How long does the ugly stage last?

[Instigate]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I had replaced two of the four bulbs in my fixture about a month ago just so I could put some low light lps in the tank. But in reading about cyano I found out that old bulbs can also contribute to cyano issues. So I have all new bulbs now, been cleaning the rocks and sand daily, and reduced the food input. I'm thinking reducing the hours that the light is on might also be a good tactic. I'm not growing any macro algae yet but was thinking I might start now and ya, definitely with the reversed lighting schedule. I'm not ready to give up on natural options yet but I'm aware of Chemiclean if it comes to that. I also thought about getting a sand sifter, one was on my original stocking list but I don't want to deal with having a fish dump sand on my corals so that's out.

 

[Instigate]

Vaccumed the sand and cleaned off the rocks with a baster in one hand and a hose in the other, draining into a felt sock sitting in the sump last night. And this is where I'm at today:

And I've got my actinic led strip turing on at 9am two blue+ t5 turing on at 10am one coral+ and one actinic coming on at 12 noon then turning off at 4pm, then the blue+ t5s turning off at 9pm and the actinic led strip off at 10pm.

 

[Legal Reefer]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I had replaced two of the four bulbs in my fixture about a month ago just so I could put some low light lps in the tank. But in reading about cyano I found out that old bulbs can also contribute to cyano issues. So I have all new bulbs now, been cleaning the rocks and sand daily, and reduced the food input. I'm thinking reducing the hours that the light is on might also be a good tactic. I'm not growing any macro algae yet but was thinking I might start now and ya, definitely with the reversed lighting schedule. I'm not ready to give up on natural options yet but I'm aware of Chemiclean if it comes to that. I also thought about getting a sand sifter, one was on my original stocking list but I don't want to deal with having a fish dump sand on my corals so that's out.

My diamond goby only gets sand on anything close to the sand bed I just blow it off with a feeding tube or baster. I cut my light cycle down too and I believe it helped with my algae problems. Also went to feeding once a day instead of two.

 

[Instigate]

My diamond goby only gets sand on anything close to the sand bed I just blow it off with a feeding tube or baster. I cut my light cycle down too and I believe it helped with my algae problems. Also went to feeding once a day instead of two.

I just got a nice little fungia though. lol And each fish is different. I've seen videos of sand sifting gobys dumping loads of sand on the rockwork. I don't want to risk it and have to deal with trying to catch him to remove him.

/So far I just reduced the white photo period to 4 hours but left my blues alone.

 

[Christopher B Keyes]

Stop doing so many water changes. Reduce your light intensity/cycle. Let the good bacteria establish itself... Just do not rush it! It will clear up eventually.

 

[Instigate]

Stop doing so many water changes. Reduce your light intensity/cycle. Let the good bacteria establish itself... Just do not rush it! It will clear up eventually.

I think weekly 10% WC is pretty standard. The bacteria does not live in the water. Sure some no doubt is present in the water but the vast majority is in the rock and sand is my understanding.

 

[Scott.h]

Also if it does come down to chemicals you'd have to ID it under a microscope. There are two things that look similar to cyano. One chemiclean will get, the other kind needs peroxide. If it's the opposite of either kind neither will work. Easiest way is to put some in a container with some peroxide and see if it sort of dissolves it.

 

[Instigate]

Also if it does come down to chemicals you'd have to ID it under a microscope. There are two things that look similar to cyano. One chemiclean will get, the other kind needs peroxide. If it's the opposite of either kind neither will work. Easiest way is to put some in a container with some peroxide and see if it sort of dissolves it.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[Rakie]

Tank has over 40x turnover not counting the return which is rated for 850 gph I think but don't know the total after head pressure.

Just food for thought. That's x times turnover is gibberish that doesn't mean anything. Flow is more complicated than that. You can have X flow from a pump like an mp40, and use a smaller pump that allows more flexability and get a greater impact with less turnover.

I didn't see how your pumps are, and I'm not trying to argue. Just some food for thought. Flow is a complicated subject, and I truly believe there is no such thing as too much flow.

And FWIW, I shoved my hammer where there was high flow. Yeah, he didn't like it for a couple days, but once he realized I didn't care if he liked it or not he began to flourish more than he ever did in a lower flow area.

I say this because you posted in the new to reefing section, and the X times turnover is a very bad way to judge flow -- just as the old "Watts per Gallon" is a bad way to judge light. It's one of those metrics that needs to be nipped in the butt early

 

[Instigate]

Just food for thought. That's x times turnover is gibberish that doesn't mean anything. Flow is more complicated than that. You can have X flow from a pump like an mp40, and use a smaller pump that allows more flexability and get a greater impact with less turnover.

I didn't see how your pumps are, and I'm not trying to argue. Just some food for thought. Flow is a complicated subject, and I truly believe there is no such thing as too much flow.

And FWIW, I shoved my hammer where there was high flow. Yeah, he didn't like it for a couple days, but once he realized I didn't care if he liked it or not he began to flourish more than he ever did in a lower flow area.

I say this because you posted in the new to reefing section, and the X times turnover is a very bad way to judge flow -- just as the old "Watts per Gallon" is a bad way to judge light. It's one of those metrics that needs to be nipped in the butt early

No doubt. I was just trying to say that I believe I have enough flow. I have the two pp-8's mirrored on the side walls toward the top, and the sunsun and pp-4 on the back walls mid way up. I tried moving them around quite a bit but ended up removing the sunsun and pp-4 from the back wall. No mater what I did it was really blowing that torch around so now I just have the pp-8's on both sides now. Been trying different flow patterns, haven't really settled on one yet. When they're both on full blast it seems like a bit much for the torch. Does what I describe to you sound like sufficient flow for some LPS? Originally I was thinking I would be getting the two pp-8's and two pp-4's and adjusting flow down like you were talking about but the flow was so much I just took the sunsun out and put the one pp-4 in my frag QT.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I've used chemi clean several times to wipe out the cyano. Easier to just do it before it gets really bad. Didn't test first. Just used. And it took care of it which allowed me to try to adjust flows etc. once it was gone to keep it gone. Had to go back to back a couple of times with water changes inbetween. and I always used two air stones with my 60 gal to be sure there was plenty of airation.

 

[Rakie]

No doubt. I was just trying to say that I believe I have enough flow. I have the two pp-8's mirrored on the side walls toward the top, and the sunsun and pp-4 on the back walls mid way up. I tried moving them around quite a bit but ended up removing the sunsun and pp-4 from the back wall. No mater what I did it was really blowing that torch around so now I just have the pp-8's on both sides now. Been trying different flow patterns, haven't really settled on one yet. When they're both on full blast it seems like a bit much for the torch. Does what I describe to you sound like sufficient flow for some LPS? Originally I was thinking I would be getting the two pp-8's and two pp-4's and adjusting flow down like you were talking about but the flow was so much I just took the sunsun out and put the one pp-4 in my frag QT.

It's probably enough flow yeah, but quantifying flow as 'enough' or 'not enough' without watching the flow itself goes against what I was saying

I will say i've used Jebao pumps and they seem to really slow down after awhile. At first it seemed like they massively underestimated their gph, then it felt like they were barely on even after cleaning. So you may end up needing different pumps a year down the road.

I'm currently running over 6000 gph in my 24x24x18 tank myself, not including my return pump. My tank is 90% sps but the acans, hammer, and zoas don't mind at all.

 

[ReefJake123]

If you are referring to the bright/lime green, if it is like what I had, it doesn't brush off. Turbo snails can get some of it but not much. As long as it is flat and not thick or hairy, it seems to be harmless, just part of the cycle of a new tank. My coral qt has rock now turning green. Seems like a lot of new tanks have rocks that turn green. I've read that it depends on your rocks, and even your tanks chemistry. Some people get it, some it appears do not. My daughter's tank did not.

No I'm talking about the original photo of the slimy algae in his tank that's purple

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I think weekly 10% WC is pretty standard. The bacteria does not live in the water. Sure some no doubt is present in the water but the vast majority is in the rock and sand is my understanding.

There's a lot of bacteria in the water. Majority is in the Rock and sand yes, but not in your tank right now.

Some spectrums will contribute to cyano growth. Some salts will contribute to cyano growth. Some foods will too. Low ph (high co2) will as well. Nutrient limitation can as well, but cyano will leverage this locally.

Feed the Fish health fully , do med sized wc , add bottled bacteria not containing organic carbon sources like mb7, consider a rufugium for the co2 uptake , consider some kalwasser in the ato as well, keep cleaning and do what your doing with good husbandry and removing large masses of the Cyano.
I like microscopic biodiversity to compete with other orgainsims. Fiji mud is easy and contains all kinds of critters and corralines.
I do also prefer to have more food than less food in the maturation process.

 

[Instigate]

There's a lot of bacteria in the water. Majority is in the Rock and sand yes, but not in your tank right now.

Some spectrums will contribute to cyano growth. Some salts will contribute to cyano growth. Some foods will too. Low ph (high co2) will as well. Nutrient limitation can as well, but cyano will leverage this locally.

Feed the Fish health fully , do med sized wc , add bottled bacteria not containing organic carbon sources like mb7, consider a rufugium for the co2 uptake , consider some kalwasser in the ato as well, keep cleaning and do what your doing with good husbandry and removing large masses of the Cyano.
I like microscopic biodiversity to compete with other orgainsims. Fiji mud is easy and contains all kinds of critters and corralines.
I do also prefer to have more food than less food in the maturation process.

Are you saying 10% weekly is too much? I would rather do smaller more frequent water changes than fewer larger ones. I'll start adding the MB7 when doing WC though.

I got the new bulbs so that's good, I'm using Instant Ocean if that means anything. I feed a very small amount of Fish Frenzy for the two shrimps and nassarius snails and I'm feeding Hikkari Seaweed Extreme bound with focus and GC for the blenny, he also ends up eating some of the Fish Frenzy as well as grazing on the back wall and rocks. I only drop in two pellets at each feeding and the blenny eats all of it. And I was feeding the corals twice a week but have now dropped to one a week, Coral Frenzy pellets for the larger mouthed lps and the powder Coral Frenzy mixed with Phyto-Feast for the smaller mouthed chalice coral. I also give the tank about 15 drops of the Phyto-Feast once a week to help feed the pods and dusters. My ph has always been very stable at 8.4.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Are you saying 10% weekly is too much? I would rather do smaller more frequent water changes than fewer larger ones. I'll start adding the MB7 when doing WC though.

I got the new bulbs so that's good, I'm using Instant Ocean if that means anything. I feed a very small amount of Fish Frenzy for the two shrimps and nassarius snails and I'm feeding Hikkari Seaweed Extreme bound with focus and GC for the blenny, he also ends up eating some of the Fish Frenzy as well as grazing on the back wall and rocks. I only drop in two pellets at each feeding and the blenny eats all of it. And I was feeding the corals twice a week but have now dropped to one a week, Coral Frenzy pellets for the larger mouthed lps and the powder Coral Frenzy mixed with Phyto-Feast for the smaller mouthed chalice coral. I also give the tank about 15 drops of the Phyto-Feast once a week to help feed the pods and dusters. My ph has always been very stable at 8.4.

I'd go with my favorite wc measure.
One bucket or two. Lol.

I'd avoid the mb7 it I recall has a strong organic carbon component.

Sounds like you are on the right track.

 

[Instigate]

I'd go with my favorite wc measure.
One bucket or two. Lol.

I'd avoid the mb7 it I recall has a strong organic carbon component.

Sounds like you are on the right track.

Oh I missunderstood what you said, I thought you were suggesting the mb7 and I happen to already have some. Would dr tims or instant oceans bottled bacteria work be better options?

Ya I feel like I know what to do now. And what not to do.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yup. Dr T and IO is better.

 

[john472]

Those algae looks like red cyano bacteria. It accumulates if your tank doesn't have any flow. You need some powerheads.

When I had it I used a product called Chemiclean and it disappeared after 3 days. You need to move your shrimps to a temporary holding tank because it's not invert safe.

Do this. as a bacteria the only real way to kill it is dropping a bomb/ increasing flow.

 

[Instigate]

Do this. as a bacteria the only real way to kill it is dropping a bomb/ increasing flow.

It's my understanding that cyano is caused by excess nutrients and can be exacerbated by factors like lack of flow and old bulbs. So I'm more focused on the root cause rather than relying on a solution in a bottle. I could be wrong but that's what my research in the subject has shown.

But I do know that plenty of people have beaten cyano without chemiclean so it's certainly not the only way.