Sick of Cyno....

[bobbbm]

Ok i have had enough.... I have tried everything natural under the sun and all I seem to be doing is making it worse.


I have tried Increasing water flow, doing very frequent water changes... ect ect ect.. at this point it is killing my tree sponge.

So what would you suggest using? This is what I have here to try but have resisted using.


E.M. Tablets 200mg ea... I was told just put 2 tablets in my 72 and it should cover it.

Or
Chemiclean

or anything else?


Thanks in advance

[papagimp]

Chemi clean works wonders and will rid the tank of cyno quickly, but the problem causing your cyno will still be there and it will come back again. You need to figure why you have the cyno in the first place and go from there. But for a quick fix to keep your corals from suffocating underneath the cyno, get some chemiclean and follow the instructions on the box exactly! Let me repeat for emphasis, follow instruction EXACTLY.

[Teknagen]

How often are you feeding?
What are your water parameters?
How long do you have your lights on?
Do you have anything that needs to be cleaned like filter socks/sponges?

Dumping medicine in will only hide the problem temporarly.

[Steverino]

What kind of water are you using to refill?
I had the same thing for a while, every tank goes through it as part of the starting up process, I continued to use RO/DI water only, I changed 10% of the water 2x per week, I added more flow from a powerhead blowing across the sand and rocks, I overskimmed a little i.e. wetskimmed, and used the long-handle scrub brush to get some of it off the rocks when I changed water so that I could vacuum pieces out. It took several weeks but it took its course and went away.

[JeffersonReef]

Try vacuuming your sand bed a bit during ur next water change. Also, how deep is your sand? are you in that 2 to 3" intermediate area? If so, you need to decide: DSB or smaller SB. Have you tested for phosphates and silicates? lastly, how stable are your params? If your ph, temp, etc fluctuate too much, can cause issues.

[bobbbm]

I have 2 SEIO 820 powerheads as well as a MAG 9 running my sump. I use only RO/DI water BUT I just added the DI 3 weeks ago. I feed once a day and I try not to overfeed.

I have a 8X 54 T5 fixture. I keep the Atinic on from 8AM till 1PM then everything on from 1-8PM

I clean the water socks twice a week.

[Gooli]

i had the same problem and discovered i wasnt skimming as much as i needed...once i took care of the skimmer and wet-skimmed the problem went away...are u running a skimmer? which one and how much skimmate are u getting?

im thinking you got high nutrients in the tank.

[saabore]

all information being shared is critical but if you are doing that already, try limiting your light on schedule. What I did was let it sit dark for three days and that took care of the hair like stuff on the sand. I did not have it on my rocks. After that, I just set my lighting to fit the schedule that I can view it which is about 8 hours and have not seen any come back.
good luck

[lbear]

I just fix cyno problem in my 90 gal tank. What happened was that I let binding gel of frozen mysis shrimp get into the tank. It was too late to know it contains phosphate.

I used chemi clean to treat the tank first. Followed by huge water change. But my skimmer went crazy even after that. I kept doing huge water change for 4 weeks until my Deltec APF600 back online.

Now I only feed my tank with rinsed frozen food and pellets. cyno hasn't come back.

[bobbbm]

Ahhh I feed Mysis too.... and I do not rinse it. Can that really cause a problem?

[JeffersonReef]

Ive heard that also... and I also feed frozen foods. I guess its time to switch to my own special blend...

Shame though... im running a 55g sump/fuge with a basketball sized chaeto-ball... and STILL manage to get cyano? outrageous!

-TJ

[reefshadow]

Phosphate is not really a factor in cyano blooms. Cyanobacteria only need nitrogen and carbon dioxide to live, and thus can thrive in relatively nutrient poor conditions. They are unlike algae, with the exception that they obtain their energy through photosynthesis. That's why you can have a thriving fuge taking up phosphates and nitrates, read 0 on tests, and still have cyano.

Like you I tried every conventional "fix". I ramped up flow and the cyano would still grow directly in front of a 2600 GPH Seio. I increased water changes, cut down the photoperiod, reduced feeding, increased alk to 11dkh, manually removed sheets of it, and still it grew all over my sand bed. (new tank, new sand, old rock) I just let it be for 8 weeks to try and wait it out, and still it grew.

I'm not sure what's in Chemiclean, probably potassium permaganate, a powerful oxidizer. Use as instructed if you try it.

I finally broke down and tried the Maracyn FW, it worked like magic, I had no losses in my tank except for the cyano. It didn't impact my biofilter at all that I could detect, and all the fish and corals acted like nothing new had happened. It does make the skimmer go nuts, and you will have to make sure your o2 doesn't drop from the use of it, aim a powerhead at the surface and then dial the skimmer waaaaay back. I waited 5 days and then started a series of 30% water changes. Cyano has never been back. If I remember right I only used 25 percent of the recommended dose on the package. I think it was 800 mg total spread over a period of 4 days, I added a tab a day for 4 days. (240 tank) I dissolved it in RO and added it to a high flow area. I dosed at lights out to take advantage of the fact that the cyano wasn't photosynthesising at that time. By day 2 there was a visible difference, by day 5 it was gone.

I think cyano thrives especially on new rock and sand until other nitrogen fixing bacterias can outcompete it. This may be why new tanks seem to get cyano while it is practically unheard of in matured set ups, unless something badly disturbs the biofilter, tipping the balance in favor of the cyano. Mine probably would have eventually disappeared after being outcompeted, but it was unsightly and growing up against some sand dwelling corals. This logic would also explain why it wouldn't grow on my rock which already had it's own high populations of nitrogen fixing bacterias and other organisms desireable in a reef tank. Just a theory, but it makes sense to me.

Anyhow, the Maracyn worked for me. Anyone trying the Maracyn, DON'T use Maracyn2!!! You can also use the FW Maracyn, it's quite a bit cheaper than the SW.

Just as a caution, a few people have reported crashes from the use of Maracyn and Chemiclean. If you wait this out it will probably disappear eventually. I'm just reporting what worked for me.

Good luck!

[saltwatersucker]

Chemiclean red slime remover is what I would recommend it should clear it up within 48 hours

[bobbbm]

Ok I put the chemiclean in but I only used a 3/4 dose to be safe... So far everything seems ok, Including the Cyno ill let you know in a few days.

Tony I also have a fuge with plenty of Macro algae... go figure.

[lbear]

Don't forget large water change, follow the instruction. I did several huge water changes until I can turn on my skimmer. I got the feeling that cyno "melt" within several hours after dosing chemiclean.

Of course you need to find the root cause of your algae problem. Maybe your tank is still young. There is nothing wrong lowering nutrient level as well as maximizing nutrient export IMO.

[bobbbm]

Ok the Cyno is all but gone and I have to do the water change tomorrow. I picked up a Phosphate test kit today and it was BAD 1.0... No wonder my corals grow slow


Not sure what to do about it.

[bobbbm]

The rest of my tests....

Ammonia 0
Nitrates 0
Phosphate 1.0
Nitrites 0
PH 8.0
ALK 2.97
Mag 1470

[markandkristen]

i would get a phosban reator from marine depot two little fishes carries one and a maxijet 600

[lbear]

keep doing water change. phosban reactor is helpful too.