Kill cyano

[daney90]

How long does it take to kill this cyano? My trates are now surprisingly dropped to 0 after couple of water change and chaeto in the fuge. My phosphate shows at 0 now but I still see hair algae on my rocks after having my gfo reactor run for 4 days.

 

[bavass]

don't worry with test kits if you have algae you are not getting a true test anyway because the algae is eating up the nutrients thats why its reading zero. You need to pull the algae out of tank as much as you can. Then you need something to out compete it for the nutrients gfo ( in a reactor) to reduce PO4, carbon dosing with a great skimmer to reduce nitrates

 

[Gregcoyote]

Your filtration system doesn't work instantaneously. There is always a nutrient spike after feeding that gets reduced over the course of a day. Cyano grows very fast and can take advantage of these nutrients while they exist. I found flow helped the most. You can also try reducing selenium levels with some of the products out there.

 

[daney90]

agree... Do I need more flow though? I have 3 powerheads that are all 800gph and a return thats maybe 500gph.

What should I do now? More water change? Add more rowaphos media?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Net or siphon out the existing cyano. Reduce feeding a bit. Make sure flow is present where the cyano tends to collect. Be sure your RO/DI water is pure.

 

[Whiplash187]

How long does it take to kill this cyano? My trates are now surprisingly dropped to 0 after couple of water change and chaeto in the fuge. My phosphate shows at 0 now but I still see hair algae on my rocks after having my gfo reactor run for 4 days.

Patience my friend cyano doesnt disappear right away but you could help by using a turkey blaster and slowly blasting your rock so all the hair algae that floats you can just scoop it out. Just watch out for rowaphos too much can ruin your tank. You can add a little bit more if you like for me i added half of that rowaphos. Well got to work! Later!

 

[daney90]

It's been almost month id say since I started running my gfo with a rowaphos. Cyano is not completely eliminated and its still there but im religious to my water changes. I also siphon cyano on the rocks ones they become visible to me so im hoping it won't be long until i stop doing this.

How much often do i need to change the rowaphos media? Every 2 weeks? Monthly?

 

[bavass]

When I was running GFO and trying to remove PO4 i changed mine out every 2 weeks. I was using BRS GFO not sure the difference if any. At one point I seemed to have hit a dead spot where nothing was happing, the algae wasn't growing and wasn't really going away either. I started adding a little more each time I changed out the GFO and was actually running twice the recommended amount but it worked. You just have to be careful if you have any corals you can starve them out

 

[mr_X]

You can use a product called "Chemiclean" safely. it will remove the visible cyano. Of course, it will come back if the high nutrient issue isn't rectified. It sounds like you are well on your way as far as that's concerned.

 

[daney90]

When I was running GFO and trying to remove PO4 i changed mine out every 2 weeks. I was using BRS GFO not sure the difference if any. At one point I seemed to have hit a dead spot where nothing was happing, the algae wasn't growing and wasn't really going away either. I started adding a little more each time I changed out the GFO and was actually running twice the recommended amount but it worked. You just have to be careful if you have any corals you can starve them out

When I add more gfo media do i have to take out the old one or I can just add more on top of the old one?

 

[bavass]

I always did it when I changed it out

 

[daney90]

You can use a product called "Chemiclean" safely. it will remove the visible cyano. Of course, it will come back if the high nutrient issue isn't rectified. It sounds like you are well on your way as far as that's concerned.

Im hesitant to use chemiclean because im scared it will come back and overdosing it. But if this cyano persist and im tired of it im might have to use this

My phosphate reads 0 now but im not sure if cyano is masking the result.

 

[daney90]

I always did it when I changed it out

Ok will try that trick when I do my water change thanks

 

[bavass]

use the chemiclean, do a water change and put in new GFO. If you kill the algae and let the GFO consume the PO4 then the algae may not return. Its a battle you have to get the GFO to consume the PO4 before the algae does.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I like chemiclean, too. It's absolutely safe and is the closest thing this hobby has to a silver bullet that I know of.

 

[Schism]

I like chemiclean, too. It's absolutely safe and is the closest thing this hobby has to a silver bullet that I know of.

Ive seen chemiclean kill so would i call it absolutely safe? No.

Does it fix the underlying problem behind cyano? No.

Does it do anything beneficial for the aquarium? No.

Chemiclean can have some major side effects and the only purpose it serves is purely cosmetic.

 

[mr_X]

If used as directed it won't hurt anything but the cyano. I've used it many times on various tanks. What exactly did Chemiclean kill?

 

[Schism]

If used as directed it won't hurt anything but the cyano. I've used it many times on various tanks. What exactly did Chemiclean kill?

Ive seen it kill both fish and coral. It was used as directed and it occurred in more than one tank across multiple owners. I have also seen it used many times without problems.

Chemiclean pulls oxygen out of the water column, enough that it can suffocate inhabitants if its not replaced in time.

My point being its not COMPLETELY safe and does not 'fix' anything but the cosmetic removal of cyano,

 

[bavass]

If chemiclean killed livestock its very likely the directions weren't followed. The reason was probably lack of oxygen, if you place airstone in sump, point power heads at surface you will be fine. Chemiclean will not fix the problem however if you use it and immediatly follow it with GFO the GFO can out compeat it and absorb the PO4 before the cyano and fix the problem by reducind PO4 in the tank.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Ok, it's not completely safe but I still believe that it can definitely be used safely. I prefer other steps like GFO, increased flow and water changes as a first course of action myself. It can be more harmful to leave persistent cyano in a tank than to use chemiclean. I've never had a bad encounter with this product. Even fish food can be lethal to a tank... usually when used as directed! I guess saying it's usually safe is more responsible. But it's been safe every time in my own personal experience.