Angered Cyano in my 29g
- Thread starter swalke2
- Start date
Okay well the Cyano has really got me bothered!
I have been doing 2x per week water changes
increased filtration to marinland 350 with 4 carbon cartridges
feed a very tiny bit every other day
added another K1 power head
tried to vaccum it out of there
tried to scoop it out
and just completed a cycle of the lights off for 3 days. i just turned them on and
Cyano is still there and has gotten bigger and hairier
I know some have said that being a newer tank it will go through this cycle but the cyano seems to be spreading and getting bigger.
I feel like I have thrown everything at it short of chemicals.
Do I need to calm down and let it take its course or is it time to fight it with chemicals?
Again any advice would be appreciated.
Steve
I have been doing 2x per week water changes
increased filtration to marinland 350 with 4 carbon cartridges
feed a very tiny bit every other day
added another K1 power head
tried to vaccum it out of there
tried to scoop it out
and just completed a cycle of the lights off for 3 days. i just turned them on and
Cyano is still there and has gotten bigger and hairier
I know some have said that being a newer tank it will go through this cycle but the cyano seems to be spreading and getting bigger.
I feel like I have thrown everything at it short of chemicals.
Do I need to calm down and let it take its course or is it time to fight it with chemicals?
Again any advice would be appreciated.
Steve
Any GFO or other absorbent (Purigen, ChemiPure, etc. in the mix?).
If it's really bugging you, use Chemi-clean. I've used it a few times with no unwanted effects when I got to the point that it sounds like you are.
Just realize that it's a band-aid and it will come back if you don't solve the root cause.
If it's really bugging you, use Chemi-clean. I've used it a few times with no unwanted effects when I got to the point that it sounds like you are.
Just realize that it's a band-aid and it will come back if you don't solve the root cause.
I'd highly recommend just letting it run it's course. It's not harming anything, so IMO, there's no reason to add chemicals to the tank that could start more problems.
You say you just did a 3-day lights out cycle... are you sure that no light could get to the tank? I've never seen a 3-day lights out NOT work...
yup 3 days no direct lights. The tank is in my living room, but in a corner so there is nothing other than the light in the room from windows and even that is not direct. Should I wrap it in something? What really got me worried this am is that its getting hairy.
I actually just got back from Pure and had a water test done again and my PH is low (7). They thought this might be a cause of the problem so I will buffer it for the next few days and see if it helps.
Gwiz, I am not sure what GFO is but there is nothing but carbon and filter pads. Nothing else added to water other than salt.
Thanks everyone!
I actually just got back from Pure and had a water test done again and my PH is low (7). They thought this might be a cause of the problem so I will buffer it for the next few days and see if it helps.
Gwiz, I am not sure what GFO is but there is nothing but carbon and filter pads. Nothing else added to water other than salt.
Thanks everyone!
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Add a powerhead, add lots of blueleg crabs to eat it.
Thanks for the explaination on GFO and advice on PH.
I already had a dozen blue leg and they didnt touch the stuff. I read last night ( everything written online is true right?) that Halloween hermits will eat cyano. Picked one up today and he seems to be eating it. Ill give it a few more days and report back.
Thanks again everyone!
I already had a dozen blue leg and they didnt touch the stuff. I read last night ( everything written online is true right?) that Halloween hermits will eat cyano. Picked one up today and he seems to be eating it. Ill give it a few more days and report back.
Thanks again everyone!
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A dozen crabs will not be enough 29 gallon would need a minimum 45 crabs otherwise there enough other tasty food for them to eat. I usually due 2 per gallon.
Guys,
This is just my opinion, but I have had times where cyano is present and I am doing everything right...lots of flow, 100 micron socks rinsed every other day, water changes, GFO, cheato, conservative feeding, proper KH/Ca/Mag levels....etc., and it is still there.
We think that we are still either doing something wrong, or not doing something we should be doing.
We ignore possibly the largest source of phosphates right in front of our faces: our live rock. We may just be going through the release of some phosphate from our live rock, and short of pulling it there may not be anything else we can do except export what we can and wait for levels to decline. It wouldn't surprise me if as critters burrow in the rock and things grow on them, and as the normal course of biological function happens, pockets of phosphate get exposed and start seeping out into the tank water. This phosphate becomes available for cyano and it multiplies. When the phosphate seepage declines and the amount of phosphate available to the cyano decreases, so does the amount of cyano.
In other words, cyano may appear from time to time despite our best efforts to get rid of it, and it isn't our fault from lack of trying. Again, the above JMO.
This is just my opinion, but I have had times where cyano is present and I am doing everything right...lots of flow, 100 micron socks rinsed every other day, water changes, GFO, cheato, conservative feeding, proper KH/Ca/Mag levels....etc., and it is still there.
We think that we are still either doing something wrong, or not doing something we should be doing.
We ignore possibly the largest source of phosphates right in front of our faces: our live rock. We may just be going through the release of some phosphate from our live rock, and short of pulling it there may not be anything else we can do except export what we can and wait for levels to decline. It wouldn't surprise me if as critters burrow in the rock and things grow on them, and as the normal course of biological function happens, pockets of phosphate get exposed and start seeping out into the tank water. This phosphate becomes available for cyano and it multiplies. When the phosphate seepage declines and the amount of phosphate available to the cyano decreases, so does the amount of cyano.
In other words, cyano may appear from time to time despite our best efforts to get rid of it, and it isn't our fault from lack of trying. Again, the above JMO.
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Cyano can use any dissolved organic as a food source not just phosphates in fact it has the ability to produce cells called "akinetes" that store food reserves. You said you are using ro water, are you also using di media after the ro? As Amici stated concerning 0 TDS. you may want to test the ro water .If you don't you may be introducing silicates into the water another source of nutrients. Doing water changes may actually contribute to the problem if the ro/di? water contains high tds. Once you address the source of the nutrients. The cyano can also feed from nitrates. If you tested for nitrates and read undetectable it may be that the bacteria is consuming the nitrates at a rate close to their introduction.
As Mojo stated earlier lights out will help in the eradication process since it is photosynthetic especially true after the nutrient source is found and fixed.
As Mojo stated earlier lights out will help in the eradication process since it is photosynthetic especially true after the nutrient source is found and fixed.
The akinetes Dave mentioned are thick walled resting cells made for unfavorable environmental conditions, so if you remove the light and the other cyano cells die, the akinetes remain. Then when light or favorable conditions return, cell division occurs within the akinete, the cell wall ruptures, and out pops a new filament of algae. The food storage function of akinetes is for the cells that will grow within it, not normal cellular respiration, at least from the info I was able to find.
Tenacious stuff.
Tenacious stuff.
Thanks everyone. Appears to be 99.97% gone. Seems to have cleared since adding some scarlet(5) halloween hermits (1) (10) snails, removing 1 power head but really started to clear on day 3 of ph buffer.
I will just assume that there was combination of what i did that knocked it out. Tanks params are all the same just no hairy red coating on everything.
Thanks for all you help, but now im bored cause all i can do is sit and stare at a happy tank .........until i mess up next
I will just assume that there was combination of what i did that knocked it out. Tanks params are all the same just no hairy red coating on everything.
Thanks for all you help, but now im bored cause all i can do is sit and stare at a happy tank .........until i mess up next
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I also have a cyano problem despite perfect parameters, excellent water movement, lifght feeding, good skimming, regular water changes, RODI only, and an understocked tank (and a pratically bare bottom). My tank is 15 months old. Despite get O reading from my inline TDS meter, before and after my DI stage of my RODI unit, i just purchased a hand-held TDS meter to ensure that my inline meter was working. The hand-held unit consistently read 1 ppm (maybe the vessel holding the sample was "dirty".) I will test again, but I think 1ppm of TDS shouldn't contribute too much my cyano problem. Several months ago, I experienced a local cyano out beark (just one spot in the tank), but I traced it to some naturally sunlight hitting the tank in tht area. I cover the window and it went away. Who knows. I hope this helps. I do have a ton of what looks like tiny white star fish that adhere to the back of the tank.
