cyano again

[StarGazer_1]

Anyone ever tried "Chemiclean" to get rid of it?
Its back

[Julio]

are you dosing kalwasser in yoru system? how good is yoru flow? and how often are you feeding?

[capn_hylinur]

I have had great success with red slime remover-----------but

as a last resort. You need to get to the source of the problem or it will come back.
Its usually overfeeding or feeding methods that increase phosphate levels and questions of adequate flow.

Try feeding less but more often and rinse all frozen food with tank or r/0 water before using--they can sometimes contain phosphates that the pick up from the growing tanks.

Direct a power head at the area to increase flow.

Use a turkey baster to lightly baste the top area of the substrate---enough to put some of the detrius back into the water coloumn where it can be filtered off.

invest in a phosban reactor and phosbane(about 35 dollars)

[capn_hylinur]

...........sorry network reset-------

For using red slime remover--it is recommended that tanks be established more then six months. It is a bacteriacide---so the good bacteria in your tank will take a hit as well as the cyano.
They will come back but your tank will need recylcing time.

since I have ran this system I have had excellent water clarity and low phosphates:

[aninjaatemyshoe]

I've had good luck with turning off the lights for a couple of days every few weeks. This knocks out many types of algae without harming your corals. GFO and higher flow are the first things I'd try, however.

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by aninjaatemyshoe
I've had good luck with turning off the lights for a couple of days every few weeks. This knocks out many types of algae without harming your corals. GFO and higher flow are the first things I'd try, however.

this probably works well for you because you have isolated your phosphate problems.
Reefers who use this method and don't solve the phophate problems behind the cyano and algae problem usually find the problem returning when the lights come back on

[mg426]

If you do use chemi clean or red Slime remover the Cyano WILL come back unless you remove the source of the excess nutrients !!!!

[scotmc]

I also have the same problem. My tank is 4 months old. I have a phosban reactor, use rodi and I only have two fish. My flow is at 36x tank volume. It has grown near the power head. I feed the tang every day with a strip of nori. Everyother day I also feed mysis shrimp ( a 1/4 cube). I have no idea why it's growing. It only grows when I use my 4 day lights for 8hours. I am not interested in adding chemicals. I have done 20% water changes and kept the light off for two days now. Can this little feed be the source? My phosbates read zero and have never been a problem.

[Mavrk]

How old is your tank? As Capn said, that stuff is for established tanks. He says at least 6 months, but I would probably up that to 1 yr. Even then I don't think you should use it. Some have had success, but some have had issues. Yes, a lot of those with problems were in younger tanks, but it is still too risky to me. I don't like adding those kind of chemicals to my tank.

If you turn out your lights for 3 days, then run 1 day of actinics. Your cyano will go away (or at least most of it). You may have to do this a few times. Give it a month (or two if you have coral) in between treatments. But it will work as affectively as the red slime remover. That is to say that the cyano will come back if you don't remove the source.

Get a phosban reactor and fill it with phosban (or equivelent). Do the lights off thing. Don't overfeed and make sure you have enough flow.

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by Mavrk
How old is your tank? As Capn said, that stuff is for established tanks. He says at least 6 months, but I would probably up that to 1 yr. Even then I don't think you should use it. Some have had success, but some have had issues. Yes, a lot of those with problems were in younger tanks, but it is still too risky to me. I don't like adding those kind of chemicals to my tank.

If you turn out your lights for 3 days, then run 1 day of actinics. Your cyano will go away (or at least most of it). You may have to do this a few times. Give it a month (or two if you have coral) in between treatments. But it will work as affectively as the red slime remover. That is to say that the cyano will come back if you don't remove the source.

Get a phosban reactor and fill it with phosban (or equivelent). Do the lights off thing. Don't overfeed and make sure you have enough flow.

I couldn't agree more. Even running the carbon will help indirectly --it does some absorbing of dissolved organics. Its an easy setup like a pictured above.

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by scotmc
I also have the same problem. My tank is 4 months old. I have a phosban reactor, use rodi and I only have two fish. My flow is at 36x tank volume. It has grown near the power head. I feed the tang every day with a strip of nori. Everyother day I also feed mysis shrimp ( a 1/4 cube). I have no idea why it's growing. It only grows when I use my 4 day lights for 8hours. I am not interested in adding chemicals. I have done 20% water changes and kept the light off for two days now. Can this little feed be the source? My phosbates read zero and have never been a problem.

you still could have phosphates in your system even though you get a zero reading----algae and cyano could be eating it up as soon as it is produced.

Are you rinsing the frozen mysis etc--they are known to contain phosphates from the breeding tanks. I use a small brine shrimp net and rinse over the sink with tank water or r/o water----not tap water

the other probable source is from the live rock---at the 4 month stage it still could be releasing phosphates into the main tank

[fali]

Do slime algae feed on nitrates too?

[S_Stoney_S]

Without wanting to hijack the thread, ive noticed I get the worst cyno outbreaks in my inflow chamber of my sump. No doubt about flow here. IMO its like a mythical hyrda, you have to cut of all its heads at once, otherwise it will keep growing them back like all pests.

[Freed]

Capn- how does that phosban reactor work? How do you set it up? Powerhead for feeding it or dosing pump? What media do you put in one?

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by Freed
Capn- how does that phosban reactor work? How do you set it up? Powerhead for feeding it or dosing pump? What media do you put in one?

any powerhead or mini dosing pump---it comes with a control valve that will regulate the flow.

You add the phosban as instructed on the container, then adjust the flow so that the phosphate it is just very slightly heaving.

when I change the phosban I run it into my filter sock for about 30 sec---it removes any of the dust that get by the top filter on the phosban reactor.

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by Freed
Capn- how does that phosban reactor work? How do you set it up? Powerhead for feeding it or dosing pump? What media do you put in one?

the thread of the month --last month was on this topic---I look later for the link for you.

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by S_Stoney_S
Without wanting to hijack the thread, ive noticed I get the worst cyno outbreaks in my inflow chamber of my sump. No doubt about flow here. IMO its like a mythical hyrda, you have to cut of all its heads at once, otherwise it will keep growing them back like all pests.

Yeah, cyano seems to love sumps (even with high flow). Turn off the light for a few days in the sump area. Cyano in the sump will add spores into the DT and cause another outbreak. If you have macro algae in there, you can put it in your DT for the few days.

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by fali
Do slime algae feed on nitrates too?

Yes. They feed on nitrates and phosphates.

and...

[welcome]

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
the thread of the month --last month was on this topic---I look later for the link for you.

it was septembers thread of the month:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1182318