned as I did see that it is extremely beneficial. I have 2 4k gyres and 2 2k gyres in the system so flow is not really an issue. I love the gyres and the ability to alternate and the way it moves the water. I've used them on this system since I got it and have been happy with them.

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

Any suggestions here on adding some more sand to the tank like Tampa bay live sand. The idea here of course is to add bacteria to the tank and sand to out compete.

Not entirely sure what is left for me to do at this point as this issue is still in my sand and does not seem to be stopping. I have added a few conchs as well. Could it be upping the CUC? Adding a Diamond Goby?

I continue to blow the sand off as well and I can see the cynao is moving with the movement of the water. Do I add more flow?

Want to attempt to tag @Randy Holmes-Farley to see if he has any thoughts on cynao eradication as well.

 

[UndergroundReefCo]

@Mikeltee after further investigation and finally getting a microscope. I have the dreaded Dinos. Large cell prorocentrum dinos. Going to be a battle that is for sure. This is my current plan, let me know your thoughts.

Po4 right now is 0.07 nitrate are high around 35. I am going to do a bit of a water change to get some algae off the back glass and get my nitrates down a smidge to get a better balance.

Ordering up copepods blend, dosing silicates, dosing bacteria and phyto to outcompete the dinos.

Maybe turning down my lights to mainly blues and taking an hour or two off the lighting schedule for a bit.

Any other remedies in your fight for 2 years. I know a UV is typically suggested but something I do not have the budget for at the moment and it seems from my research the type i have does not go into the water column at night.

 

[Mikeltee]

@Mikeltee after further investigation and finally getting a microscope. I have the dreaded Dinos. Large cell prorocentrum dinos. Going to be a battle that is for sure. This is my current plan, let me know your thoughts.

Po4 right now is 0.07 nitrate are high around 35. I am going to do a bit of a water change to get some algae off the back glass and get my nitrates down a smidge to get a better balance.

Ordering up copepods blend, dosing silicates, dosing bacteria and phyto to outcompete the dinos.

Maybe turning down my lights to mainly blues and taking an hour or two off the lighting schedule for a bit.

Any other remedies in your fight for 2 years. I know a UV is typically suggested but something I do not have the budget for at the moment and it seems from my research the type i have does not go into the water column at night.

I just beat LCA. Don't worry about lowering your light hours. I blew the rocks off everyday and dosed silicates for a couple of months. Twice a week, add a Coral snow and Microbacter7 dose after you blow the rocks off.