No Sand = No Cyano

[john.m.cole3]

I HAD cyanobacteria on my sand bed and on my marinepure brick in my sump. I hated it. Peroxide dosing dialed it back some, but never got rid of it. I removed my sand bed last weekend, and there is no sight of it on my block or rock. Sweet!!!

How many people have a bare bottom tank AND have cyanobacteria???

 

[drawman]

Glad to hear it! Maybe your sandbed was getting to be a nutrient sink?

 

[brandon429]

Your rocks remaining so balanced afterwards indicates where the feed locus for the cyano was in my opinion

I see lots of bare bottom threads on the web over the years and cyano is not a trend for them

don't recall one actually, and if it was that's just a rock nutrient sink issue. Given good rock curing agreed having no waste below cures cyano. The sand isn't the breakpoint...it's how often do we want to be cleaning it

 

[brandon429]

TWilliard has done great work on here highlighting the interchangeable possibilities of an invasion being spirulina or cyano in his threads

They look the same upon initial ID

They respond to differing med approaches

Mis ID is common

But universally both are cured by this nutrient sink removal so lumping them together in ID won't matter in any form of rip cleaning cure , it matters if we're water dosing something

done a few right now at nano-reef.com genral and new forums...rip out or rip clean sandbed, cyano goes away. here's one

 

[john.m.cole3]

Maybe I over-maintained my sand bed. With constant stirring and siphoning, I may have allowed detritus to get under crevices of rocks that were no longer reachable. cyano, Spirulina, diatoms... whatever it WAS is no longer there.

Makes me want to dump some flakes and pellets in there just for funzies!

 

[WVReefJunkie]

Sand in a aquarium is very beneficial. I personally would look at your export of nitrates in your aquarium. We can accomplish this with skimming, water changes and reduced feedings. If you keep your nutrients in check, the cyano will go away. It is a good thing when you see cyano in your tank, because it allows you to correct a issue with your aquariums water chemistry. Also as your tanks bio load continues to grow, you would possibly need the bacteria in the sand to help with that.

 

[BlueCursor]

My refugium has no sand and it has had cyano outbreaks. Even when I vacuum the bottom so it's sparkling clean I still have had issues. Yet, at the same time of these outbreaks in my refugium, I never had any cyano in my tank, which has a sand bottom.

Go figure.

 

[john.m.cole3]

True, sand's ability to house thousands of square feet for bacteria to live on is a benefit. I feel that it's ability to store detritus out weighs it's bacteria housing abilities. So many reefers treat their sand beds like a toxic waste zone... "you can move your tank but DON'T disturb the sand bed, or else...", "every time your stir your sand you will have a mini cycle", "my sand bed is what keeps my nitrates in check". The list goes on. To me, sand is a toxic waste zone and has no place in my tank. A DSB can produce denitrification, but at what risk? The bottom layer of the DSB is the denitrification zone. What happens if the upper layers are disturbed?

 

[john.m.cole3]

My refugium has no sand and it has had cyano outbreaks. Even when I vacuum the bottom so it's sparkling clean I still have had issues. Yet, at the same time of these outbreaks in my refugium, I never had any cyano in my tank, which has a sand bottom.

Go figure.

That's awesome! At least it is in a place that can be managed. How long have you had your system running?

 

[jsker]

Mark to as a day in history, I do not have any cayno in my system. I have not made any changes to the system since April, so all the mini cycles are over for now. I am also dosing everything that I am supposed to dose regularly. and that is also helping.

 

[john.m.cole3]

Mark to as a day in history, I do not have any cayno in my system. I have not made any changes to the system since April, so all the mini cycles are over for now. I am also dosing everything that I am supposed to dose regularly. and that is also helping.

That's good to hear! MAny and probably most reefers can have a tank w/o a cyano problem. I grew tired of growing patient. It cost me zero dollars and the patience of making RODI water to replace the volume in my tank the sand once took. I'm hoping (not really) to find someone with a bare bottom tank who has cyano in their DT

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I have a hard time believing that no sand equals no cyano algae. I am running enough sand in my 120g to fill a tupperware bowl for the wrasse to sleep in and I have gotten it all over the tank, bare bottom glass, etc.

 

[brandon429]

We never get these kinds of tests but it would be amazing to see this testing from the shallow bed:

A lowest possible sample siphoned into a tiny test cup from bottom of the bed. Let sit for an hour then test for nitrate and po4
It's nutrient hunting...we want whatever the most impactful sink would be as the sample. Next to rock structure is good concentration point but tube inserted to bottom layer sand

Age of the bed factors too...how long been set/running this could be very helpful measures to chart impacts or neutrality of a shallow bed. Three yrs running in a tank large enough for a wrasse should have a decent range in stratification tests

it would be handy to see ranges of N and P species in top water vs bottom substrate

When techs on the job measure biological oxygen demand samples at water plants etc beefhouses there is specifically a sitting time for each kind of sample before reading



the delay of substrate reading and top water can both be one hour to even out the test but an hour is needed in the air before potential is right

The larger concentration of organic material should convey a higher BOD potential with nitrate as a byproduct within a good hour if applicable. If the bed is kept clean and turned over by the fish, that will be known as well. Neat hunt for proteins

 

[brandon429]

It would be beneficial to collect and chart 10+ poster's measure of the topwater/bottom bed readings after one hour, plus #mos sandbed has been running total

That range as a repeating variable charted for N and P would be handy in tank restoration threads

 

[john.m.cole3]

I have a hard time believing that no sand equals no cyano algae. I am running enough sand in my 120g to fill a tupperware bowl for the wrasse to sleep in and I have gotten it all over the tank, bare bottom glass, etc.

Interesting... Have you always been 99% bare bottom Rev? Is the cyano just on the bottom glass or on the rocks also? Got a picture?

 

[john.m.cole3]

It would be beneficial to collect and chart 10+ poster's measure of the topwater/bottom bed readings after one hour, plus #mos sandbed has been running total

That range as a repeating variable charted for N and P would be handy in tank restoration threads

How would our average joe reefer pull a sample from the bottom layer only? Logistically speaking?

 

[brandon429]

It's easy with that clear siphon hose I use for water change can bring over my own sample to see how my reef does. Six inch DSB, well rinsed never cyano. bed is due for a rip clean tho it's been mos

The clear tube can be taped around a dowel if needed then an easy pull siphon will take a sample without major bed disturbance

Airline tubing would work, just an ounce into a test cup for nitrate reading

You have the hq nitrate and phosphate tests w be neat to see

 

[reeferfoxx]

My first tank was started with live rock and already cycled sand. The sand bed gets vacuumed once a month and never has it had cyano or any sign of cyano in the 1.9yrs of running. My new tank on the other hand was started with dry rock and bagged uncycled sand and persistently has cyano. My goal right now is to not intervene, to just let it run it's course. I think the sand bed needs to mature to keep cyano out.

 

[john.m.cole3]

O started this tank with 50/50 live and dry rock and the sand was "live" and I rinsed the sand. It's 6 months old. the cyano wasn't the reason I removed the sand. The reason was my nitrates were at 40 and I have a super over-sized skimmer and siphon the bed every water change. My nitrates dropped after I removed the sand and I also noticed the cyano did not return. Oh my gosh the sand was so nasty that I took out even w/ regular maintenance.

 

[echopiece]

100 GAL BB here with a large marinepure block in the sump and I just recently started seeing cyano in my system. Tank is about 8 months old. Cyano is only apparent on the rocks, none on the tank bottom. I'm thinking my cyano was caused from dosing NOPOX to reduce my nitrate levels. I suppose I could back off of NOPOX and see if the cyano recedes.