New tank Cyanobacteria

[mhartley276]

Need advice on what to do, if anything. Is this just “new tank uglies?” Been struggling with Cyanobacteria (mostly green but there is some red also in certain places) for a few months now. At one point I also had dinoflagellates but I think I’ve kicked that problem. LFS says it’s over feeding and flow issue but I’ve jacked up the flow and figured out how to feed correctly and I’m still struggling. I have 2 MP40s set to reef crest 40% during the day and lagoon 30% at night

75g tank No sump
Started with live rock (80lbs of it)
Crushed coral sand substrate


Stock:
2 clowns
2 ornate leopard wrasses
1 regal angel
1 blue cleaner wrasse
1 yellow watchman goby
1 maxima clam
2 rose bubble tip anemones ( was 1, it split)
5 peppermint shrimp
Probably about 15 hermits


blastomussa and hammer coral frags
Green polyp leather coral
Encrusting gargonia
Pulsing Xenia

water parameters:
Alk between 10-12 was 12.5 last night
Calcium 375
Mag 1200
Phosphate 0.25 (API test, waiting for salifert one to come in mail)
Nitrates 5
Salinity 1.025

 

[JumboShrimp]

I would say avoid adding extra bio load right now, and just ride it out for a few more months.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You dont want to ride out cyano which in essence is a bacterial algae. 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 start to climb or are too high.
While this is no emergency, some reefers simply dont want it or the presence of in their tanks.
I recommend to siphon and then reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 3-5 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.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I must say, if you are looking to proactively take ‘action,’ I’ve followed @vetteguy53081 ’s suggestion in the past of alternating the liquid bacteria and the hydrogen peroxide, and it worked great to make my tank look very clear.

 

[Gqch]

uv light will help, setup a macroalgae refugium will help too. i will syphon the slime algae out and lower the lighting especially the red and white spetrum light, also dose bt7 and less feeding is also the must. good luck!

 

[mhartley276]

You dont want to ride out cyano which in essence is a bacterial algae. 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 start to climb or are too high.
While this is no emergency, some reefers simply dont want it or the presence of in their tanks.
I recommend to siphon and then reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 3-5 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.

You dont want to ride out cyano which in essence is a bacterial algae. 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 start to climb or are too high.
While this is no emergency, some reefers simply dont want it or the presence of in their tanks.
I recommend to siphon and then reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 3-5 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.

Ok I guess I’m confused. Don’t I want nutrients in my tank for my coral to eat? What level of nitrates and phosphate are acceptable? Is it possible that my nutrients are too low? According to how much my LFS says they feed their fish, I am feeding way less. I feed lifeline herbivore cubes. LFS says my regal angel alone should eat 1 whole cube… I’m lucky if I can get 1 whole cube in the whole tank per feeding ( I feed twice a day) They say based on the fish I have I should be feeding 3 cubes minimum. I cut the cubes in half and only feed what they will eat in 2 mins ‍ I have a bunch of electric blue hermits and they are lazy. One of them that I’ve had from my nano tank killed my margarita snail and stole its shell… it is now HUGE! Plus forgot to mention I have an emerald crab too. I have gone lights out twice already for the Dino’s I had… idk if my coral can tolerate that again. My white lights are only at 24%… I’m using the AB+ mode on my eco tech radion xr5s. It’s mostly all blues. Idk how I feel about putting chemicals in there yet… not saying that’s wrong, just trying to solve this naturally I guess. I feel like something I’m doing is wrong, I just don’t have enough knowledge about reef aquariums yet. If I do nothing, will this go away on its own when my tank matures?

 

[mhartley276]

uv light will help, setup a macroalgae refugium will help too. i will syphon the slime algae out and lower the lighting especially the red and white spetrum light, also dose bt7 and less feeding is also the must. good luck!

I don’t think I can fit anything else on the back of the tank. Really should have bought a tank with a sump but I knew nothing about that at the time. Not sure what my reds are at… I’ll have to check in the morning but my whites are only at 24%

 

[Lavey29]

Your alk is to high. Your mag and calcium to low. Get your nitrates to 10 also. Phosphate is to high also. Set lights to 6 hours with blue and UV, no whites. I have the same size tank, 10 months old and have gone through similar problems. It will take a month or two to fully clear up.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ok I guess I’m confused. Don’t I want nutrients in my tank for my coral to eat? What level of nitrates and phosphate are acceptable? Is it possible that my nutrients are too low? According to how much my LFS says they feed their fish, I am feeding way less. I feed lifeline herbivore cubes. LFS says my regal angel alone should eat 1 whole cube… I’m lucky if I can get 1 whole cube in the whole tank per feeding ( I feed twice a day) They say based on the fish I have I should be feeding 3 cubes minimum. I cut the cubes in half and only feed what they will eat in 2 mins ‍ I have a bunch of electric blue hermits and they are lazy. One of them that I’ve had from my nano tank killed my margarita snail and stole its shell… it is now HUGE! Plus forgot to mention I have an emerald crab too. I have gone lights out twice already for the Dino’s I had… idk if my coral can tolerate that again. My white lights are only at 24%… I’m using the AB+ mode on my eco tech radion xr5s. It’s mostly all blues. Idk how I feel about putting chemicals in there yet… not saying that’s wrong, just trying to solve this naturally I guess. I feel like something I’m doing is wrong, I just don’t have enough knowledge about reef aquariums yet. If I do nothing, will this go away on its own when my tank matures?

When nutrients low, you end up with Dino and when high, you get cyano
Nitrate <.15
Phosphate. < .04
Right now not concerned with nutrients. Get this siphoned up and follow what I sent you

 

[vetteguy53081]

uv light will help, setup a macroalgae refugium will help too. i will syphon the slime algae out and lower the lighting especially the red and white spetrum light, also dose bt7 and less feeding is also the must. good luck!

Uv won’t do much with cyano and will be effective with Dino if present
It’s also photosynthetic and it’s mainly white lights he needs to lower

 

[mhartley276]

I don’t think I can fit anything else on the back of the tank. Really should have bought a tank with a sump but I knew nothing about that at the time. Not sure what my reds are at… I’ll have to check in the morning but my whites are only at 24%

Your alk is to high. Your mag and calcium to low. Get your nitrates to 10 also. Phosphate is to high also. Set lights to 6 hours with blue and UV, no whites. I have the same size tank, 10 months old and have gone through similar problems. It will take a month or two to fully clear up.

What do you run your alk at? My LFS says run between 10-12 but says everyone else will tell you to run it lower. He says my pH on RO water is 5.8 so he has me adding KH buffer to my RO water (2 tablespoons to 7.5 gallon container). Also, do not have a calcium reactor so he has me using B-ionic 2 part 50ml of each part daily. How do I get my nitrates to 10? Feed more? Phosphates test is probably inaccurate… LFS always says phosphates are 0 but my test always shows the same #… that’s why I’m waiting for a more accurate test kit. Should I do a water change to try and get mag and calcium up or do I need to dose more calcium? I have tried siphoning all the crap out several times before but it just comes right back… I’m assuming due to instability. What kind of flow do you have on your tank? LFS keeps telling me to turn up flow as high as I can without blowing sand around but I feel like I’m blasting my corals. Right now at my settings I’m pushing about 5300 GPH. I’ll try turning my whites off also.

 

[mhartley276]

When nutrients low, you end up with Dino and when high, you get cyano
Nitrate <.15
Phosphate. < .04
Right now not concerned with nutrients. Get this siphoned up and follow what I sent you

So how do you get both then? That’s what I had going on before, dinos, hair algae and Cyanobacteria all at once. Do you vac your sand bed? LFS tells me to leave the sand alone because I could release a pocket of methane that could kill the whole tank. They say you either do it all the time or leave the sand alone. Will it hurt things if I start doing it now?

 

[vetteguy53081]

So how do you get both then? That’s what I had going on before, dinos, hair algae and Cyanobacteria all at once. Do you vac your sand bed? LFS tells me to leave the sand alone because I could release a pocket of methane that could kill the whole tank. They say you either do it all the time or leave the sand alone. Will it hurt things if I start doing it now?

Contributors are skimmer, inadequate water flow, over feeding, lack of maintenance and nutrients going haywire

 

[Lavey29]

What do you run your alk at? My LFS says run between 10-12 but says everyone else will tell you to run it lower. He says my pH on RO water is 5.8 so he has me adding KH buffer to my RO water (2 tablespoons to 7.5 gallon container). Also, do not have a calcium reactor so he has me using B-ionic 2 part 50ml of each part daily. How do I get my nitrates to 10? Feed more? Phosphates test is probably inaccurate… LFS always says phosphates are 0 but my test always shows the same #… that’s why I’m waiting for a more accurate test kit. Should I do a water change to try and get mag and calcium up or do I need to dose more calcium? I have tried siphoning all the crap out several times before but it just comes right back… I’m assuming due to instability. What kind of flow do you have on your tank? LFS keeps telling me to turn up flow as high as I can without blowing sand around but I feel like I’m blasting my corals. Right now at my settings I’m pushing about 5300 GPH. I’ll try turning my whites off also.

I would get an ICP test done on your water and your RODI. You can run alk as high as 12 to try and speed up coral growth but leaves you no margin for error. My coral shops run theirs at 8. I run bionic 2 part also but only 3ml per day. You are adding huge dosage to your tank? Weekly water changes will help balance things out if you are using a good salt mix. Cutting back lights will help starve that algae to. I have mainly LPS and a few SPS now. I run MP40s at 38% during the day on lagoon mode. I keep my flow more on the soft side. You don't want sand blowing around and corals blasted constantly. Your PH sure seems low. Call your water company and see what they say your tap water is. I had similar problems until I started stabilizing my parameters then a few months later things really improved and no chemical treatments either.

 

[mhartley276]

I would get an ICP test done on your water and your RODI. You can run alk as high as 12 to try and speed up coral growth but leaves you no margin for error. My coral shops run theirs at 8. I run bionic 2 part also but only 3ml per day. You are adding huge dosage to your tank? Weekly water changes will help balance things out if you are using a good salt mix. Cutting back lights will help starve that algae to. I have mainly LPS and a few SPS now. I run MP40s at 38% during the day on lagoon mode. I keep my flow more on the soft side. You don't want sand blowing around and corals blasted constantly. Your PH sure seems low. Call your water company and see what they say your tap water is. I had similar problems until I started stabilizing my parameters then a few months later things really improved and no chemical treatments either.

I called water company… they have no idea. Wow, only 3ml of 2 part? I wonder why in the world they told me 50ml at LFS. Thanks for the advice! I’m going to turn my flow down to your settings and turn off my white lights. I use reef crystals salt mix. I guess I’m going to try and siphon some Cyano and do a water change today to try and get my water parameters a little more in line with what they should be.

 

[Karen00]

You dont want to ride out cyano which in essence is a bacterial algae. 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 start to climb or are too high.
While this is no emergency, some reefers simply dont want it or the presence of in their tanks.
I recommend to siphon and then reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 3-5 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.

Is the hydrogen peroxide added directly to the DT or can it be added directly if you don't have a sump? I don't have a sump. I'm not having this issue yet (tank is 6 months old) but I like to be prepared. My tank is an AIO (TopFin's version of an AIO) so I have a back chamber area to dose things if needed.

 

[Unitylover]

You could siphon it, and could scrub the cyano on the rocks

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is the hydrogen peroxide added directly to the DT or can it be added directly if you don't have a sump? I don't have a sump. I'm not having this issue yet (tank is 6 months old) but I like to be prepared. My tank is an AIO (TopFin's version of an AIO) so I have a back chamber area to dose things if needed.

I add to display

 

[vetteguy53081]

You could siphon it, and could scrub the cyano on the rocks

Scrubbing rocks will spread it. It will dissipate on its own. Without lights alone will get rid of it.
this is a bacteria which you don’t want to scrub and spread

 

[Lavey29]

I called water company… they have no idea. Wow, only 3ml of 2 part? I wonder why in the world they told me 50ml at LFS. Thanks for the advice! I’m going to turn my flow down to your settings and turn off my white lights. I use reef crystals salt mix. I guess I’m going to try and siphon some Cyano and do a water change today to try and get my water parameters a little more in line with what they should be.

Not sure how they determined you need 50ml dose. Basically you do a water change and hopefully after that your alk is close to where you want it. Then take readings at 24 hours and 48 hours later. See how much your alk dropped each day. Then you can determine what your daily bionic dose would be to raise it back up to your preferred alk number. Just match the same dose amount with the calcium to but don't add them together at the same time. Wait an hour between. Once you get better parameters the cyano will start going away. It will take a few months but it is better then dumping chemicals in. Check out PNS probio to. It's a natural bacteria supplement and I have used it for a month and it is really helping balance my tank and clearing it out.