Losing my ongoing battle with cyano

[wiggitywade]

I have had nearly a 2 month battle with cyano. I've done weekly 15% water changes along with vacuuming the sand every time and it comes back within 2/3 days every time. I have also tried a 3 day blackout that helped but only for about a week after the lights came back on. After that I dosed chemiclean with the recommended amount and my tank was cyano free for about 2 weeks and now its back and I feel like I'm making no progress. My plan now is to just let it do its thing for a couple weeks, no water changes and see if mother nature just deals with it. There is another type of algae on my sand and it seems wherever it goes, the cyano doesn't. Not sure what to do at this point. All of my water I make with a brand new BRS 6-stage and it reads 0TDS and RedSea pro salt(black tub). Not sure if I'm taking the right approach here but I'm at a loss for what to try at this point besides ripping the tank apart to clean.

Reefer 170 (43Gal system)
running ROWAphos in my reactor
filter sock changes every 4/5 days
protein skimmer during the day
feed reef frenzy daily and a half dose of reefroids into the water column

water:
35ppt (refractometer)
Alk 7.8 dKH (RedSea Foundation)
Nintrate- 2 (RedSea Marine Care)
Phosphates- 0.09 (Hanna)


White light just for pictures

 

[landlubber]

hmmm.... that looks more like dinos than it does cyano to me. its also possible to have both so i'd recommend taking a look through a microscope

 

[jmichaelh7]

I was going to say but the other member said it… dinoflagellates. EVEN WORSE

 

[G Santana]

How old is the tank? I had a battle with Dynos that lasted a little over two months, slime everywhere everyday.
I had issues with my nitrates and phosphates bottoming out and when I slowly raised them and started dosing phyto it slowly went away but right after they were gone, the GHA battle started.
Once my tank matured all my issues went away, but it took months.
Hope that helps.

 

[wiggitywade]

hmmm.... that looks more like dinos than it does cyano to me. its also possible to have both so i'd recommend taking a look through a microscope

I think you're right, Dino's. Frustrating! But good to know what I'm dealing with

 

[wiggitywade]

How old is the tank? I had a battle with Dynos that lasted a little over two months, slime everywhere everyday.
I had issues with my nitrates and phosphates bottoming out and when I slowly raised them and started dosing phyto it slowly went away but right after they were gone, the GHA battle started.
Once my tank matured all my issues went away, but it took months.
Hope that helps.

I picked up some phyto today at the LFS so hopefully I'll see similar results. Going to dose that and vibrant and hopefully that starts knocking it back. Thanks!

 

[brandon429]

Check this out it will fix it:

 

[brandon429]

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

five page read and if you run that on your tank, fixed

43 gallons is easy rip clean
140 would not be. It’s the best possible method, you dont want to absorb that mass into the system it needs surgical export

clean off the rocks with rough rinsing in saltwater, it will open up the pores for better filtration and waste expression from the rock / currently plugged. Reassemble tank in all new water matching temp and salinity, it will skip cycle don’t use bottle bac.

 

[kittenbritches]

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

five page read and if you run that on your tank, fixed

43 gallons is easy rip clean
140 would not be. It’s the best possible method, you dont want to absorb that mass into the system it needs surgical export

clean off the rocks with rough rinsing in saltwater, it will open up the pores for better filtration and waste expression from the rock / currently plugged. Reassemble tank in all new water matching temp and salinity, it will skip cycle don’t use bottle bac.

+1

Tear it down, clean everything, put it all back.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations go haywire. Just like when you eat too much sugar and your waistline starts to bloom, the same happens in your tank when concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

 

[G Santana]

I picked up some phyto today at the LFS so hopefully I'll see similar results. Going to dose that and vibrant and hopefully that starts knocking it back. Thanks!

Try culturing the phyto, it's easy, you save money and will have phyto for months.

 

[wiggitywade]

Try culturing the phyto, it's easy, you save money and will have phyto for months.

Definitely the plan! That stuff is way too expensive not to do it

 

[thewedge]

Definitely dinos. I had a bad outbreak or 2 when my 65 was maturing. I believe I did like others said. Let the algae outcompete it. Turn off gfo, etc. Then get the numbers back under control. I found urchins and emerald crabs were the best to get rid of the remaining algae after manual removal and then they will keep it at bay. The urchins also eat a lot of my Coraline, but it's worth it. I just had an outbreak of gha in my 20 gal acrylic. Threw an urchin in there and within a couple days the tank looked so much better. Good luck