Cyano again!

[DeMarcusR]

I'm having a bit of a cyano problem again....
Last time I got rid of it, I just stopped taking care of my tank all together; no water changes, no top off, etc.

This time I've treated with chemiclean. cut back on feedings, added more flow, changed my r/o filters and added a uv. nothing seems to be killing this stuff. I did a 20g water change earlier today and siphoned quite a bit of it out of the tank. I come back 8 hours later and theres is almost as much as it was before I left home.

What am I missing? What am I doing wrong? Any ideas?

 

[landon_brim]

How old are your bulbs for you light fixture? Just a thought.

 

[PK]

I am fighting the samething and have done all that you have done with no success. I hope my new bulbs get here soon!

 

[slgcmg]

If it is a really bad case, which sounds like your maybe, it will take more than one dose of chemi-clean to clear it. It may also take you having to clean your rock set up as well.

 

[DeMarcusR]

@landon_brim wrote:

The only bulb that is questionable is the halide.. I have no idea how old it is as I bought it used. It is on my 'to do' list however I've been more concentrated on obtaining financing for my first home.

The other bulbs (vhos) are about 2 months old....

@slgcmg wrote:

The cyano is mostly on the sand. After the last chemiclean dose, the rocks have stayed clear

 

[slgcmg]

I had it on my sand before and I moved a powerhead towards the bottom. I have it skimming the top of my sand. I have not had a problem since then.

 

[TJay]

chemi clean will not solve the problem ( been there done it )
It can get rid of a major bloom but it wont correct the problem

We did major flow improvements, changed bulbs, chemi cleaned, increased skimming you name it.

We have been fairly cyano free here and I attribute it to
good skimming
huge clean up crew ( nasarius and konks a must )
sand sifting gobies
a good fuge system with lots of macro
ozone
phosban

I actually run less flow now than I used to, and in our SH 54 gallon we only run a mag 12 on the return throtled back. We do see cyano in the fuge sometime ( we light it 24/7 ) but if we keep it cleaned out of there it never makes it to the display.

Best of luck on this scourge it stinks

 

[Ashlar]

Yup, cyano needs: a calm place to settle, nutrients in the water, few predators, and light.

Think of that as a big circle- any place you can break the circle, and it will go away.

You can increase the flow, which is also good for most things we like to keep, but may add heat and ugliness if you're using powerheads.

You can decrease your lighting cycle and check the age of your bulbs. Decreasing the lighting cycle isn't a good long term solution, unless it was higher than recommended (like 18 hours). Metal halides lose intensity, not spectrum, so that may not be your problem.

You can increase the consumption of cyano by adding clean-up crew members that eat it. As TJay mentioned, nasarrius snails, sand sifting gobies, and conchs will at the very least stir the sand and address the 'calm place to settle' but creatures like turbos will actually eat it.

You can decrease the nutrients. Either by feeding less (and feeding better- no flake, rinsing brine and mysis and netting them out), changing either more water, or more frequently, skimming more agressively, or setting up a refugium with export species that will suck up nutrients.

Realistically, you can break the circle in multiple places, using the temporary measures first, and longer term, hitting the nutrient issue.

If your corals and other things are being smothered, cut the lighting schedule down to 6 hours for a day or two (think of a cloudy day at sea) and suction out the cyano that you can see. Do a significant water change, pop in another powerhead, and cut feedings in half. Drop in a few turbos, nasarrius, and conchs.

Longer term, think of upgrading skimmers and setting up a refugium. I'd be happy to supply you with a couple of different macro species as well as fast growing xenia elongata.

 

[DalaiTom]

@Ashlar wrote:

I think this is a big one. Especially if you're feeding the tank Cyclopeez or phyto, zooplex, etc.
If so, you need to reconsider whether or not it's actually necessary for the well-being of the critters. If you feel it is necessary, reconsider how much and how often it should be fed to the tank.

 

[DeMarcusR]

I thought I was starving the fish already I feed them like every three days and a very small amount of mysis / Krill.

As far as flow, There is so much flow already that I have to keep smoothing out the sandbed every day to keep my clam from being covered.

Sump / Fuge has nothing in it but sand / tonga rock... I'm planning on getting a new skimmer here shortly...

Thanks for the input.. Its greatly appreciated :lol:

 

[sleeperls]

my tank is unfortinatly by windows and i had a cyno outbreak and tried everything besides chemicals. I ended up putting up some black out screens on the windows and havnt had a prob yet. It took it about a week to go away but atleast its gone.

 

[MLord]

@sleeperls wrote:

so...having your tank next to windows would cause you to get cyano? Because I've had cyano covering my sand bed for about a month and a half now and NOTHING gets rid of it. I've tried chemi-clean, it worked but another outbreak happened 3 days later, I've cut down on feeding, I've cut down on the time the light's are on, I've increased flow, with a mj900 going across the sand, I've done lots of water changes, I thought it may have been my lfs's water so I've tried different lfs's water. And after all this, it still covers my sandbed. I've pretty much given up on it. But if the windows in that room next to the tank caused it....that would be nice to know. Anyway, good luck on getting rid of that crap.
Mike