How long does New Tank Syndrome last?

[reeferehab]

I’m currently in my 2nd month of reefing. I am running a 10 gallon innovative marine nuvo 10 with no skimmer and an ai prime HD. For filtration, I’m running two bags of chemipure blue nano, Marinepure gems, and filter floss which I change out weekly with a 2 gallon water change.

I’ve gone through a good portion of the cycle, experienced the diatom phase, and am currently battling new tank cyano. From my understanding, cyano is fairly common in new tanks and I was just curious, how long this stage lasts, and how much is a normal amount of cyano when setting up a new tank? I use 0 TDS rodi water. Should I resort to using chemiclean or run some GFO? Or should I just keep up with the water changes and maintenance until it disappears?

the cyano mainly grows on the sandbed which I stir up every other day, and siphon during my water change. On the rocks, I’m seeing some coralline algae starting to grow which I think can be a good sign?
Im not sure if my flow is a problem, because i use a random flow generator at 326 gph (32x turnover). However there is one deadspot where some detritus settles but I cant be bothered to add a powerhead to this small tank I reduced the intesnity of the lighting and duration to ~10 hours (1.5 hr ramp up and ramp down, 4-5 hours at peak intensity (about 60%). I’m new to this and would love to learn more!


my parameters are in check (except an issue with phosphates):

Alk 7.7
Ca 430
Mg 1260
Phosphate 0.00 (undectable, not sure if cyano is sucking up the phosphates quicker than I can test using a hanna checker.)
Nitrate 5ppm
Salinity 1.026
pH 8.2-8.3

 

[Jen1978]

I would have suggested turning the lights off for a while, but since you already have corals you can't do so.

 

[NashobaTek]

I'm going on 8 months and still have GHA and occasionally cyano, but I feed raw food for the batfish and lots of brine shrimp hatch for the mandrin harem.

 

[reeferehab]

I'm going on 8 months and still have GHA and occasionally cyano, but I feed raw food for the batfish and lots of brine shrimp hatch for the mandrin harem.

did your cyano ever get as bad as mine? Just wondering what would be considered the normal amount for the first couple months of reefing. I know that tanks don’t fully establish until about the 1 year mark, and wanted to know what can be done to sort of “manage”the new tank uglies.

 

[reeferehab]

I would have suggested turning the lights off for a while, but since you already have corals you can't do so.

I’m aware of the three day black out method, but I don’t want to resort to this unless the cyano starts taking over the rocks because like you said I have some corals in there (which have been doing great and have been growing, especially the zoanthids and duncan).

 

[Bosreef]

I know you don't wanna here it but you need more flow in the tank.
Its not so much your "turnover rate"
Its more getting more flow to all areas of the tank.

 

[reeferehab]

I know you don't wanna here it but you need more flow in the tank.
Its not so much your "turnover rate"
Its more getting more flow to all areas of the tank.

Yeah I’m afraid that might be the issue haha, its so hard working with such a small display volume. I’m considering getting the smallest possible powerhead (maybe a jebao sw2) to fix the deadspot in the center of the tank.

 

[Reef.]

I would change your floss more often, at least 2 times a week, 3 ideally.

I know you say you can’t be bothered to add a powerhead, not sure what that means? You don’t want to spend the money? I think it can help a lot, even in a small tank, when I turn my powerhead on, it’s amazing how much food etc it whips in the water column, then down the overflow.

 

[reeferehab]

I would change your floss more often, at least 2 times a week, 3 ideally.

I know you say you can’t be bothered to add a powerhead, not sure what that means? You don’t want to spend the money? I think it can help a lot, even in a small tank, when I turn my powerhead on, it’s amazing how much food etc it whips in the water column, then down the overflow.

It’s partially a money issue, but also a space issue and I cant seem to find the right one. The tank is small which means its tough to fit equipment in the display or rear sump chambers. Id rather purchase a powerhead once and not have to worry about it breaking down or getting a defected one. I like the jebao sw2 for its size, but im not sure about the build quality. The ecotech mp10 is $300 but from what I’ve heard, it might be worth it in the long run. I’m also just saving up for livestock in the next couple months and was hoping I wouldnt have to purchase more equipment lol. Now I see the struggle of paying for the tank but i love the hobby so far.
What powerhead do you run?

 

[NashobaTek]

Yeah I think you have a dead spot in the front of the rocks. My cyano isn't bad and I use a turkey baster to blast it off the gravel and net it out

 

[Reef.]

I have an mp10, you can buy a $30 pump for now, I have a Tunze nano stream I think it is for mixing salt, that was only around $30, other options out there too.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Get yourself a Fluval cp1, about $40

 

[siggy]

I know you don't wanna here it but you need more flow in the tank.
Its not so much your "turnover rate"
Its more getting more flow to all areas of the tank.

Flow Flow Flow and a vacuum
Gyree type pumps I feel are well suited for cube tanks stand vertical in back corners or horizontal at the top.
Icecap and jebao are affordable. Good luck

 

[Rich Klein]

Mine lasted 2 years, but likely could have matured my tank earlier. I caused 2 rounds of Dino by restricting nutrients to battle the uglies.

 

[reeferehab]

I ordered a Jebao slw-10 to improve the flow in the nano and am impressed with its performance. It definitely got rid of the dead spots but there is still cyano growing on the sandbed, even right where the powerhead is aimed at behind my rock structure.
Other than that, my corals are all growing and doing well so far. My rastas grew 3 new polyps in the past 2 months, so maybe this cyano isnt posing much of a problem other than being an eye sore.

Will the cyano disappear over time? My phosphates read 0.05 on my hanna checker and my nitrates are consistently at 10ppm. I don’t want to resort to using chemiclean just yet but I’ve been battling cyano for over a month now.

 

[Letterkenny]

I ordered a Jebao slw-10 to improve the flow in the nano and am impressed with its performance. It definitely got rid of the dead spots but there is still cyano growing on the sandbed, even right where the powerhead is aimed at behind my rock structure.
Other than that, my corals are all growing and doing well so far. My rastas grew 3 new polyps in the past 2 months, so maybe this cyano isnt posing much of a problem other than being an eye sore.

Will the cyano disappear over time? My phosphates read 0.05 on my hanna checker and my nitrates are consistently at 10ppm. I don’t want to resort to using chemiclean just yet but I’ve been battling cyano for over a month now.

Chemiclean time.