High nitrates, nopox causing cyano

[WVNed]

I have used a lot of NoPox. 5 liter bottles on a dosing pump. I was dosing 50 ml a day. No cyano. I reduced it to 40ml, cyano appeared and I used Chemiclean to get rid of it. Now I have gone to 30ml a day and cyano is back.

It is quite amazing to me that 10ml of some substance can make such a big change when placed into 400 gallons.

Perhaps I will try reducing it 2 ml a week.

 

[Reef and Dive]

Hi all, wondering if I could get some help figuring this out and what all I could do. I finally (knock on wood) got rid of my cyano issue caused by nopox. My phos is almost always 0.04 and nitrates are currently 14.2 (both tested with Hanna). I had to reduce nopox to 2ml/day on my 120g system due to the cyano issue. I do regular water changes, typically 30g every 2 weeks, but would LOVE to do them less frequently and somehow get them under 10 consistently. Any ideas? Still don’t understand why the nopox fueled the cyano so much in the first place. Tank is just under a year old.

When you get your phosphate closer to 0 with still high nitrates you shift the balance favoring cyano, so when you keep adding carbon cyano just grows more than others.

My not so well-accepted discussion on this topic:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/redfield-ratio-revisited-–-what-are-we-doing-wrong.742503/

 

[Lasse]

So all that to basically agree with everyone that NoPox causes cyano. LOL.

And what will anyone understand if I´m only state I agree?
I´m old enough to understand that you always should explain why you have a certain standpoint. I do not belong to the "click" generation that think that many likes is the way.

i´m used to explain why I have a certain standpoint - after that is up to everyone to make their own decisions and argue that I´m wrong or not. Nothing will never be true just because everyone have hit the like button. Nothing will be true because 1 000 000 likes is for the wrong conclusion

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

My not so well-accepted discussion on this topic:

That can be discussed

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I believe the reason people get cyano from carbon dosing a lot of the time, is because the conditions are more favorable for the cyano than the species of denitrifying bacteria that are in the aquarium. I think that a good way that people can try to help make sure conditions are ideal for denitrifying bacteria growth is to dose certain B vitamins that denitrifying bacteria like.

That's an interesting possibility.

Do you know if anyone has tried it on a reef that is dosing organic matter and has cyano?

 

[homer1475]

My not so scientific example.....

I carbon dose vodka and vinegar mixed together(homemade NoPox). I always had cyano with it. When I started dosing live phyto, a few weeks later cyano disappeared, but I'm still dosing a carbon source. Even 2 years later, still no cyano anywhere, and I'm still carbon dosing.

 

[Reef and Dive]

That can be discussed

Sincerely Lasse

I believe we are two on the same side that think science does bring some insights here.

Unfortunately.... I´ll keep it quiet, otherwise I always start a new discussion ;Muted

 

[arking_mark]

I've been following the discussion and also believe that Cyano grows when conditions are "favorable" for it. Since there are lots of different varieties of Cyano, I'm not sure lumping them together makes sense.

We know carbon dosing boosts bacteria in our reef tanks.

We know that different carbon sources may favor different strains of bacteria.

So for some Cyano, without enough competion, NoPox may cause blooms.

For other Cyano, reduction of NoPox may weaken competition and cause blooms.

I"ve never had Cyano in my latest tank. I went on vacation for two weeks and had someone else feeding the tank. I came back to Cyano.

My NO3 was 5 ppm and my PO4 was 0.03 ppm when I got back. This was slightly higher than when I left.

I assumed it was a change in feeding regiment that fueled the Cyano, but really can't pinpoint why the issued occurred.

I went back to my regular feeding regime, added some Dr. Tims Eco-balance, and added some sand sifting gobies. Over a couple weeks the Cyano is mostly gone but not completely gone.

Shortly thereafter my PO4 kept bouncing off zero.

I'm now feeding much more to the tank and not finding an increase in Cyano. Additionally, my non-SPS corals have started to take off. Everything was growing so slow and suddenly I'm seeing growth everywhere in a matter of about 2 weeks.

My thoughts are that my beneficial bacteria that corals utilize was low. Tank was running ULN and a feeding change uncovered this underlying problem with the tank biome. Adding Dr Tims Eco-balance may have helped correct this and unlocked my tanks ability to consume nutrients and enable coral growth.

All thanks to a Cyano problem.

 

[Jon_W79]

That's an interesting possibility.

Do you know if anyone has tried it on a reef that is dosing organic matter and has cyano?

When I dosed thiamine in my sps reef tank(I dosed some other vitamins a little later), I had cyano(I think it was significant, but not that bad). If I remember correctly, I think that dosing the vitamins might have helped reduce the cyano, from having significant amount, to having very little. I started vodka dosing (because of sulfur denitrator problems) probably at least a week or two after I first dosed thiamine. I started with 4ml a day of vodka(in a 165 gallon system), and know I'm dosing 6ml a day of vodka and 16ml a day of vinegar. I still have a little bit of cyano(I think more flow where the cyano is would help), but I believe it is under control.

 

[Subonidio]

I can´t like I can´t either explain why some (including myself at some occasions) people get cyano when they start dose NoPox. The closet I can come - different cyanobacteria species or/and different bacterial biome in the whole aquarium.

Sincerely Lasse

I was at reefapalooza Chicago 2021

And Mr Saltwater ask the same question to Dr Tim's

And he explained all about.... To Mr Saltwater

Which it's a unbalanced population of good bacteria...


Cyanobacteria can be there always but if you don't have the right bacterial variates cyanobacteria could take advantage of the carbon and. If I remember right he said cyanobacteria can pull an other molecule from out side the tank ,since water absorption it's always happening...... So when we those Nopox we are helping to the bacterial unbalance in our tanks.


I just stood there and listen to him he is a well known figure in the hooby industry


This wasn't a lecture ...just happens I got there at z right time , when Mr Saltwater ask that question at Dr Tim's boot