cyano control

[Curve50880]

For the past several months I have been dealing with cyano on my sand and on my rock. I was using tap water which in my opinion must have caused it. I have a 20 gallon tank with no sump that has been running for about 10 months. My flow is pretty strong (hydor korolia and a maxijet900 with hydor flo) and my tank is lightly stocked. So here is my game plan of what I have done and what I plan to do. Tell me what you think...

1.Past 2 weeks, 2 water changes with RODI water using reef crystals salt and continuing to do this every weekend.
2.Removing cyano manually during water changes and during the week.
3.Feed every other day instead of every day.
4.Changing from flake food to frozen food.
5.Using phytoplex once a week instead of 3 times a week.
6.Ordered a Red Branching Codium macro algae to put in my display tank.
7.Thinking about ordering a protein skimmer. Remora HOB or Octopus BH100

Please tell me if there is anything else I can do differently. Thanks in advance guys!

[skinz78]

do you have a refugium? if not plan on adding one.

[Curve50880]

Dont have room for a refugium that why I was going to put the macro algae that I ordered in my tank.

[rppvt]

how about a HOB refugium? One with a skimmer built in is good . In any case get rid of those phosphates as soon as possible. and if you can afford to cut back on the lighting, do that (in hours, not in amount of light) This is what worked for me. You are obviously not alone!

[Curve50880]

Yea i would love to do a hob which i had running but the filter was too loud and i couldnt sleep lol. As far as lighting I have been slowly cutting back. Any other suggestions???? I am eager to hear other responses...

[zhenjw]

All I did was manually remove the cyano and after changing to RO/DI H2O it never returned. Also, change the flow so that the water doesnt have any dead spots to let the cyano grow.

[Curve50880]

I really think the skimmer will help a lot because I have a lot of little junk that blows off my rocks and sand if disturbed.

[benzreef]

the addition of my skimmer plus near daily maintenance of blowing off rocks, siphoning everything and mechanical filter changes has worked for me. if there is an easier way, I'm all ears. but it has worked for me. I also used carbon and Bio-chem-zorb religiously which may have helped.

[rbursek]

if you do not keep the machanical filters really kean the are nitrate factories, you are doing every thing right, there was a thread about turning off the lights for 3 days to stop it, I did it and it works.
Bob

[Curve50880]

yea but im pretty sure that just turning out the lights does not take care of the nutrient problem in the tank.

[bbehring]

RODI plus good export (through WC and skimming) is the key. Might cut back on the amount your feeding and reduce your display photoperiod 1 to 2 hours. You could also employ a phos ban reactor with rowaphos or pura complete. Might look and a diamond sand goby, as these little guys sift through the sand keeping it crystal clean!

[Curve50880]

I was thinking about a phosban reactor but I dont have a sump...any idea of a HOB design for phosban reactor. That would be something I would look into further down the road though.

[flyguy7150]

Originally posted by Curve50880
I was thinking about a phosban reactor but I dont have a sump...any idea of a HOB design for phosban reactor. That would be something I would look into further down the road though.

you dont need a sump for a phosban reactor. Two little fishies can HOB.

[Curve50880]

oh really didnt know that...good to know for the future. Thank you for the clarification.

Any other suggestions???

[SAPseven]

i have a 55 with no sump just a skimmer ...

try the following

queen conch .. scarlet hermits .. phosban ... i use tap water no ro unit . i don't have any cyano problems or algea problems.

also check yur bulbs.. old bulbs can do that too.

[Curve50880]

Will the queen conch and scarlet hermits help? Is a 20 gallon too small for a queen conch?

Bulbs are good tho

[scotmc]

I have had the same problem. I ran phosban and had no results removing the bacteria. Save your money and get a skimmer. A gobby is a great fish for sand sifting. What type of rock are you using, as they could be the source of your problem.

[Curve50880]

I am using a mix of tonga and fiji live rock. Yea I just ordered the octopus BH 100 today...I heard a lot of good things from a lot of people about it.