Need help/advice

[Swiftler]

Okay here is the scenario... I have a 55 gallon with 2 three stripe damsels and a seabae clownfish, a frogspawn, a toadstool and another coral that I'm not sure of and about 30 lbs of live rock. I recently changed out my substrate because I was unhappy with the crushed coral and could not get control of my Cyanobacteria problem. I replaced it with 70 lbs of white sand about 2 weeks ago. After a week I had the diatom bloom which is still here and then early this week I starting getting cyano again. I can't seem to get control of it.

I feed every other day a small chuck of frozen brine shrimp and my lights are on for 9 hours. My readings are fairly stable except for a slight spike in nitrates to 10

I'm open to any suggestions. I thought about turning off the lights for a few days. It I was wondering if the coral would survive off of the incoming light from the window.

[redsea]

Originally Posted by Swiftler

Okay here is the scenario... I have a 55 gallon with 2 three stripe damsels and a seabae clownfish, a frogspawn, a toadstool and another coral that I'm not sure of and about 30 lbs of live rock. I recently changed out my substrate because I was unhappy with the crushed coral and could not get control of my Cyanobacteria problem. I replaced it with 70 lbs of white sand about 2 weeks ago. After a week I had the diatom bloom which is still here and then early this week I starting getting cyano again. I can't seem to get control of it.

I feed every other day a small chuck of frozen brine shrimp and my lights are on for 9 hours. My readings are fairly stable except for a slight spike in nitrates to 10

I'm open to any suggestions. I thought about turning off the lights for a few days. It I was wondering if the coral would survive off of the incoming light from the window.

I have never used this product myself, but some people on here have. It is called Chemiclean, and from what I have heard, it is very effective. I actually have some, just haven't used it yet.

Good luck!

[Feelthereefer]

You need a product called antired its a antibiotic you have a bacteria in your syestem thats causing the red slime.. It only happens in home aquria does not exist in the wild. Antired is very good and will kill the red slime bacteria..

[TeamTrash]

Originally Posted by redsea

I have never used this product myself, but some people on here have. It is called Chemiclean, and from what I have heard, it is very effective. I actually have some, just haven't used it yet.

Good luck!

My lfs gave me this to put in my filter about two weeks ago. Was waiting for the next time I had to get into the filter (today). Now, though, my diathoms are mostly gone so debating whether or not it is necessary.

What do you have to clean your substrate? I have aragonite and one conch that is doing an awesome job in my 28G

[PrettyFishies]

To go natural I would add 10 nassarius snails and consider a sand sifting goby like a diamond. You need to make sure all rock is down to the glass first because they will dig many borrows and rocks can shift and collapse if you don't place them right.

Between the snails and the goby, you should have a constantly cleaned sandbed. I'm assuming you're not doing a deep sand bed in your display.

You also need more rock. For a 55 you should have about 80lbs. General rule of thumb is 1.5x. Plus, you can add some to the sump. The more the better for good filtration.

[joy13]

What are your parameters especially your phosphates? Higher alkalinity sometimes helps keep it from spreading as fast. Are you using anything like chemi pure elite or phosban? Are you using ro water and is it time to change the filters? Is it happening in a dead flow area only? What is your temperature? Lower temperatures help it from spreading as fast I am not saying make your tank 5 degrees cooler but try 1 or 2 degrees cooler if possible. Things like snails and that only helps turn your sand to make it white it doesn't really get to the root of the problem.

[mr_X]

Actually, nassarius snails won't eat cyanobacteria, nor will a sand sifting goby. Since the sand bed is only a couple weeks old, the snails will starve to death. you'll have to add food just for them, and that's not going to help your cyano problems.
I would not add antibiotics to the tank either, because your tank depends on bacteria.
The chemiclean contains no erythromycin.

[Feelthereefer]

The anti red will not harm nitrifying bacteria tho will it i have had a cyano outbreak when tank was young and had very good results..

[stevedpepper]

Regular water changes and a 36w UV sterilizer. Crystal clear water and sand bed. Period.

[mr_X]

A UV sterilizer won't do anything for cyanobacteria.

[Swiftler]

My parameters are as followed:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
pH: 8.0/8.1
Nitrate: less than 5.0
Salinity: 1.028 (high due to evap. Adding fresh today)
Temp: 79 F

I know I need a little more flow and more rock. Waitin for Feb paycheck. Would the chemical solutions hurt anything in the tank or cause any other problems or would it be the band aid that I need until I can get more rock and flow.

[Feelthereefer]

The only product i can say use is the anti red it wont hurt nothing and the cyano will be gone..

[circus clowns]

Siphon it out do a twenty percent water change, and lower your light duration to max six hours a day

[circus clowns]

And I wouldn't use medication in a reef tank, and you might have problems ,cause your sand has to b cycled again

[bskerrichard27]

Use chemiclean and follow directions exactly it will have good results followed by introduction of less nutrients or rinse food with ro water prior to feeding and stay consistent with water changes and it will go away ...

[mr_X]

I've used chemiclean many times on customers tanks and my own. No adverse reactions if the directions are followed. Reef tank or not, it's not going to hurt anything.

[carey]

I've also used the chemiclean and red slime remover and had no bad effects on corals or fish in the tank.

[Swiftler]

Thanks everyone for the help. I think I'll try the chemiclean to contain it until I can get more live rock and water flow. I also turned down the lights so they are on for only 6 hours. I'll leave it like that for a few days.

[Swiftler]

So I left my lights at 6 hours and followed another's advice on not feeding for a few days. Well that back fired horribly because someone decided to eat my arrow crab. I think it was my clownfish.

I got my Boyd's Chemiclean today an just put the treatment in so wish me luck

[Swiftler]

I added the chemiclean last night per instructions. Turned off skimmer and removed carbon for 24 hours. I just turned the skimmer back on and it is over flowing with wet foam. I've had to empty the tray on the remora twice in the last 10 minutes. Is this normal? I'm doing the water change tomorrow night. Should I leave the skimmer off till I can manually remove the excess proteins?