The War on Cyano or what ever this is

[KonradTO]

I commented already few days ago about this, I have a very similar problem. After some reading here in the forum and youtube channels I follow I decided to focus on a strategy and follow it for some weeks before deciding whether it works or not:
1) I am doing a blackout with fuge lights on. This should "move" the algae to the fuge and make some nutrients available again in the water column. Also I keep the UV on 24/7 for now.
2) by dosing nitrates I am trying to reach 5-10 ppm. The issue is that with my test kit is not very easy to tell the difference between 5 and 10 so I think I will order the salifert kit soon
3) once I reach the target I will try to maintain the nutrient balance with feeding, trimming macroalgae in the fuge and dialing the lights in the fuge.
4) In the meanwhile I will add more diverse cuc (maybe I try a black molly) and hand clean the long strands 1h every week

 

[Ryusheng*]

My diy cyano vacuum to sump tank. You just got to be diligent in cleaning the cyano out of your tank into your sump until all of your parameter is good. Good luck.

 

[Ryusheng*]

Beautiful cyano bacteria in mu sump.

 

[Ryusheng*]

My diy cyano vacuum to sump tank. You just got to be diligent in cleaning the cyano out of your tank into your sump until all of your parameter is good. Good luck.

Sorry I don't have macro algea just cyano growing in the sump. I know it's crazy. I just want to know if anybody else have what I have. I thought cyano was very bad at the beginning. No nutrient in my tank though. No water changes. I'm not suggesting to do what I'm doing but just wnat to know if anybody has my situation?

 

[R33fDaddy]

I want to keep this going until I actually solve the problem so that he can maybe help someone in the future.

It looks like Cyano cleared up after a Chemiclean treatment but someone it appears that I had both Cyano and Diatoms at the same time. I'm thinking this was caused by running 0 & 0 for so long.

I started dosing Nitrates and Phosphates about 6 days ago. I started dosing 3 Mils of Nitrates and 2 Mils of Phosphates. I managed to get my Nitrates up to 5 ppm four days in. I didn't want to over dose so I didn't does any Nitrates on 5 & 6, tested and they were back at 0. As for Phosphates I can't get any reading higher than 0.00 (and this is with dosing 2mils a day).

Seems like my Algea scrubber and Protein Skimmer are doing too good of a job. I guess the plan is to keep dosing Nitrates and Phosphates then get some Phosguard to make sure I'm not dealing with a silicate issue.

Any suggestions?

 

[ReefGeezer]

Often confused with Cyano and dinoflagellates, this is Calothrix which is a nuisance algae resembling Dino due to air bubble which are trying to escape.
Best removal method which at times is not convenient but necessary id removing rock and placing in a container of tank water and scrubbing with a firm toothbrush or automotive detail brush.
Agitate rock in the water and return to tank. Thereafter , you can add cleaners to help with control such as Pitho crabs, nerite snails, ninja star snails, chiton snail, margarita snails abd cerith snails

Yep. I battled these for a while. Calothrix is a Cyanobacteria. They SUCK! It comes off the glass easy enough but is harder to get off the rocks. It didn't hurt any of my corals though. I tried a lot of things including chemiclean, peroxide, and (Boo-Hiss) Vibrant. What eventually worked is getting arm pit deep in the tank and scrubbing the crap out of the rocks with a stiff type of toothbrush made for dentures, and then turning off the lights and covering the tank for 3 days to black it out. I had the current inside the tank at max, 100u filter socks, GAC, and a skimmer set to run very wet during the lights out, and used a Turkey baster to blast the rocks every 24 hours or so. It took more than one attempt at this but it eventually worked... or the Calothrix phase passed... I don't know for sure which.

 

[KonradTO]

I want to keep this going until I actually solve the problem so that he can maybe help someone in the future.

It looks like Cyano cleared up after a Chemiclean treatment but someone it appears that I had both Cyano and Diatoms at the same time. I'm thinking this was caused by running 0 & 0 for so long.

I started dosing Nitrates and Phosphates about 6 days ago. I started dosing 3 Mils of Nitrates and 2 Mils of Phosphates. I managed to get my Nitrates up to 5 ppm four days in. I didn't want to over dose so I didn't does any Nitrates on 5 & 6, tested and they were back at 0. As for Phosphates I can't get any reading higher than 0.00 (and this is with dosing 2mils a day).

Seems like my Algea scrubber and Protein Skimmer are doing too good of a job. I guess the plan is to keep dosing Nitrates and Phosphates then get some Phosguard to make sure I'm not dealing with a silicate issue.

Any suggestions?

What is the concentration of your no3 and po4 solutions? I added 1.5 ppm of nitrates every day for 3 days in combination with the blackout and now I am stable around 5-10 ppm. Phos didn't check but algae apparently are getting better.

 

[R33fDaddy]

Intresting Phosphate Test Today:

Aquarium Phosphates 0.00
RODI Phosphates 0.25
City Tap Water 1.0

TDS from RODI is 3. Pretty sure this is not the problem though. I have four tanks and only my main tank is having these issues.

Thoughts?

 

[R33fDaddy]

What is the concentration of your no3 and po4 solutions? I added 1.5 ppm of nitrates every day for 3 days in combination with the blackout and now I am stable around 5-10 ppm. Phos didn't check but algae apparently are getting better.

I'm using NeoPhos and NeoNitrate. Nitrates are holding around 4ppm with increaed feeding so I stopped dosing. Phosphates still reading zero even at 2mil per day of Neo Phosphates.

 

[R33fDaddy]

I now think I've moved on from Cyano to dinoflagellates this hobby h3ll lol. Good news is that I think all of this is a result of running at double zero for months.

What Phosphates and Nitrates levels do y'all aim for? I'm thinking Nitrates 5ppm and Phosphates 0.25 ppm.

 

[KonradTO]

I now think I've moved on from Cyano to dinoflagellates this hobby h3ll lol. Good news is that I think all of this is a result of running at double zero for months.

What Phosphates and Nitrates levels do y'all aim for? I'm thinking Nitrates 5ppm and Phosphates 0.25 ppm.

Do you have UV light?

 

[R33fDaddy]

Do you have UV light?

No but considering adding one. I think they main benefit for me would be preventing Cyano correct?

 

[KonradTO]

No but considering adding one. I think they main benefit for me would be preventing Cyano correct?

No but they are good for some species of dinos. I had Ostreopsis and it worked well combined with total blackout

 

[R33fDaddy]

I use an API test kit to test Phosphates and Today I decided to go to World Wide corals and buy the Hanna Phosphate Checker. The Hanna Checker gave me a reading of 0.03 ppm, so it seems that the API Test kit is pretty accurate. Now that I have confirmed that I'm running double zeros I'll come up with a plan to combat that.

 

[KonradTO]

I use an API test kit to test Phosphates and Today I decided to go to World Wide corals and buy the Hanna Phosphate Checker. The Hanna Checker gave me a reading of 0.03 ppm, so it seems that the API Test kit is pretty accurate. Now that I have confirmed that I'm running double zeros I'll come up with a plan to combat that.

I am not 100% sure but I think 0.03-0.05 ppm is considered a good range. When they say double zero I think they refer to .00 values

 

[R33fDaddy]

I am not 100% sure but I think 0.03-0.05 ppm is considered a good range. When they say double zero I think they refer to .00 values

I think Phosphates should around 0.15 - 0.25 ppm. Sorry by double zero I meant 0 Nitrates and 0 Phosphates.

 

[R33fDaddy]

I HAD SOME AMAZING RESULTS!!

Im going to type up everything I did and share it on this thread. My Aquarium has never looked better and share what I've done will help others.

 

[Kial]

I HAD SOME AMAZING RESULTS!!

Im going to type up everything I did and share it on this thread. My Aquarium has never looked better and share what I've done will help others.

have an update for this?

 

[R33fDaddy]

have an update for this?

This is what I did, in order of importance.

1. I didn't let that stuff sit on my sand bed and rocks to grow. I brushed off the rocks and used my coral feeding tube to stir up the sand bed everyday.

2. I got a clean up crew. Added about 15 Blue legged Hermit crabs ( they literally ate the stuff like crazy). Also added 5 Mexican Turbo Snails, 2 Emerald Carbs and a few Nassarius snails.

3. I used a low dose of vibrant every two weeks.

Last thing I did was to increase my feeding. Being at zero Nitrates and Phosphates is what got me into that mess so now I make sure to feed on the heavier side.

If you have any specific questions let me know.

 

[rhostam]

This is what I did, in order of importance.

1. I didn't let that stuff sit on my sand bed and rocks to grow. I brushed off the rocks and used my coral feeding tube to stir up the sand bed everyday.

2. I got a clean up crew. Added about 15 Blue legged Hermit crabs ( they literally ate the stuff like crazy). Also added 5 Mexican Turbo Snails, 2 Emerald Carbs and a few Nassarius snails.

3. I used a low dose of vibrant every two weeks.

Last thing I did was to increase my feeding. Being at zero Nitrates and Phosphates is what got me into that mess so now I make sure to feed on the heavier side.

If you have any specific questions let me know.

What brand and type of food are you using?

I've always been a heavy feeder and it worked well for over a year. However, I mixed up a batch of food once that included ReefRoids (I don't know why I did that - it wasn't on purpose) and I didn't notice PO4 being high until it was too late. I'm still battling the fallout months later.

Now I am facing all sorts of imbalance in nutrients and I am struggling to figure out how to get back to where things were.

Thanks for providing an update, BTW, and I'm glad your episode is over!