Tank Questions

[zacdl]

Well First question would be, it seems like my cyano is producing bubbles. There are bubbles on it, and it releases bubbles once in a while. Is this normal or not to worry about?

Next question is PH. PH is about 8.5 (Just a bit lower I am thinking but not that much) is this too high? I dont know what would be raising it.


I am going to try to order some Chemi-clean, and get this algea problem taken care of. It requires me to take the Carbon out. Should I just keep the carbon out of there from now on then (I dont know if it will need it or not, but its a montly dosage once you get it under control, and if I dont need to do that (Snails and such keeep it down) I wont have to, but If it keeps getting bad I will have to constantly use it)


Your thoughts?

 

[greenmaji]

the cyno produsing bubbles would be a good thing (it is a plant it is pearling)
are you using RO to make your saltwater? what is the KH?
what is your PO4 and NO3 levels?

 

[zacdl]

Nitrate about 20 (or less, I am colorblind)

Phosphate just a trace amount, wont register.

 

[zacdl]

Bump

 

[Fluff]

Well, I don't know why cyano producing bubbles is a good thing. Having plants grow and pearl in fw is a good thing. Cyano isn't an algae but a type of bacteria and very different, but yes, the bubbles are normal. Actually, I believe it is trapped gases. If your nitrates are low and phos undetectable, try lessoning your light cycle. This may help. Personally, I think carbon is a preference with such a light load like you have. So, I would just leave it out.

 

[zacdl]

Well,
I tried lessoning the light cycle, didnt seem to help so its back to normal again.

Another question for you, does cyano cause corals to close? They have been closed lately, and cyano is starting to grow on them.

 

[schoeplein]

Cyano will completely overwhelm, and overtake everything in your tank if not treated/taken care of. Do several water changes, reduce your lighting times (~8hrs max per day), and make sure your temperature isn't swinging from night to day (which is more typical in a smaller tank - not to say specific to smaller tanks, my 140g of water will swing down to 72°F if my heater isn't working properly and up to 84°F in the day -- with MH, PC and VHO all on and canopy closed during the day with the AC off).

 

[zacdl]

I did another waterchange. About 33%.

Also rinsed the filter (Was clogging)


What else is there to do other than chemical?

 

[Hara]

nothing fixes the problem overnight. you have to stay on top of it. you have 2 days worth of posts, you say you lessened your lighting cycle.....how many days did you do this? How often have you changed out the water? If the filter was clogging, then it had enough garbange in it to well be one of the sources of your cyano issue. You cannot have unchanged media. Are you siphoning out the cyano with a piece of airline? Just moving it around with current will not help. It needs to be gotten out of the tank. I would do all the above and keep the lights totally off for 24 hours, then come back with just a few hours of lighting a day for a week. Keep rinsing off the media daily as well.

 

[zacdl]

Ill do the light thing. But should I wait until I get some Chemi-Clean first?

 

[Hara]

no, I would do this now. Your nitrates being at 20 is going a long way to being a contributing factor. Get the nitrates down with water changes.

 

[zacdl]

I just did a 33% yesterday.

 

[cmor1701d]

10% PWC daily would help in that size tank and shouldn't take very long to do. Siphon out as much cyano as you can with each water change. Cut back on the lighting for now.

Also, how old are the bulbs in your light fixture. Mine were 9 months old and that was 2 months too old. My 2 month battle with cyano ended with new bulbs.

 

[greenmaji]

I was thinking the cyano was in a fuge.. its bacterial and plant from my understanding of it..

 

[seaham358]

zac you have 2 posts going on the same thing????? Or am I missing something..

 

[cmor1701d]

Zac,

Cyano growing on your corals? How much water flow do you have? It sounds like you need more powerheads to create more flow. That will keep the cyano from getting a foothold.

I re-arranged some rock last weekend and now noticed a dead spot where it can get a start on the sand bed again.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I was thinking the cyano was in a fuge.. its bacterial and plant from my understanding of it..

You are mostly right. Cyano is a bacteria (belonging the the Eubacteria kingdom) but it gets mistaken for algae because it is photosynthetic. Going deep into the biology of it, Cyano is also autotrophic, meaning that it doesn't need anything else in the tank to live off of, except for the light. This is why it's so hard to get rid of compared to other forms of "algae". This is what my biology professor taught me about it last semester, anyways.

Zac, get rid of as much as you can get rid of manually. Increase water flow in your tank, and do lots of PWC's, and it should go away.