The Red Menace - Help

[donniea1800]

Hey I need some ideas. I have had my 50 gallon tank set up for about 2 years now. Everything has been fine and now all of a sudden I am getting cyano on the rocks and a little on the sand. I cant really think of anything different that has happened to cause this. It appears I still have good flow in my tank and my T5 bulbs are about 7 months old which I am replacing. I have a phosphate reactor running and a Reef Octopus BH100 HOB skimmer as I have no sump. I usually only run the BRS GFO and BRS Rox 0.8 carbon. I do 5 gallon water changes every week with a 10 gallon change every 3rd week. The only thing I have changed is salt as I was using Seachem reef salt but now using Red Sea Coral Pro. I did notice the cyano before the salt change so I don't think its the salt.

Any other recommendations to get rid of this stuff? A LFS sold me some chemiclean but I am hesitant to use that. I would prefer to fix it naturally if I can. I have never tried any kind of carbon dosing as I don't know if my HOB skimmer would provide enough power for carbon dosing. I have always heard you need a large and powerful skimmer for that. For corals I have mainly LPS and softies. I do also have a clam and a rock anemone. Everything is doing well except for the cyano so something must be off but I cant figure it out.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0.1 at most, told I need some for my clam
PH - always run about 7.9 to 8.0
Alk - was low but got it up to 8
Phosphate - don't test but run GFO constantly
Calcium - 400
Temp - 79-80
Salinity - 1.026

 

[snowmansnow]

chemiclean is good stuff if you follow the directions perfectly. Honestly, its the ONLY think Ive ever been able to get rid of cyano with...

 

[heathlindner25]

SnowManSnow;945020 wrote: chemiclean is good stuff if you follow the directions perfectly. Honestly, its the ONLY think Ive ever been able to get rid of cyano with...

I like "red slime remover" better... less caustic...

 

[saltloco]

Yes I've had good luck w chemi clean also. Just try cutting back on feeding some. And less light. Has helped me alot.

 

[mikesmith34]

Kinda like natural child birth over epidural.. WHY?? Use the chem clean or red slime remover. I've used red slime remover twice and works great. Did not effect anything in anyway.

 

[jennm]

It's that time of year, more people will experience cyano issues than usual. Don't know why but spring is cyano time.

I'd suggest testing for phosphate. What brand of test kit are you using for the rest?

How long is your photoperiod?

Jenn

 

[jeffmuse]

I also use red slime remover to kill off cyano. One dose will usually do it, but be prepared to do a couple of big water changes afterwords.... you skimmer will go crazy due the highly oxygenated water.

 

[donniea1800]

Well guys I finally worked up the courage. Dosed the chemiclean and a day later it was gone. Nice! I sucked out any dead remnants and did my water change. Skimmer was crazy for a few hours but has since went back to normal. My rocks look really clean now. No losses just fish were a little freaked with all the micro bubbles and my hammer was mad for about a day. Clam, anemone, urchin, starfish, shrimp all fish also. Great stuff! I am also upping my water changes and getting new bulbs to keep it from returning. I also have added another WP25 pump for more water flow.

 

[donniea1800]

Sorry I meant all fine also. lol

 

[mikesmith34]

Hey that's great news!! See that wasn't so bad after all. I do understand being a little freaked out. You put so much time and effort into your tank, it freaks you out to put "chemicals" in it. I may be wrong but I think it's actually a bacterium kinda like an antobiotic not a chemical. Anyway glad it helped!

 

[rk4435]

I may have to try it, I've been fighting Cyano in my 90 gallon tank for several weeks. Even with GFO lowering PO4 and Purigen for Nitrates I can't seem to shake it. Last night I was brushing Red Slime off the display side of the overflow, I always though high flow areas were unlikely spots.