Cyanobacteria

[TK_KW]

Given that most of your nuisance is not dinos - majority is cyano - and you have plenty of diatoms too, I'd say you've gotten some good advice from @Lasse and others thus far in the thread. patience, dose to alleviate low nutrient conditions, and manual removal. Together it'll gradually shift things to the good, regardless of which exact nuisance is the primary concern.

If I were to dose bacteria back into my system? What product would you recommend in my case?

 

[taricha]

If I were to dose bacteria back into my system? What product would you recommend in my case?

It's possible that the best bacterial product is rock or debris from a healthy, established system.

 

[TK_KW]

It's possible that the best bacterial product is rock or debris from a healthy, established system.

Ok. Unfortunately there is knowone near me I would trust to add something from another system. As I QT everything entering my system. I was thinking more of a product if possible

 

[TK_KW]

No3- 5-6 ppm
Po4- .1 or 0.00?
Mag- 1420
Dkh- 7.1
Cal- 460

So, for the last week my nitrates are sitting around 5ppm. I'm seeing hair algea growth in my sump. Aswell as glass hazing after a day. Yet when I test phosphates, redsea shows .1 I'm assuming? I doubt check with hanna Po4 and it reads 0.00? The redsea always has looked the same as below photo. For months When testing. I'm confused.

After a week. Dinos had created a mat again on sand bed. Vacuumed out last night, but at this rate I'll have no sand left, if I continue this.

What are the thoughts of doing a black out? My only concern is I have alot of different sps species in the tank, and dont want to stress anything out to bad.

And for what us worth. Since last week, my alk has dropped to 7. Which it has never done before. Has always sat at 8.4ish. So not sure if that's a coincidence with raising Nitrates or not. Or added problem with balance of Dkh and Cal.

I'm amazed at how out of balance my system has become..so discouraging.

 

[ScottB]

No3- 5-6 ppm
Po4- .1 or 0.00?
Mag- 1420
Dkh- 7.1
Cal- 460

So, for the last week my nitrates are sitting around 5ppm. I'm seeing hair algea growth in my sump. Aswell as glass hazing after a day. Yet when I test phosphates, redsea shows .1 I'm assuming? I doubt check with hanna Po4 and it reads 0.00? The redsea always has looked the same as below photo. For months When testing. I'm confused.

After a week. Dinos had created a mat again on sand bed. Vacuumed out last night, but at this rate I'll have no sand left, if I continue this.

What are the thoughts of doing a black out? My only concern is I have alot of different sps species in the tank, and dont want to stress anything out to bad.

And for what us worth. Since last week, my alk has dropped to 7. Which it has never done before. Has always sat at 8.4ish. So not sure if that's a coincidence with raising Nitrates or not. Or added problem with balance of Dkh and Cal.

I'm amazed at how out of balance my system has become..so discouraging.

Don't be too hard on yourself. If you are in the hobby long enough, you get to experience these episodes. Large amphids are tough though. On the bright side they are much less toxic that the others. Annoying, but not deadly to your SPS.

1) Falling ALK is typically a good sign. SPS are consuming it. It is commonly recommended not to do WC during dinos; that could also account for falling ALK as you are not replacing it.

2) Hanna or ICP is the only valid testing for PO4. None of us can tell the difference between 0 (starvation) and .1 (abundance). Make sure the cuvettes are absolutely spot/smudge free. I wear nitrile gloves.

3) Dosing nitrates LOWERS phosphates. Don't dose nitrates unless you are certain you have plenty of PO4. Seachem Flourish or NeoPhos are good premixes.

4) If you are PO4 zero in a system your size, it will require a SHOCKING amount of PO4 dosing to keep a steady value as it binds into the rock. Think liters, not milliliters. Just not all at one time.

5) I used a DIY PO4 solution with Trisodium Phosphate. Beware, there are MANY substitute products for TSP that are something else. I had to refill my doser 3 times on a similar size system for 1 month to suppress ostreopsis.

 

[TK_KW]

Don't be too hard on yourself. If you are in the hobby long enough, you get to experience these episodes. Large amphids are tough though. On the bright side they are much less toxic that the others. Annoying, but not deadly to your SPS.

1) Falling ALK is typically a good sign. SPS are consuming it. It is commonly recommended not to do WC during dinos; that could also account for falling ALK as you are not replacing it.

2) Hanna or ICP is the only valid testing for PO4. None of us can tell the difference between 0 (starvation) and .1 (abundance). Make sure the cuvettes are absolutely spot/smudge free. I wear nitrile gloves.

3) Dosing nitrates LOWERS phosphates. Don't dose nitrates unless you are certain you have plenty of PO4. Seachem Flourish or NeoPhos are good premixes.

4) If you are PO4 zero in a system your size, it will require a SHOCKING amount of PO4 dosing to keep a steady value as it binds into the rock. Think liters, not milliliters. Just not all at one time.

5) I used a DIY PO4 solution with Trisodium Phosphate. Beware, there are MANY substitute products for TSP that are something else. I had to refill my doser 3 times on a similar size system for 1 month to suppress ostreopsis.

Odd thing is with my alk, is my dos dose 88 ml per day for both Dkh and Cal. But for some reason they have spread apart from their typical values (usually 8.4 and 440ish)

I've now bumped up my Dkh to 96ml and kept Cal at the 88ml. And see what happens. But for months they were always equal, and when testing it was like clockwork. Always the same at 8.4 and 440.

I havnt dosed any Nitrates recently. I initially dosed over a few days to bring up the value. Its just constantly sitting around 5. And WC only when vacuuming sand bed.

What is the idea behind raising Nitrates to help fight Dinos?

And its fair to say I clearly have Po4 if algea is taking off?

Thoughts on a black out?