Angered Cyano in my 29g

[swalke2]

I did a search and it only yeilded the same stuff I have been doing.

Same ol story,ank was fine before Christmas get home to see a maroon growth in my tank. After looking at pics and talking to LFS it was determined to be cyano.

I cut feeding back to one time a day and to an amount half of what I was feeding.

I left lights off for a few days, thought it was licked, but it came back the next day.

I only keep lights on now for about 8-10 hours.

All water test appear to be in range and exactly as they were before vacation.

I am running a prism skimmer that has the charcoal chamber along with an aquaclear 50.

I have also got a Korila 1 and 2 in there and have never had a problem with lack of flow.

Here is where I made it mad.

Because of the holidays I was not doing my normal weekly water changes.

I did a good water change 3 days ago (25%) and while the water level was down I scooped up the big chunks that I saw hoping that would help.

The floor is now splotchy with new growth and looks to be spreading.

Is it possiable that microscopic peices of cyano are maybe caught in the filter/sponge/ media etc and feeding the tank? If so how often should I be changing my media? Is a disassemble of filter needed? The aquaclear is using a sponge and a filterbag with carbon.

Would a new filter be benificial maybe an aquaclear 70 or bigger?


Suggestions appreciated.

Here are some photos
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[firstfear]

Using RO water or tap water?

 

[swalke2]

oops sorry meant to mention that I am using RO

 

[gixxer600]

How about flow in the tank. Do you have any and is it enough. In my experience increasing flow can sometimes help the situation.

 

[swalke2]

yes great flow from a Korila 1 and a Korila 2. I actually thought I had to much flow at one time because it looked like the coral was going to get ripped off the rocks. I looked for "dead space" and couldnt find any.

The power heads are on either side of tank pointed at front glass.

 

[swalke2]

Also the pics above are from today. I didnt get any when it was in soild form and slick looking.

 

[misu]

Siphon it at the end of the photo period and leave the lights off for another day every few days. This did it for me. There's also a chemical solution that turns your water yellow for a couple of days but most people don't like that approach

 

[swalke2]

Siphon = vaccum for doing the water change?
How do i tell when photo period is done.

I dont see it in the am after lights have been off, but once on for a bit it gets darker

 

[misu]

swalke2;600087 wrote: Siphon = vaccum for doing the water change?
How do i tell when photo period is done.

I dont see it in the am after lights have been off, but once on for a bit it gets darker

Your photo period is done when the lights go off

So just like you noticed vacuum the stuff right before the lights go out to get the most then leave the lights off the next day. Repeat the process if it comes back

 

[brianjfinn]

There's something that's feeding the cyano. If you turned lights off for a few days and it came back, I would bet siphoning and turning the lights off again will lead to another dead end.

How often do you clean the filtration in the aquaclear? In my experience, hang on back filters can be pure nitrate factories. The filter media should be changed fairly often. Do frequent water changes and try to find if there's something that's keeping your nutrient levels up.

 

[mojo]

I agree with Brian- increasing flow may cause the problem to move to another place, but it's still there. Alage (and cyano) require three things to grow: nutrients, light, and carbon dioxide. You're not going to get rid of the last one, and your corals need light, which only leaves nutrients. Consider adding carbon and/or doing more water changes.

If you want to get a headstart on things, I'd recommend turning off your lights for three full days (completely - don't turn them on once) and starve out the cyano. But also understand that with no other changes, the cyano will come back - you've got to get rid of the nutrients in your tank.

 

[swalke2]

Well thats the thing. Before the holidays it was weekly water chages and filter media every other week. i had no problems then(that I could see)

Thats why I asked about maybe particles in the aquaclear feeding the cano back into the tank. I am getting back on that routine. Ill do a do a deep cleaning on the aqua clear, skimmer and power heads and then do a vaccum/water change and see if I start seeing better results.

Thanks for the help! ill report back in a few days.

Steve

 

[mojo]

How long has this tank been setup? To get a cyano outbreak for the first few months (even after the tank has cycled) is normal, and will typically go away on it's own as long as you keep up routine maintenance.

 

[enderg60]

when all else fails, suck out as much as you can and use chemi-clean.

 

[swalke2]

I guess I am about 4/5 months in to having it up and running fully.

I'd rather not use chemicals. To me, that seems to just mask a problem and not resolve the issue. If I am doing somthing wrong in my tank I need to change what I am doing and learn not to do it again.

 

[brianjfinn]

swalke2;600265 wrote: Well thats the thing. Before the holidays it was weekly water chages and filter media every other week. i had no problems then(that I could see)

Thats why I asked about maybe particles in the aquaclear feeding the cano back into the tank. I am getting back on that routine. Ill do a do a deep cleaning on the aqua clear, skimmer and power heads and then do a vaccum/water change and see if I start seeing better results.

Thanks for the help! ill report back in a few days.

Steve

Once you get it, it's much more difficult to get rid of it. Patience and diligence will be key in defeating it.

swalke2;600271 wrote: I guess I am about 4/5 months in to having it up and running fully.

I'd rather not use chemicals. To me, that seems to just mask a problem and not resolve the issue. If I am doing somthing wrong in my tank I need to change what I am doing and learn not to do it again.

I'm the same way. Chemicals, to me, are quick-fix band-aids that don't remove the issue, they only mask the symptoms. Here, the cyano is a symptom of another issue, and it seems you would rather remove the issue. :up:

Chris mentioned something that (for some stupid reason) I always seem to forget. Running carbon. In addition to frequent water changes, changing out the filter media, and reducing feeding, you should be able to combat this fairly quickly.

 

[swalke2]

That seems like the right direction to head for now.

 

[phi79]

I have the same problem with my tank with a lot of small bubbles on the rock and my water param are perfect, here is how I win my battle, run GFO the right amount recommend on Bulk Reef supply and change them every two weeks some LPS will bleach, water change 3 time a week, blow off two time a day and suck out as much as you can and cut back on the feeding(very important).

 

[jase75]

Adding some sand sifting snails, shrimp or fish that will keep at least the sand stirred up enough to keep it from taking hold there. But like the previous posts say, it is part of the tank cycling. Have patience and keep doing what you're doing, you should be fine.

 

[grouper therapy]

Even a tank 4 to 5 months old can go through a cyano outbreak with excellent water quality. Your system has to reach a balance in the nitrifying bacteria . During this time some of the anaerobic bacteria (usually in the sand bed) will possible die off and or produce hydrogen sulfide which cyano bacteria can feed from. I have seen very few new tanks that did not have at least a mild out break.