Cyno Outbreak - Need some Advice

S

sharko88

Okay, so I have an outbreak of Cyno that is starting to really annoy me. Last time I had one, I used Chemiclean and it worked great. That lasted for about 4-5 months and then this outbreak started. This outbreak seems resistant to the Chemiclean since it is still going strong after two applications.

I want to know what other anti cyno products everyone has had success with in the past.
 
get to the root of the problem, not just dose something to zap it otherwise it will come back... probably stronger because whatever is feeding it has gotten more juice.

i believe phosphates feed it. reduce feeing the fish some, keep up with water changes, get a phosbane reactor or similar, make sure current and skimming is strong so detritus doesn't settle in the sand/rocks.

everything takes time and is a cycle... this will be a 4-6 week process of cleanup but then the system should be in much better shape.
 
Reduce feeding, hook up a phosphate-absorbing reactor, increase the frequency of water changes, increase the frequency of harvesting macroalgae, check the age of your lights.. those are the first things that come to mind.
 
Already have the phosphate removers working. Water temperature has not cracked about 80 so it isn't that. I am switching to MH next weekend, but the current CF bulbs are only 2 months old. Nitrates are not high. I will try feeding a little bit less and see if that helps.
 
how long are you running yourlight each day? Too much light each day can cause cyno breakouts, and lack of flow in "dead spots"
 
Anytime I hear of cyano, it's usually overfeeding (which leads to heavy phosphates), bad water (tap water, etc.) or lack of flow. I only feed my tanks once every 3 days.

How big is the tank? What are you using for flow?

I don't think your lights are causing the problem. I'd be real interested in knowing your flow and equipment you use to get it.
 
@FranktheTank wrote:
Anytime I hear of cyano said:
Well, it is mostly softies so increasing flow is not an option. Plus flow doesn't really alleviate the problem in the water. Just makes it harder for the cyno to attach to stuff. I will try feeding less and see if that helps.

Also, I am running my actinics 12 hours and my daylights 8 hours which seems to be the majority of what everyone is running.
Click to expand...
 
I'd be cautious of blowing off the flow theory.

You still haven't stated your flow rate and how it is created. I've seen a ton of cyano regress with an upgrade in flow. I wouldn't be too sure that your flow couldn't be increased.

Do you mind sharing your flow and equipment?
I'm simply trying to help.

4 extra hous of actinics is a lot too. Personally I wouldn't go beyond 3 extra hours (1.5 before and after daylight). Also, is your tank in a well lit area? Does sunlight get to it?

What's your feeding schedule?

You may want to cut your lights back to a 4-5 hour cycle for the time being. And I would really look at your flow.
 
"Just makes it harder for the cyno to attach to stuff. I will try feeding less and see if that helps. "

it also keeps detritus in suspension so it can be skimmed or mechanically removed through a filter sock. Without good flow this settles in/under rocks and sand and just feeds the system nutrients.

Flow = good

people always think "i have so much flow... I have so much light"... but in reality it's nothing compared to what the animals receive in the ocean =) even my 400w halides is nothing! my tank wouldn't even look like it was lit up if I brought it outside =(

what is your flow/equipment etc? cyano isn't hard to combat, we just need to know what you have so we can assist you in making some slight changes.

edit: cut your lights to 8-10 hrs MAX including the actinics... 12 hrs is too much. I say 7 hrs daylight and 9 hrs actinics (1 hr morning/evening)
 
Okay, I will try scaling back the lights as well. For flow I have a Koralia 1 and a Penguin 660 powerhead. My HOB filter is the Emperor 400 (flow is at surface for that). Also have a Bak Pak II running with an MJ1200 pushing water through that.

I did water tests today and got this info:

0.2 mg/l (It barely turned the color of the lowest amount which means it is probably even less)

0.10 mg/l nitrate (lowest on the test kit)

8.0 PH

405 ppm of calcium

6 dkh of Alkalinity

So I know I need that Alkalinty up and I don't know what caused it to drop since it has been at 8 forever (can't seem to get it past that). Low Alkalinity should not cause cyno though right?

The tank sometimes gets direct sunlight, but it is very minimal.
 
After reading this because i was having a similar problem I thoughtabout my flow..

The thing is i hav Never had this issue until my flow turnerthingswentout..

So I adjusted my flow to were It would bounce off theside glass on both sides to get it around were I needed itand it worked great..

i am not worried about were I moved itfrom because I have 2 more flowing there...

So i think the thing to do is move flow.. and as i have read here figure out the root of the issue.
 
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