cyano sand

[mastershake]

so i had cyano everywhere, and i siphoned it all out today off of my sand and rocks, so its all gone, and i dosed with chemi-clean, and i did a 3o% water change, so hopefully it wont return, but anyways, my problem is that i siphoned out about 3 pounds of sand, and its all mixed in with the cyano, is there a way to save that sand, i dont really wanna just dump it back in since then ill be dumping the cyano that i just took out back in, will it just die off after a few days then ill be able to put the sand back in?

 

[lando]

I would not try to save the sand. Do you know what caused your cyno out break? Chemi-Clean is a great product and does a nice job of removing cyno from the tank, however, if you do not fix the problem it will just come back.

 

[lziarek]

i had the same problem mastershake, cept in a 55 gal. I removed the cyano and sand, then upgraded my skimmer to a euroreef 5-2 and so far so good *nock on wood*.

 

[seaham358]

Keep the sand, the cyno should die off after a few days to a week with no light. the only issue is there might be excess nutrients in the top layer of sand which is the cause of the cyno.

 

[mastershake]

yeah, i thought once it died since its outta the tank it shouldnt jsut come back, right now i have a seaclone 100 and i only got it 4 days ago and had shut it off when i dosed for 2 days, its back on now, so maybe that will help, i have this nagging feeling that my phosphates are probably really high, but unfortuantley none of the 5 stores around have a test kit, so hopefully ill get one soon and figure out whats caused it, thanks for the help

 

[seaham358]

Cyno bacteria is brought on from excess nutrients, low water flow and the wrong spectrum lighting can add to the problem also. Old bulbs....
Good luck it is a pain in the butt to deal with.

 

[mastershake]

well i have a brand new coralife aqualight set up i got for xmas, so i dont know if it would be lighting, ill drop another powerhead into the tank on the opposite side of the one i have to help with flow, i dotn really know what to do about excess nutrients, all i have in the tank are the 4 snails, what kind of nutrients help this stufff grow, im really wanting to prevent another outbreak as much as possible, any suggestions will be appreciated, thanks

 

[RMPD109]

Phosphates are usually the problem. Especially if it is cyano. They make phosphate test kits to be sure. You can also purchase phosphate removers such as phos-ban. Unless you find out what is causing the phosphates they will buildup again and cause problems