Does low or zero Nitrates promote cyanobacteria?

[Nick Barbier]

I have extremely low nitrate in my tank 2 ppm. Yet, I have red slime, cyanobacteria. My tank is a 125g mixed reef with a medium-heavy bioload (12 fish). What's the best way to eliminate cyanobacteria? My tank parameters are: Temp: 77, Sg: 1.026, Alk: 8.4, Ca: 500, NO3: 2 ppm, PO4: .01 ppm.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

How old is the tank. Good flow? How long are your lights on for?

R

 

[Nick Barbier]

How old is the tank. Good flow? How long are your lights on for?

R

My tank is 5 years old. It has good flow, a Wave Puck II on one end at 50%, and a Icecap Gyer set at 50% on the other end. I have 4, AI Hydra 26s mounted at 8 inches above the tank on an AI railing system. The blue lights come on at 8am and ramp up to 118% at 4pm. The white lights come on at 12pm and ramp up to 30% at 4pm. All lights start ramping down at 8pm and go off at 11pm.

 

[ahiggins]

Personally I run into dinos when I bottom out nutrients. My nitrates stay around 2-5ish now. I haven’t had cyano for like 8 years or so.
I’ve always thought of it as-if you don’t have the good bacteria built up you’re more susceptible to dinos and cyano. Could just be my observation though.

 

[ahiggins]

My tank is 5 years old. It has good flow, a Wave Puck II on one end at 50%, and a Icecap Gyer set at 50% on the other end. I have 4, AI Hydra 26s mounted at 8 inches above the tank on an AI railing system. The blue lights come on at 8am and ramp up to 118% at 4pm. The white lights come on at 12pm and ramp up to 30% at 4pm. All lights start ramping down at 8pm and go off at 11pm.

That’s a really long light cycle. I keep mine at 10 from start to end of ramps. I wonder if that plays a part.

 

[Nick Barbier]

Personally I run into dinos when I bottom out nutrients. My nitrates stay around 2-5ish now. I haven’t had cyano for like 8 years or so.
I’ve always thought of it as-if you don’t have the good bacteria built up you’re more susceptible to dinos and cyano. Could just be my observation though.

I guess that I could add a supplemental bacteria, I'm already dosing Red Sea NOPOX nitrifying bacteria though.

 

[Nick Barbier]

The only change that I made recently was to increase my white lights intensity from 20% to 30% to promote SPS growth. But I had cyano in the tank before that.

 

[ahiggins]

I haven’t done as much research into cyano as I have dinos.
Honestly, cyano is one of the easiest ones to get rid of so I’ve never really bothered

 

[Nick Barbier]

I haven’t done as much research into cyano as I have dinos.
Honestly, cyano is one of the easiest ones to get rid of so I’ve never really bothered

I read an article by Yuliya Ivanova, an Environmental Engineer that specializes in reef aquariums. Did you know that cyanobacteria are one of the oldest forms of life on Earth? Fossils of cyanobacteria date back to 3.5 billion years ago. Anyway, Yuliya Ivanova recommends using Chemi Clean, doing a large water change, increasing water flow, and limiting the amount of nutrients from fish foods.

 

[brandon429]

Nitrate testing varies wildly, 50 ppm among testers on a given sample

Why do we accept unverified readings and act on them. It’s a legit question - mis testing impact on cycling had a twenty year impact on the hobby

 

[ahiggins]

Nitrate testing varies wildly, 50 ppm among testers on a given sample

Why do we accept unverified readings and act on them. It’s a legit question - mis testing impact on cycling had a twenty year impact on the hobby

In my experience with testing nitrates, they don’t vary that much but I don’t use readings so much anymore. I use my corals-mostly my frogspawn and hammer. If something is out of whack, those are the first two to look “off”.

 

[ahiggins]

I read an article by Yuliya Ivanova, an Environmental Engineer that specializes in reef aquariums. Did you know that cyanobacteria are one of the oldest forms of life on Earth? Fossils of cyanobacteria date back to 3.5 billion years ago. Anyway, Yuliya Ivanova recommends using Chemi Clean, doing a large water change, increasing water flow, and limiting the amount of nutrients from fish foods.

I’ve found chemiclean to work wonders lol cyano and dinos are both early things on earth development. It’s pretty cool