Constant cyano-- please help

[AquaTricia]

Ok the following is jmo, but it's what I would do if it were my tank
1. Cut down photoperiod (I know what you said earlier but it will help)
2. Reduce the power on your white channel a little more (blue too if it has any colors besides blues)
3. Reduce the amount I was feeding, and I like to feed NLS pellets once a week because it's very easy to only feed what the fish will eat by feeding a pellet or 2 to a fish at a time 3-4 times waiting in between for them to completely eat the pellet, I feed different frozen foods the other 2 times I feed a week.
4. Ditch any pads or sponges being used and replace with a media like purigen and phosgaurd (sponges and the like make me wary, I do use poly fill for filter floss but it gets tossed weekly) as they're more efficient
5. Rearrange the power heads so one is pointing at the worst of the problem areas.
6. Check the tds of your ro unit, may be time to replace the filters/membrane.
7. Assuming your ro unit is good you may want to do bi weekly wc's for a while.

And now a couple more questions, were you using 2 korillia 650s or was that total gph, and what test kit are you using for nitrate phosphate test?

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[AquaTricia]

Sorry. Getting tired I guess.
I will reduce the photoperiod. I will lower the whites by 10%.
Is Chemi-Clean Blue not as good a product as those you mentioned? I didn't think Cyano would have the same remedies as those of algae. Hold on, gotta look at your other questions/suggestions. I have a short memory and just getting used to this forum on the IPad.


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[AquaTricia]

Ok. Ro/di unit has it's own TDS meter. I double checked with my Hanna. All my testers are Hanna's except mag (Salifert), nitrate (Salifert) and ammonia which is Seachem. My tester for pH is Hanna as well. Can't wait for Hanna to come out with a mag and a nitrate kit. Can I use Chemi-Pure Blue be used with Phosgard, etc? Basically, I'm feeding the way you suggest. The fish were given about 1/2 tsp crushed flake Sirulina today before I cleaned the tank. They won't get fed again until Monday afternoon, rinsed frozen Mysis. Powerheads are two 650's. Each is pointed at it's opposite wall, slightly downward. I use the pumps on the wave maker to agitate the water at the top. Does this sound ok?


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[BigRedsReefs10]

The chemi pure products are great, never used the blue but used to use elite before switching to purigen (like that it can be regenerated). Yeah there's no problem using the CPB with both of the medias I suggested. And try lowering the power heads a little more, cyano doesn't like flow so that may help a little. Honestly I'm stumped, seems like your doing everything right, there's nothing obvious that this could be coming from. If it doesn't get better you may want to try one of the red slime removers, never recommend them as they really don't solve the original problem (usually over feeding/stocking) but I can't see what your original problem is

 

[AquaTricia]

Ok. I'll get the Purigen since it's what you use. And I'll lower the powerheads.
I'll be gone all day tomorrow, but if I get home before lights out, if it's as bad as it's been being, I'll send some pics. Between all your suggestions, we should be able to beat this! Btw, just before this, I had Gelidium, red turf algae. Beat that and it was far worse. I really thank you guys for helping me out. So far, this is the best, easiest to use, forum I've found.


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[carey]

Umm why has no one mentioned the ammonia and nitrite levels? that is a priority over algae in my opinion. Are those numbers accurate?

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

You running a skimmer on this tank?

 

[bribo12]

Pretty sure I just completely missed them haha. Oops but those numbers seem weird with the # of wc being done


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[AquaTricia]

Nitrite levels were obtained from a Hanna. I have an ammonia kit by Seachem, but I am not absolutely sure of it's accuracy. On another forum (which is why I switched to this one) a gentleman stated that there is never any reason to test nitrite. Well, I did and it was 30 ppb. I assume that's not too hot. One concern I have is that I have/had three Nass snails, but ever since I put the new gravel in, I haven't seen any of them and they used to always come out at feeding time. Could this be a reason for the higher than normal ammonia/nitrites? That still wouldn't explain four months of cyano, but it's something else to be concerned with.
Yes, I use a skimmer. Not much of one but the only one that fits a JBJ cube sump. It wet skims only, but it does skim. And I keep wood stones clean.


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[AquaTricia]

Oh, and other than the use of baking soda in my top off water, I still don't know any other way to naturally raise my alk. I don't dose. Any ideas?


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[Gregcoyote]

Ok. I have RapidLed 5watt, 20 bulbs. Change normally 4-15 gallons of water every 5-8 days. Always blow off everything before cleaning. Of course today, I changed 19 gallons of water in a 28 gallon tank.


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I'm a RapidLED distributor. Onyx fixture? I think it's a 3 watt LED, but I'll check. Regardless it's plenty of light for your aquarium.


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[AquaTricia]

It is RapidLed, and my husband said he got the 5watt, with the Storm attachment.


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[AquaTricia]

Hi, Gregcoyote. Were you able to determine the RapidLED unit I have? I only go with what my husband says as he ordered it, adjusted it the way he wanted, changed a few things and basically installed it himself. Honestly, I don't even remember reading the paperwork, as we received the unit about three months ago and it took two months to build and customize the way he wanted it. So, you will probably know better than me.
I was gone all day and got home just before sunset, and I have a "peppering" of cyano on the substrate.


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[jeffaquarius]

Nitrite of 30 ppb is equal to 0.03 ppm which may raise concern. I'm not sure how old your tank is but it is a sign that your nitrification bacteria is overwhelmed or not enough. The reason perhaps is because you have removed about half of your substrate and covered them with new ones. Raising your alk to at lest 9 dkH could help slow down those unwanted algae. As mentioned blue light and cut down time would surely help. Overfeeding and the kind of food can also be the cause. Try the pellets and stop frozen food while still in the process of getting rid of algae.

 

[AquaTricia]

I will try your suggestion and increase my blues. I've never heard of feeding pellets instead of frozen, but I'll try that, too. The tank is a little over two years old. I have asked several times how to raise my alk. I will not dose conventional chemicals because I do not want to fight calcium and pH. I have researched the issue and believe that baking soda is my best option, however the amount is 2.7 tsp per gallon of top off. That's going to take forever. I did go ahead and do that but, of course, alk has remained the same because I don't need to top off often. Your suggestions? And thanks for all of them.


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[mr_X]

Detectable ammonia and nitrite would be my first concern. Definitely raise the alk for the sake of the corals, but I don't think that's going to do the job for the cyano. I would sort out the nutrient level.

 

[AquaTricia]

Ok. Will obviously take care of that. Two water changes this week of 10 gallons each time. I will also try to figure out if my Nass snails died under the substrate. Could be causing the problem. Everything else is accounted for. And I will retest nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and phosphate. Never hurts to verify.


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[Gregcoyote]

The tests can be misleading. The algae absorbs the nutrients almost immediately, giving a false impression that nutrients are low. To reduce them, you need to limit their creation ( feeding) and maximize their export. Water changes and/or materials like GFO will start to starve the algae. Algae is super efficient at absorbing these organic wastes, that's why ATS is so efficient.


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[Ingy]

I have asked several times how to raise my alk. I will not dose conventional chemicals because I do not want to fight calcium and pH. I have researched the issue and believe that baking soda is my best option, however the amount is 2.7 tsp per gallon of top off. That's going to take forever. I did go ahead and do that but, of course, alk has remained the same because I don't need to top off often. Your suggestions? And thanks for all of them.


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Im a little confused about your statement of not wanting to use conventional chemicals to avoid fighting pH and calc, but using baking soda instead.

If by 'conventional chemicals' you mean commercial then your missing something. Alkalinity is the measure, effectively, of bicarbonates in your tank.
Commercial additives are almost entirely sodium bicarbonates with a pH raising additive (borate). Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate with a desiccant added to keep it from clumping (Borate). The difference between the 2 is the amount of borate added. Baking soda has less and that results in a lower terminal pH level.

As for the effect on calcium, they are identical. Increasing alkalinity will lower calcium. That is simply chemistry. It really doesn't matter how you raise the Alk.


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[AquaTricia]

All right. What I meant by conventional chemical methods was using a dose like Seachem alk/calc or alk/pH or something like that. Don't use them. Baking soda is more natural IMO. But it won't increase alk as quickly as I need at 2.7 tsp in a gallon of top off. I don't top off often enough. And yes, the research I did, did say that baking soda may affect pH. If you suggest a particular product that is not a mixture of several things that will lower pH, lower calcium and raise alk, please let me know. (Of course, that may be exactly what you're saying, but I never said I knew what I was talking about). And I didn't think you called cyano an algae so you treated it differently. I also ordered Purigen and am already using Chemi-Pure Blue. Do you think that will lower phosphates, nitrates, nitrites, etc? I've used info from "Reef Alchemy" by Randy Holmes Farley.


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