Why is cyano returning??

[mikesmith34]

It seems as though this stuff is going to haunt me!! Water parameters are very good with PO4 @ .02. I do 15% water changes every 2-3 weeks. Dkh 10 cal 440, 0 detection on trates.
Flow is very good with 4-1400's on wave maker(90 gallon). Running carbon and gfo in reactor changed very 2 weeks. Used aqua life cyano remover about a month ago and it did a great job. Got a SRO SSS1000 doing my skimming.

I reduced feedings to every other day, finger nail size of mysis and 1 cube of cyclopeeze on the weekend. I mean I got to feed the things. I just can't figure out why it's coming back. Where is the fuel at?

I got this light 2x250 20k MH in May of this year and the dude told me the bulbs were new. Now I'm starting to wonder.

What am I missing?
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[heathlindner25]

What's your bioload? I see a pretty big rabbit in there..

 

[mikesmith34]

He's just close to the camera haha hamin' it. He is only 3 inches long. Baby hippo, 3 clowns, star blennie, goby, coral beauty, 2 skunk shrimp and a fire shrimp. Really not that much. My cheato in the fugue will not grow to save my life. I'm stumped

 

[kirkwood]

Not sure how much phosphate is added from your frozen food but you could switch to a cleaner dry pellet food. I use elos pellets. I even feed my rbta with it. I only use frozen if I add a new fish or need to administer metro focus treatment.

Do you have any Tsonga nassarius snails? They would clean the detritus from your sand. Maybe vacuum it and see if the cyano comes back.

 

[curtismaximus]

I would wonder about the bulbs also.
Do you use RODI water?
What size and how long has the tank been running?
Is the cyano in just that spot or all over the tank?

 

[tbub1221]

Do you carbon dose .
I had a hair algae issue that I traded for cyano after 4-5 weeks of carbon dosing.
I had to cut my dose way down to curb its growth.

 

[bhodges82]

I changed my bulbs and cyno was gone in a week. The bulbs are never new, I would not buy new bulbs and then sell my fixture, it doesn't make sense really.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[glxtrix]

Have you moved any rock around or changed anything? Looks more like diatoms...you could be going through a mini re-cycle. I have never used cyano remover, so not sure what that does to water quality after use. Did you do the proper water change after the dose? Also what brand are the bulbs you're using?

 

[ringo®]

+1......that's diatoms

 

[rjrgroup]

+2

 

[mikesmith34]

Kirkwood;911703 wrote: Not sure how much phosphate is added from your frozen food but you could switch to a cleaner dry pellet food. I use elos pellets. I even feed my rbta with it. I only use frozen if I add a new fish or need to administer metro focus treatment.

Do you have any Tsonga nassarius snails? They would clean the detritus from your sand. Maybe vacuum it and see if the cyano comes back.

I have not tried the pellets. I will give them a try. I do have some snails but over the months attrition has lowered their numbers. Time to get some new

Edit:

Curtismaximus;911715 wrote: I would wonder about the bulbs also.
Do you use RODI water?
What size and how long has the tank been running?
Is the cyano in just that spot or all over the tank?

Yes I have the BRS 5 stage chloromine RO?DI system that I bought new in June of this year. 90 gallon tank that I bought from LFS back in May. It had been up and running for a couple of years when I bought it. The Cyano is all along the sand bed and on the top side of rocks.

Edit:

Tbub1221;911722 wrote: Do you carbon dose .
I had a hair algae issue that I traded for cyano after 4-5 weeks of carbon dosing.
I had to cut my dose way down to curb its growth.

I don't carbon dose but I have been preparing to do so. Trying to get the knowledge through reading before jumping into it. Seems rather straight forward as long as you test and dose properly. But as you stated it comes with its own set of issues. I see on here Ralph (mystery) swears by it.

Edit:

bhodges82;911723 wrote: I changed my bulbs and cyno was gone in a week. The bulbs are never new, I would not buy new bulbs and then sell my fixture, it doesn't make sense really.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Bought it from LFS. You are making 100% sense though. I was just taking their word for it.

Edit:

glxtrix;911765 wrote: Have you moved any rock around or changed anything? Looks more like diatoms...you could be going through a mini re-cycle. I have never used cyano remover, so not sure what that does to water quality after use. Did you do the proper water change after the dose? Also what brand are the bulbs you're using?

Interesting!! I have moved some rocks around 2 weeks ago during maintenance and moved them down to the fuge. Trying to make more room and flow in the DT. I did do a water change of 20 gallons after the meds and rockwork removal. It was only about 4 smaller rocks that I took out. The bulbs are coralife 20k's. 2x250

 

[mikesmith34]

rjrgroup;911794 wrote: +2

Seems there is a gathering consensus it's diatoms. OK so I will give it a while to clear on its own. I'm due for a 15 gallon :fish:water change this weekend.

I cant even buy good salt down here. I must order it o/l which means I must spend over 'x' amount to qualify for free shipping. The only thing here is base line IO salt.

Thank all of you for helping a brother out. Ive got a better understanding of whats going on

 

[glxtrix]

Nothing wrong with the regular IO salt...I have used it for years. And it's perfectly fine for the GA Aquarium too

 

[jbadd99]

Diatoms was my first thought as well - looks too brown to be cyano...

I'm on my fifth water change since having my tank moved from my old house and I still have some brown accumulation on the sandbed, though it's slowly dissipating.

 

[mikesmith34]

glxtrix;911817 wrote: Nothing wrong with the regular IO salt...I have used it for years. And it's perfectly fine for the GA Aquarium too

I've been using the coral sea pro. I was under the impression the regular IO salt needs to be used in tandem with dosing which I currently don't do. What are your thoughts on this. Do you think it is all fluff and stuff with better money wasted??:confused2:

 

[snowmansnow]

diatoms.. normally happens within the first 3 -5 months of a tank's life.

if its a new tank it should subside on its own provided conditions are good.

 

[glxtrix]

Mikesmith34;911927 wrote: I've been using the coral sea pro. I was under the impression the regular IO salt needs to be used in tandem with dosing which I currently don't do. What are your thoughts on this. Do you think it is all fluff and stuff with better money wasted??:confused2:

To each their own with salt. That's a really touchy subject here with people. I personally like IO, over the last 9 years in the hobby, that has been the most consistent for me. I do dose, but I also have lots of ca/alk hungry animals in my tank. IO is cheap and it works (for me) that's why I buy it

 

[mcphock]

Just an FYI, I too swear by Carbon Dosing. Nitrates at 1 and phosphate at .02. I spend $3.50 every three months.

Anecdotal evidence for sure. GFO is for chumps

 

[mikesmith34]

McPhock;912010 wrote: Just an FYI, I too swear by Carbon Dosing. Nitrates at 1 and phosphate at .02. I spend $3.50 every three months.

Anecdotal evidence for sure. GFO is for chumps

Do you still run GFO while carbon dosing or can I switch that reactor over to all carbon. Do you use Vodka?

 

[mcphock]

As soon as I started dosing vodka, I ditched GFO. I also went extremely slow in raising my dosage. For my 120 gallon, I dose 4ml per day.

There has only been one downside to this... certain LPS dont seem to like it. I have frogspawn, montis and a duncan that are growing well, but two prized scolys began to suffer. I traded them off before they died. For me, that's a trade off I'll make any day. Again, for me, GFO is a huge hassle and gets expensive.