Help! Cyano Diatom Nitrates

[Ubergroover]

the whole cyano , nitrate , phosphate battle is difficult. I read that to starve nuisance algae the phosphates had to be below .05ppm (https://www.thespruce.com/curing-nuisance-green-hair-algae-2924935). Now I know that your battling cyano as well, but the longterm strategy for removal is the same as prevention. I have the same problem. I was buying rodi water from a lfs. I had a bad cyano breakout. I tested the supply water ...they lied. I do 20% water changes every 7-8 days. I use GFO (aquaforest phosphate minus) stacked on top of rox .8 in one reactor and purigen in a sock in the other( changed every 10-14 days). I probably dont need the purigen as I employ ozone, but old habits die hard. I have just turned the corner on the battle. algae is reducing. I feed my coral twice weekly and the fish every other day. its a tough battle I believe every Reefer goes and you can never let your guard down. But we are Reefers its what we do...You will succeed ..as the saying goes, nothing good happens fast in this hobby....

 

[rhorn67]

the whole cyano , nitrate , phosphate battle is difficult. I read that to starve nuisance algae the phosphates had to be below .05ppm (https://www.thespruce.com/curing-nuisance-green-hair-algae-2924935). Now I know that your battling cyano as well, but the longterm strategy for removal is the same as prevention. I have the same problem. I was buying rodi water from a lfs. I had a bad cyano breakout. I tested the supply water ...they lied. I do 20% water changes every 7-8 days. I use GFO (aquaforest phosphate minus) stacked on top of rox .8 in one reactor and purigen in a sock in the other( changed every 10-14 days). I probably dont need the purigen as I employ ozone, but old habits die hard. I have just turned the corner on the battle. algae is reducing. I feed my coral twice weekly and the fish every other day. its a tough battle I believe every Reefer goes and you can never let your guard down. But we are Reefers its what we do...You will succeed ..as the saying goes, nothing good happens fast in this hobby....

The chemiclean handled the cyano. At this point its the diatoms and overall look of the corals. Would high nitrates cause corals to not be happy? Do you regenerate your purigen?

Good for you and making headway on your algae battle! You are correct in that nothing is fast in this hobby, slow and steady wins the race lol. I will continue with the changes I made until I get the nitrates in check.

 

[Ubergroover]

yes I regenerate. I soak in water for 1-3 days discard water, then water bleach for 2 days . then water 2 days. hang dry. always works for me. nitrates = diatoms. I would say high nitrates are not helping....my zoa's like the water a bit dirty...my frogspawn hates it. minimize feedings and look into a phosphate reducing media. test your source water before your water changes. my tank right now is:
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
0 nitrates
ph 8.1
Dkh 8.0
calcium 440
Phosphates .10
magnesium 1300
salinity 1.025
However when I feed my corals with reef roids my nitrates spike. then the phosphates go up to .25, so I need to use more phosphate media, which I did. The only reason I found this out was I tested every day for 2 weeks until I saw the pattern.
and my cyano is fading but not 100% gone... its a tough deal.

 

[SamW]

You mentioned your feeding schedule was reduced from 1 frozen cube per day down to a 1/2 cube per day. IMO that is still pretty heavy feeding for a system of your size. I feel ur pain- I ran AIO's for years and it's a fine balance of feeding (nutrient input) and water change schedule ( nutrient export).

 

[rhorn67]

You mentioned your feeding schedule was reduced from 1 frozen cube per day down to a 1/2 cube per day. IMO that is still pretty heavy feeding for a system of your size. I feel ur pain- I ran AIO's for years and it's a fine balance of feeding (nutrient input) and water change schedule ( nutrient export).

The fish would eat about 3/4 of the cube before slowing down at which point I stopped feeding. My process is to thaw the food on a paper towel than add to a cup I put tank water in. I than add a bit at a time until they slow down which is usually just short of the amount I put into the cup. I did it this way up until the current issue and nitrates were always at 0. I am continuing that process now but starting with a half cube versus the full.

I hear ya about the AIO's. Such a small environment and it doesn't take much to get things out of wack. As soon as I have some indoor real estate the plan is to go to a larger tank.

 

[Nathan Milender]

You didn't mention much in the snail/cleaner dept. If those are your favorites but there are others you did not mention I always wonder about something dying somewhere you do not see it and elevating your nitrates. Also check your AIO back systems with a flash light for something rotting or something clogged in one of your media areas. I have had issues with spongy or sock material needing to get changed and causing issues.

There are plenty of reports that nitrates hurt things, I do not know that 20 is all that high. Mine are usually zero but lately after losing my chaeto mine spiked to 3 which has not seemed to hurt anything.

I had a similar issue with dino's while dealing a bryopsis outbreak and it seems like disturbances somehow just unsettle things and allow for these simpler organisms to go nuts.

The only other thing I can think of is a faulty test. Old reagents, contaminants in sample etc. I recently ran a phos check and got 0.6 after I spilled the stupid powder and scraped it in. One loose fish food flake gave that result and a recheck resulted in 0 which is another problem I have to deal with but it illustrates how these small sample tests can be influenced. MIght be worth a check with someone else's kit.

Wish I could help more.