ID please

[atticus]

I’m thinking this is cyano but not sure. I only see it at the base of this leather.

 

[James M]

Cyano for sure

 

[Subsea]

Cynobacteria mat is very invasive. Gravel vac it out. Cynobacteria thrive in low nitrate. Either feed more or dose nitrate.

 

[atticus]

Cynobacteria mat is very invasive. Gravel vac it out. Cynobacteria thrive in low nitrate. Either feed more or dose nitrate.

Just tested nitrate with Red Sea and it’s at 20.... should I mess with chemiclean?

 

[Evan28395950]

Just tested nitrate with Red Sea and it’s at 20.... should I mess with chemiclean?

How long have you had your tank? And cyano?

 

[atticus]

How long have you had your tank? And cyano?

Tank has been up for almost 3 years.

 

[Subsea]

IMO, chemicals will not solve your problem without causing other problems. When cyno is thick like that, it is easy to do nutrient export by gravel vac.

What other nutrient export do you do?

 

[atticus]

IMO, chemicals will not solve your problem without causing other problems. When cyno is thick like that, it is easy to do nutrient export by gravel vac.

What other nutrient export do you do?

I just run a skimmer. Bag of carbon and bag of phosguard.

 

[Subsea]

Cynobacteria is a bioindicator of phosphate. Phosphate does not have to be in tank water to be available to cyno. When cyno mat is thick, it makes its own chemistry under the mat and it will scavenge what it needs to grow. In extreme cases, it will cover up fast growing GSP & yellow colonial polyps and absorb organic nutrients. Randy Holmes Farley article on phosphate in reef tanks describes an auto feedback loop in which cynobacteria consumes inorganic calcium phosphate bound up in substrate or rocks.

I suggest you vacume out your cynobacteria, before you have a serious problem. Consider cyno mat as concentrated nutrient export. I also suggest you check your phosphate level in the water and increase your use of phosphate removal resins. I use phosguard but there are better products that are more expensive. Do you have a sump that can be used as a macro refugium for nutrient export?

 

[atticus]

Cynobacteria is a bioindicator of phosphate. Phosphate does not have to be in tank water to be available to cyno. When cyno mat is thick, it makes its own chemistry under the mat and it will scavenge what it needs to grow. In extreme cases, it will cover up fast growing GSP & yellow colonial polyps and absorb organic nutrients. Randy Holmes Farley article on phosphate in reef tanks describes an auto feedback loop in which cynobacteria consumes inorganic calcium phosphate bound up in substrate or rocks.

I suggest you vacume out your cynobacteria, before you have a serious problem. Consider cyno mat as concentrated nutrient export. I also suggest you check your phosphate level in the water and increase your use of phosphate removal resins. I use phosguard but there are better products that are more expensive. Do you have a sump that can be used as a macro refugium for nutrient export?

Yes sorry forgot to mention that, I have a refugium with chaeto which is slow growing from the past.

 

[Subsea]

Yes sorry forgot to mention that, I have a refugium with chaeto which is slow growing from the past.

With those nutrient levels of N & P, chaeto should be growing very fast. It’s either lighting or likely trace mineral limitation. Consider that other trace minerals may limit chaeto growth but not cyno. Iron is often the limiting nutrient. When I first added iron, red macros got redder overnight. Green macro went from dull green to dark emerald green also overnight.

 

[atticus]

With those nutrient levels of N & P, chaeto should be growing very fast. It’s either lighting or likely trace mineral limitation. Consider that other trace minerals may limit chaeto growth but not cyno. Iron is often the limiting nutrient. When I first added iron, red macros got redder overnight. Green macro went from dull green to dark emerald green also overnight.

Yeah it use to grow like crazy only grows a couple grams not much bigger that a golf ball.

 

[Subsea]

@atticus

You should get your water tested properly so that you know what you are dealing with. When I test, I use
https://www.wardlab.com/water-services.php

W-5
Household Complete Mineral Test
$27.25
Sodium
Calcium
Magnesium
Potassium
Chloride
pH

Nitrate
Carbonate
Bicarbonate
Sulfate
Electrical Conductivity
Est. Total Dissolved Solids

Total Alkalinity
Total Hardness (Lime)
Iron
Fluoride

Add silicate for $5.50

 

[atticus]

@atticus

You should get your water tested properly so that you know what you are dealing with. When I test, I use
https://www.wardlab.com/water-services.php

W-5
Household Complete Mineral Test
$27.25
Sodium
Calcium
Magnesium
Potassium
Chloride
pH

Nitrate
Carbonate
Bicarbonate
Sulfate
Electrical Conductivity
Est. Total Dissolved Solids

Total Alkalinity
Total Hardness (Lime)
Iron
Fluoride

Add silicate for $5.50

Are suggesting the tank water or product water?

 

[Subsea]

Are suggesting the tank water or product water?

Tank water for missing trace minerals. Iron, iodine and manganese. Iodine is removed by protein skimming & GAC. Everything that grows needs iron.

PS. If your water changes are insufficient to replace minerals consumed by corals & algae, you should be dosing iron & iodine. Fish food brings in trace minerals but I never know quantities, so I dose iron & iodine. It would be most difficult to dose too much iron, but iodine is lethal in high doses. In fact, I use it to kill flat worms.