Cyano- PLEASE HELP- i'm going nuts

Riseupreefer

Member
Messages
18
Reaction score
9
Location
Braselton, GA
So I ran into this issue around a year ago; i'm not entirely sure where it came from and why I cant get rid of it. It's become a weekly battle for almost a year and I keep losing. Ive drained the tank, scrubbed the rocks, tried 25/50/75/100% water changes, media changes, scrubbed the backwall, scrubbed AIO unit in the back of the biocube, added a skimmer, removed and changed all the sand, tried vibrant, tried chemiclean for red cyano, moved the tank for less sunlight and changed the lighting schedule... and now i'm out of ideas and running out of energy... i've got it to stop growing on the walls, powerhead and sand currently. Now it's starting to slowly pop back up on the rocks again; Tuesday I had none, Wednesday i saw a few spots I blew off with the baster. Today there are several spots on the rocks..

Can someone please offer me some advice on how I can completely ELIMINATE this cyano...please

I currently have two clowns, one conch, and 13 nessarius snails (10 are a new purchase), one zoa plug and some GSP.

all perameters are in check, salinity is a hair low but i'm bringing it up slowly.

Thank you in advance
 
I'm not qualified to give advice and don't really know the science behind water chemistry, etc but my cyano went away after I started dosing nitrates.
My nitrates were always 0 and my phosphates were usually around .1.
 
Yeah what are your parameters?

I battled with cyano for about 5 months. I was trying to fight it naturally but couldn't win. I finally bought some Chemiclean. Followed the instructions and haven't seen them since.
 
A UV light cleared all of the cyano in my tank except in my refugium. I've heard a GFO reactor will help get rid of them.
 
My go to information. I added UV to my tank to kill as much as possible stuff in water column and used phosgard for a few months until I added GFO reactor. If you are using dry rock, it’s highly likely to leach phosphates into the water. I also keep a bottle of bacteria in fridge to dose after heavy water changes. I cycled with Dr Tims All In One and Seed. Hope this helps.
 

Attachments

  • 7575B115-AF55-400D-A29F-FDC190716412.jpeg
    7575B115-AF55-400D-A29F-FDC190716412.jpeg
    172.7 KB · Views: 38
  • 5B61594F-31CC-4B55-A7FE-28225329E419.jpeg
    5B61594F-31CC-4B55-A7FE-28225329E419.jpeg
    131.9 KB · Views: 19
  • 2CEAC419-EB34-4695-B5BD-64D441E19344.jpeg
    2CEAC419-EB34-4695-B5BD-64D441E19344.jpeg
    175.4 KB · Views: 36
I just did a test on the tank and attached are the results.
Higher phosphates and zero nitrates = nuisance algae. Reduce your phosphates and increase nitrates a tiny bit and you win.

Do you have a refugium?
 
Your Phosphates are on the high side IMO. Try getting those down. There are a lot of ways to do so. GFO for example.
 
Higher phosphates and zero nitrates = nuisance algae. Reduce your phosphates and increase nitrates a tiny bit and you win.

Do you have a refugium?
I don't have a refugium, I have a Biocube setup that I'd like to add a few things to; not sure how to go about it though to be honest.

I added aquavitro phosfiltrum last weekend, what else can I do to lower phosphates and raise nitrates?
 
Running a skimmer? If so, turn it off. That's just pulling what will become nitrates out.

What kind of rock did you use? A lot of rock will leech phosphates out.

When I had my biocube, I put a mesh bag of GFO in the return chamber so that water was forced thru it. Be sure to rinse the gfo out before it goes in your tank. Just use rodi water until the bag drains clear.
 
I added phosfiltrum last weekend, I also have chemipure blue in the middle chamber. Any other suggestions?
Remove the chemipure. Seriously. It'll eat up your nitrates and doesn't work for phosphates.
 
Also - cyano thrives in low flow. If you're just using the biocube return, I'd add a powerhead if you don't have a sea hare or anemones, etc.
 
Running a skimmer? If so, turn it off. That's just pulling what will become nitrates out.

What kind of rock did you use? A lot of rock will leech phosphates out.

When I had my biocube, I put a mesh bag of GFO in the return chamber so that water was forced thru it. Be sure to rinse the gfo out before it goes in your tank. Just use rodi water until the bag drains clear.
Alright, i'll turn the skimmer off. It's live rock from the previous owner, it was included with the aquarium when I purhcased it so i've had it in the tank for about a year and 1/2. I'll swap the phosfiltrum bag to the return chamber.
 
Alright, i'll turn the skimmer off. It's live rock from the previous owner, it was included with the aquarium when I purhcased it so i've had it in the tank for about a year and 1/2. I'll swap the phosfiltrum bag to the return chamber.
Roll with that for at least a week. Measure daily so you can note progress. Be patient - it'll work itself out.
 
Back
Top