Please help

[Frank RiZZo]

Returns every time I clean my sand within a hour
Calcium 450
Magnesium 1350
Alk 9.2
PH 8.2
NO3-4ppm
PO4-0.5ppm
Salinity 1.026
Temp 78

 

[cracker]

hello Frank that's cyano bacteria . it grows in new tanks & when the water chemistry isn't right in some way lots of info here concerning this lousy stuff. I recenty had a bout with it. here's a bump for You.

 

[Subsea]

Cynobacteria is a fact of life in a reef tank. Some never get it. I have some in my tank that has been set up 25 years.

You should start a tank journal and document all pertinent information on your tank. In that way, people can make informed comments about your tank without having to ask the same questions to get information.

 

[Mikedawg]

Returns every time I clean my sand within a hour
Calcium 450
Magnesium 1350
Alk 9.2
PH 8.2
NO3-4ppm
PO4-0.5ppm
Salinity 1.026
Temp 78

I feel your pain! Following for useful suggestions

 

[saintsreturn]

Welcome to R2R and congrats on your first post. I wish it was on a different topic, but it is a start none the less. Be sure to start a build thread so we can see more about the tank and avoid the reptitive questions that will slow down you finding the answers in your journey

All that said, what size tank and what are you using for flow? I usually see this in newer tanks, but have had a couple issues with this in my established tank as well. What worked for me is a combination of time and elbow grease.

Suck it out with a siphon and replace the water (small water change). Keep the changes small as this will help prevent a large swing in perimeters. Add focused flow to the area. This is one of those things we have all had and typically found different causes or solutions, but i find it after something died i wasnt aware of and food buildup/lack of flow. I also started rinsing my food before feeding to avoid extra nutrients put into the system. The focused flow keeps things moving into the water column and, IMO, only using frozen foods that the fish eat before it hits the bottom. Pellets and what not can build up and cause little pockets of dead zones, that then turn into this cyano.

Siphoning does seem like a waste as it comes right back until the other things are corrected, but i always do it to keep the bacteria from spreading and impacting corals.

 

[Frank RiZZo]

Welcome to R2R and congrats on your first post. I wish it was on a different topic, but it is a start none the less. Be sure to start a build thread so we can see more about the tank and avoid the reptitive questions that will slow down you finding the answers in your journey

All that said, what size tank and what are you using for flow? I usually see this in newer tanks, but have had a couple issues with this in my established tank as well. What worked for me is a combination of time and elbow grease.

Suck it out with a siphon and replace the water (small water change). Keep the changes small as this will help prevent a large swing in perimeters. Add focused flow to the area. This is one of those things we have all had and typically found different causes or solutions, but i find it after something died i wasnt aware of and food buildup/lack of flow. I also started rinsing my food before feeding to avoid extra nutrients put into the system. The focused flow keeps things moving into the water column and, IMO, only using frozen foods that the fish eat before it hits the bottom. Pellets and what not can build up and cause little pockets of dead zones, that then turn into this cyano.

Siphoning does seem like a waste as it comes right back until the other things are corrected, but i always do it to keep the bacteria from spreading and impacting corals.

Tank is a Red Sea max s400and using 2 Gyre xf230 on 30% random , so I know I have plenty of flow, tank is 6 months old

 

[Frank RiZZo]

Tank is a Red Sea max s400and using 2 Gyre xf230 on 30% random , so I know I have plenty of flow, tank is 6 months old

And it’s only on sand, rock work is clean ?

 

[Ghauck81]

I am going through this myself. I even shut the lights off for two days. Sand bed looked a lot better, till I turned the lights back on. Now it’s all over the place again. I will checking in. To see if any more answers.

 

[tvu]

I’ve read good bacteria from brightwell’s microbacter7 will outcompete the cyano.

Also cyano typically occurs when nitrate and phosphate numbers are out of whack. Usually when nitrate is very low in comparison to phos cyano will break out. This is also seen sometimes when running biopellets where nitrate is greatly reduced and phos remains untouched.

Good luck!

 

[Ghauck81]

I am going through this myself. I even shut the lights off for two days. Sand bed looked a lot better, till I turned the lights back on. Now it’s all over the place again. I will checking in. To see if any more answers.

Water flow @100% has helped and changing the sock everyday has helped.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

You may have lots of flow in the tank, but that does not mean there are no dead spots.
You might need to adjust a power head to make sure that area is getting stirred up a bit.
If there is a large rock (or something) between your power head and this spot that could definitely be part of the issue.

 

[Frank RiZZo]

Well i treated tank twice with Chemiclean no changes, I’ve also raised Nitrates over 10ppm with no changes

 

[Gareth elliott]

Is there anything to compete with cyano? A fuge, corals, etc? And have you tried increasing the micro biology diversity like adding pods?