help please on Cyano

P

pudseycongs

New Member
Hi All

i've noticed over the last few weeks i've started to get a small our break of red Cyano.... :eek:
anybody got any ideas on how to get rid of this?
i only feed the fish small amounts twice a day, do at least 25% water change every 2 weeks, have tunze nano skimmer, original 2 pumps plus small nano pump and lights are only on for 6 to 7 hours a day.

cheers phil
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
It's from excess nutrients (from water source, from over feeding, under sized CUC, faulty filtration set-up ) and at least initially from dead flow areas. I've seen Cyano get out of hand in a tank and have enough nutrients to slowly progress into highflow areas and even ON a power-head (we wont say who's tank it was).

  • Reduce Nutrients
  • Manually remove as much as possible on a daily basis
  • Increase Flow amount and patterns
  • Evaluate In-tank filtration and make GRADUAL changes.
  • Increase water change amount and frequency
  • Evaluate your water change make up water sourse
  • Rinse foods in RO/DI and drain before adding to the tank (Many foods are loaded with preservatives which = Rocket Fuel for algae


Good luck and stick with it. It's one of those nasties that most of us battle at one time or another so we've all done it. It takes time and diligence to kick it but it can be beaten.

Happy Reefing!
Allen
 
reefsmoker

reefsmoker

Member
BigAl07 said:
It's from excess nutrients (from water source, from over feeding, under sized CUC, faulty filtration set-up ) and at least initially from dead flow areas. I've seen Cyano get out of hand in a tank and have enough nutrients to slowly progress into highflow areas and even ON a power-head (we wont say who's tank it was).

  • Reduce Nutrients
  • Manually remove as much as possible on a daily basis
  • Increase Flow amount and patterns
  • Evaluate In-tank filtration and make GRADUAL changes.
  • Increase water change amount and frequency
  • Evaluate your water change make up water sourse
  • Rinse foods in RO/DI and drain before adding to the tank (Many foods are loaded with preservatives which = Rocket Fuel for algae


Good luck and stick with it. It's one of those nasties that most of us battle at one time or another so we've all done it. It takes time and diligence to kick it but it can be beaten.

Happy Reefing!
Allen
Click to expand...

listen to the man! - great advise Allen!!
 
DrHank

DrHank

Well-Known Member
The only thing that wasn't mentioned is to turn your tank lights off for 2 to 3 days. That will knock it back and help your other efforts.
 
P

pudseycongs

New Member
HI All
Thanks for the your tips, think i will start with trying to remove it with turkey baster and live the lights off for a few days, and at the same time do somw water changes.
see what happens then.
 
echopiece

echopiece

Member
Perfect timing on this post. I too have just had a break out of cyano. I am really confused as I havent changed anything about my routine. This is it, correct?

cyano.jpg


- I have great flow, especially in the area of the cyano.
- a little over 10% water changes every week
- feed very little, every other day
- practically new RO/Di unit reading 0 TDS
- rinse foods before feeding
- skimmer still spits out nasty skimmate
- lights are only about 5 months old

I spoke with my LFS and they have heard of a bunch of cases recently. He said it comes and goes almost seasonally (summer)? I too am going to try the above tips and see what happens. I havent removed any of it manually yet, and I havent increased water changes.

Come to think of it, my chemi-pure elite is 6 weeks old. Is the carbon exhausted already? I have a brand new bag on hand, maybe I will swap it out as well.

Sorry to hijack your thread pudseycongs, let us know how it goes.
 
Mavjoy

Mavjoy

Active Member
Check your phosphates. If it's high, run some GFO like Phosban or Rowaphos with a bag or even better, a reactor.
 
echopiece

echopiece

Member
So does chemi-pure elite do the same thing or is phosban a better phosphate remover? Should I run both carbon and phosban?
 
Mavjoy

Mavjoy

Active Member
echopiece said:
So does chemi-pure elite do the same thing or is phosban a better phosphate remover? Should I run both carbon and phosban?
Click to expand...

Chemi-pure Elite is more carbon than GFO but it does have some GFO to remove phosphates. I'm just finishing up my small bag(week left), then I'm gonna run some carbon in a 2nd reactor along side with my GFO. IMO, you get better results 'cause the media does not sit inside the bag and it's constantly moving and tumbling.
 
Frankie

Frankie

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Try stirring up the sand daily also. A sand sifting starfish will do wonders if it is coming from the substrate.
Has anyone posting in this thread checked there RO/DI latley? A high TDS is very common to cause this in tanks that did not have it earlier.
 
Whipitup

Whipitup

Member
BigAl07 said:
It's from excess nutrients (from water source, from over feeding, under sized CUC, faulty filtration set-up ) and at least initially from dead flow areas. I've seen Cyano get out of hand in a tank and have enough nutrients to slowly progress into highflow areas and even ON a power-head (we wont say who's tank it was).

  • Reduce Nutrients
  • Manually remove as much as possible on a daily basis
  • Increase Flow amount and patterns
  • Evaluate In-tank filtration and make GRADUAL changes.
  • Increase water change amount and frequency
  • Evaluate your water change make up water sourse
  • Rinse foods in RO/DI and drain before adding to the tank (Many foods are loaded with preservatives which = Rocket Fuel for algae


Good luck and stick with it. It's one of those nasties that most of us battle at one time or another so we've all done it. It takes time and diligence to kick it but it can be beaten.

Happy Reefing!
Allen
Click to expand...

Agreed...............but also get a phosphate reactor.
 
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