BAD cyano problem! Help!

[GuOD]

Hey everyone,

My tank is approaching 4 weeks old at this point. I have some dead rock in there and about 25 lbs of live rock. Filter, skimmer, and 2 powerheads. I have brown stuff ALL over my substrate now, it grows by over 100%/day and it's all over my liverock now too. What can I do to stop this stuff? I don't want it to ruin everything. I don't even know how it started.

 

[Sadielynn]

It is normal for a new tank to go through some out breaks .
What is your water source ?
The brown stuff is most likely diatoms these will go away as the tank ages ...
What are your tests saying
ammonia
nitrAte
NitrIte
Phosphates.
Decrease your lighting period and increase water flow to those areas you can siphon them out ..... I would also say that you could do a water change of 20%-30%
Rest assured that with tiem that they will go away with time ...HTH

 

[melosu58]

Have you tested to see if your cycle has finished. If it has you`ll have 0 ammonia and nitrites and high nitrates. As Sadielynn said please give us water test results.

 

[Hara]

you might find this article helpful
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=48

 

[GuOD]

I figured it was diatoms at first but it formed a huge slimey layer all over. I've kept my lights on hoping stuff would grow in my liverock (I got some grass on one!) but I've now switched to just having actinic on for a bit. Mostly lights off.

My tests show 0 nitries, between 0 and 10 nitrAtes, max buffer, and 8.4ph.

I don't have an ammonia testing kit yet. I think my cycle is complete though.


I was under the impression I shouldn't do water changes until my tank is done cycling which I'm assuming it's almost done. My system is probably overfiltered --> super skimmer 220 and fluval Fx5 for 400gal tanks.


ANOTHER PROBLEM!! MIGHT BE RELATED
So, I thought my super skimmer 220 was causing tons of microbubbles in my tank. As it turns out, my Fluval FX5 filter is spewing out TONS and TONS of microbubbles. If I turn it off, they dissipate but after it's been on for a few hours, the tank is filled again. What could possibly cause a filter to do this? Could it be the diatoms/cyano?

 

[dankent]

My fluval 404 does that as well ... Make sure you check the seals and intake / outgoing tubes to the tank to make sure they're all sealed and not sucking in air. I am about to toss my fluval in the dumpster myself just for that reason ... however fx5 isnt cheap and is another story hehe.

 

[Sadielynn]

nope its just diatoms ...they will go away on thier own as the tank ages....and builds up the
"good" bacteria......
With out an ammonia kit I can only speculate , spend the 10 bucks and get an ammonia test for salt water if that comes back as 0 you can do a water change and siphion it off

 

[revhtree]

Agreed. Diatoms are a good indication that you are nearing the end of your tank cycle. It will burn itself out.

 

[GuOD]

My fluval 404 does that as well ... Make sure you check the seals and intake / outgoing tubes to the tank to make sure they're all sealed and not sucking in air. I am about to toss my fluval in the dumpster myself just for that reason ... however fx5 isnt cheap and is another story hehe.

I've tried checking all my seals. As far as I can tell everything is super tight. My LFS suggested shaking it gently side to side while it's running but that didn't seem to solve my problem either.

The thing is packed with media - could having too much media in there cause this problem? I could take a bunch of it out if that might help.