HELP! Cyano problems

[desertranger]

I have been battling cyano for a while now. i have done multiple treatments with chemi-clean and it keeps coming back, or never really goes away. I have just added a u/v light to see if that helps. not sure what else to do. it is a 40g tank with a 10g refugium that is flourishing. my make up water is ro/di @ 0 ppm nitrates and phosphates are both @ 0 via Salifert test kits.

http://s1277.photobucket.com/user/desertranger1/media/40 gal reef tank/IMAG0800_zps7p87bi2y.jpg.html

 

[frisbee]

How many power heads do you have in the tank. Sometimes increasing the flow will help to alleviate this problem.

 

[melvis]

Can you blackout the tank for a couple of days or so? That's how I cleared mine up, that and increased flow.

 

[sirrealism]

The chemi-clean only masks the issue. Flow is one of the most important things to help you get rid of it. Also are you using activated carbon and GFO. I know your tests are showing 0 but thats because its in the cyno just like it would be in GHA. When doing a WC use a hose and vacuum the cyno out. When you use chemiclean it kills it which releases the P04 and N03 back into the water which then feeds the cyno again. How old is this system. It seems most everyone gets cyno at about the 1 year mark. Sometimes I wonder if this happens when the tank is finally mature.

 

[mtsully71]

Good advice from sirrealism and Melivs, flow, waterchanges and vac.....Chemicals can often complicate an issue, resulting in other issues, kinda like taking a pill to counter the effects of another pill.

Every 2-3 months just because I can, I shut off the lights and go dark for 3 days. IMO I think it just really helps inhibit the growth of any cyano and other bad algae in the tank. Doing so has never adversely affected my tank and honestly gives my rocks a nice cleaned up look.

Good luck, you will get it cleared up

 

[sirrealism]

I just wish the 3 day dark would put a dent in my bubble algae. But not going to be that easy. Back to picking bubbles out of my tank!

 

[DianaKay]

I just wish the 3 day dark would put a dent in my bubble algae. But not going to be that easy. Back to picking bubbles out of my tank!

I think NOTHING really works to eliminate GBA EXCEPT continuous manual removal. I too, wish there was a "cure" for it!
As far a Cyanobacteria goes, I think we all have or will have to deal with it sooner or later. It's an ongoing battle for me mostly in my refugium. The water circulation in my refugium slows too much when I don't prune back my chaeto often enough. It slowly goes away when I do. That tells me that water movement might be some of the cause.

Increase your water circulation, don't slack on weekly WCs & siphon out as much as you can. DON'T GIVE UP!
Post us an update on the UV light trial run please.

 

[DaveK]

In looking at your system, am I correct in thinking that the 40 gal tank has a couple of frag racks and the refugium has the live rock and a few frags?

Also, what sort of lighting do you have? what sort of filtration and skimming do you have?

I think you may have several problems here, but I want to make sure I'm looking at the setup correctly before commenting more.

As for general cyano advice, I generally agree with the posts by others on the subject.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

Have you ever tried building one of these?

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/...green-hair-bubble-turf-and-slime-algae.77363/

~Sandra