My Experience with Cyano Problems

H

hegi

I have been battling cyano bacteria in our 20 gallon mixed reef for at least 4-5 months. As of this week it is almost completely gone. I never deviated from a normal maintenance schedule or added any chemicals to battle it. I took this approach after reading posts on RC and here, magazine articles, etc. that stress the idea of letting your tank go through its cycles. The only thing I ran, as I do in all three of my tanks, was phosguard and carbon. I do bimonthly water changes as well.

IMO sometimes people concentrate too much on the quick fix. If you just let "nature take its course" to use an old cliche, a lot of stuff will work itself out with time and sensible maintenance. So, if you are battling cyano, definitely syphon it off the sand and rocks and off your corals, make sure you have adequate flow, stick to a normal maintenance schedule, and give it time before dumping quick fix chemicals into your tank.
 
Ben/Hegi,All
We too have taken that approach for the most part. In the past I've used chemi-clean (and still have it), but we let both our 140g and our 210 gal tanks cycle through the cyano more 'naturally' and without using it. I did try ozone on the 140g and it also didn't really help. Raising the alkalinity and pH some seemed to help, but it often came back again. I have good flow in the 210 especially and even it wouldn't keep it off the rock surfaces unless it was directly in the path of the Tunzes. I never really changed any other feeding/etc and just kept it blown off of my corals mostly by using a MJ powerhead when it started to encroach on them too badly. It sure does make the tank look bad, but I really wanted it to 'eat itself away' or find the bio-balance that seems to keep it in check after it settle out. Both tanks took between 4-5-6 months each to get past that point, but I'm glad I waited it out this time. I know that *each* time I've changed salts, I get a breakout again, so I'm not planning on doing that anytime soon. I currently have very little even in the refugium now too.
Doug
 
I'm glad others have had similar positive experiences using this method. It's kind of like those beautiful tanks you see sometimes whose owners literally do almost nothing to them besides water changes, don't have a lot of equipment, and just let them do their thing.
 
Those people have the tank i'm trying to get to. Just 2 part, and water changes monthly.

I guess i'm almost there, Still get some cyano though. tank only been up 1 year and has progressed well
 
I agree totally with the "let it ride" approach. I've tried just about everything to get rid of it when I had it. The only thing that REALLY seem to work is letting it run its course.
 
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