Coraline or cyno?

[oscadoob]

Hi guys had this growing slowly on my sand for a few weeks now. Ive tried turning it over but just keeps coming back. Any ideas?

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[Sniperhank]

Cyanobacteria. Turning the sand over isn't going to address the nutrient issue in the water column. It is just like what feeds algae. Water changes with ro/di water, cut back on feeding, and increase flow in the system.

[oscadoob]

Thats a pain already doing most of the above ill try repositioning a powerhead and turning the r8 on constant flow for a week or so.

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[Sniperhank]

It might be a pain, but it is showing you that you have an issue going on in your water column. If not addressed now, it will become a much larger problem as time goes on.

[oscadoob]

I know, your right. Ill cut back on feeding a bit and increase flow. Im already doin 20% water changes weekly with RO water. Ill check TDS hasnt crept up aswell. Ive been feeding a little much lately after adding a copperband butterfly which was such a pain to get feeding. The fish is really skinny now but has recently started accepting mysis shrimp and has been eating mussels for a month now.

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[Sniperhank]

RO can be part of the problem with bringing in what you are battling.

[oscadoob]

How is that..?

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[Sniperhank]

We use ro/di water to ensure that there are no dissolved solids entering the water column. Then to ensure there are no dissolved solids going in, we use TDS meters to measure the level, wanting it to be 0 of course, to tell us when it is time to change our filters since the resin will change colors to tell us when it is time for new.
If it is just RO or just DI water, it likely isn't at 0 and can be a source for our nutrient issues. Since getting married, I lost my kitchen. This is where I had my ro/di unit set up and have been stuck with distilled water from walmart ever since. Nitrates directly into my reef tank through water changes and top offs.

[oscadoob]

Ahh sorry i do use ro/di pal. Sorry should have been more specific.

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[Sniperhank]

So, we'll assume your TDS is 0.
How often and how much are you feeding? What are you feeding?
I feed my 55 reef tank every 3 days sparingly, be it mysis shrimp or whatever frozen I thawed out for the week.

[oscadoob]

I put a small square of nori in for my rabbit fish every day and mysis every 2 for my cardinals and occaionally use an algae pellet maybe once a week.. well that would be my normal schedule but with my copperband the way it is i was adding 1 mussel every 5 days or so and removing after an hour for him. and now hes accepting mysis i have been feeding half a frozen cube every day attempting to feed him directly but with little prevail. My nitrates are roughly between at the higher end of netween 10-15 phosphates have always been 0 but i put that down to the macro algae growing on my live rock which i remove every few weeks

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[Sniperhank]

Well, that is a ton of feeding. I didn't realize we were talking about your copperband in the other thread. Just not getting the first cup of coffee going for the day.
We have identified what is going on with the parameters and the feeding. Through large water changes and physical removal of the cyano during these water changes you can easily win the battle.
That said, with fish that require more feedings than the 'normal' fish, you might want to consider some heavy duty filtration for the system to prevent this in the future. A nice oversized skimmer, refugium or ATS, or even a biopellet reactor/GFO setup.

[oscadoob]

I initially wanted a refugium but have very limited space under the tank ive only got room for a 30litre sump which only just fits my tmc 600 in. Ive got a small 20litre tank in the shed i could squeeze in the other cupboard but only has a CFL lamp on there id have to T off one of my overflows for the fuge and have that overflowing into my sump to return to the tank... sorry i cant even say thats thinking out loud.. lol would a 20litre refugium even be worth doing. Id have to split my overflow i really don't want to use a hob

how does an ATS Help with organic waste?

I could resume normal feeding if/when my CBB gets back to good health as i only need the algae for the rabbit and mysis for everyone else as a staple diet.
Its so frustrating.. being fairly new to the hobby ive had virtually 0 headaches since i started with marine untill i got this CBB
i do agree with your earlier comment about they should only be kept in the ocean and if this doesnt work out i certainly wont be getting another.

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[Sniperhank]

Yeah, being new to the hobby and trying to tackle some of the fish available to us is near impossible. Either way I still hope for the best.

In terms of my algae turf scrubber, it does the same thing the refugium does. Algae used to export nutrients. Just rather than going and getting a clump of cheato or whatever, you use what will naturally grow in your aquarium to your advantage.


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[oscadoob]

Oh i thought you meant auto top off.. ive never heard that phrase before. Ive got some red algae growing on some fiji branch and some cactus algae growing on some rock.

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