the cyno that wont leave

[artie]

been battling cyno for a year or more. have used some First Aid brand cyno killer. knocks most out, but comes back in couple weeks. already cut down on my feeding, little flake every 2 or 3 days instead of brine everyday. attinic lights 4 to 10 pm, cpf's 6 to 9:30pm with a small fluorescent a few hours before and after to simulate day cycle. new crushed coral a month ago at the same time as 50% water change, cleaning both wet-dry and canister filters. nitrasorb in canister,and phos-complete in wet-dry over flow from protien skimmer section, cleaned all filter media, pulled out all 80 lbs of live rock and scrubbed it in a bucket of fresh saltwater. a treatment of the cyno killer, a 20% water change and within 1 1/2 weeks started seeing blooms. thinking about hanging it up and going fresh. have a friend with 125 tank, up for 2 years, uses well water, has never done a water change and hes never had a problem and has beautiful tank with lots of coralmine algae and and lots of nice specimans. have been thinking about pulling all live rock out and re- cureing if thats possible, cleaning everything again including crushed coral and basicly starting over. any ideas??

 

[roka64]

The flakes could be the start of the problem, they are generally high in phosphates.
Does your filter have the foam in it? If so, are you rinsing it out in your old SW?
I completely took mine out.
The CC could also contribute to the cyano and will need to be vacked out when you do a PWC. I also took out my CC.
Have you checked your source water for phosphates?

 

[melosu58]

How to Battle Cyanobacteria: What To Do When You Just Can't Get Rid of It

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/20/1/Cyanobacteria-AKA-Red-Slime-Algae-/Page1.html

 

[Dano01]

It is dangerous but, have you tried erethromycin? Careful target application has worked for me.......Only consider it as a last resort.

 

[Erok7620]

You might try one or all of what worked for me. I had a bad cyano problem for a few months. Im not sure what knocked it out but i got an RO/DI unit(I was buying RO water at the LFS but used treated tap for top offs occasionaly) Ditched my HOB filter. I siphoned off some sand and replaced with a new top layer. Scaled back feeding. And what I think did the most good was changing my bulbs. At the time my bulbs were 8-10 mo old. A week after the new sand, 3-4 10-15% water changes, and new bulbs, the cyano was gone. My nitrates and phosphates went down and I havnt seen any cyano in my tank since. And my corals are looking better than ever too.

 

[artie]

if the flake is the problem, then what do you feed with? 1 yellow tang, 2 pajama cards, 1 green chromis, snails and hermits

 

[Erok7620]

Start using frozen food. I use the formula variety pack and marine cusine. Feed your tang some seaweed every few days too.

 

[Christine22780]

I just read that article on the link and it said:Since Cyanobacteria are especially nasty to the aquarist, it can be difficult to remove once it’s been established. If water changes have not begun to make a significant difference in a month or so of diligence, check your light fixtures to be sure they are not over six months old for compact fluorescents, and 9 months old for other types of higher output.

AM I REALLLY SUPPOSE TO CHANGE MY LIGHT BULBS and not just let them burn out?
I obviously no nothing about this!

 

[Innovator]

Bulbs will lose their par/spectral shift over time, thus depreciating usable light for coral growth and allowing algae to benefit.

Vho's: 6 months
Pc's: 6-12 months
T5's: 12 months - ?
Halides: 12 months

 

[melosu58]

James is right on the money as usual. The spectrum will shift in older bulbs causing algea problems. I change my VHO bulbs every 6 months like he said there.

 

[artie]

read the article that melosu58 reccomended and it made it sound like attinic bulbs aren't good with this problem??

 

[LAreef]

When you change your bulbs do not change all the bulbs at one time. I change 2 at a time 2 months apart. Six bulbs in all. T5s HO 54watt 4 10k, 2 antinic.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

artie...

How about some water test results? Nitrates/phosphates/pH/salinity would be a good start. Also, where are you getting your source water from and how often (and how much) are you doing water changes.

Cyano is basically a nutrient issue and the answers to those questions normally point to the main culprit in most cases. Whether or not you run daylight bulbs or actinic bulbs really don't make a difference.

Christine...

If you wait until your lights burn out (which will be YEARS down the road) the lighting spectrum will have shifted sooo much not only will you most likely have algae issues, but your corals will not be liking your tank. I change my PC bulbs every 6 months like clockwork. The first time I did it, I was amazed at how much brighter things were. (And that was just after changing one half of the bulbs!)

 

[artie]

had water tested 6 weeks ago at the local aquatic store ( called Aquatica by the way) and they said it was all good, maybe a little high on the calcium, been using Purple-Up (backed off). Get my water from them also. Only have had my live rock for 6 months, could it be contaminated or infected. though Ive had cyno before, not this bad. read some other articles, someone suggested using carbon. some one else said they good results with erethromycin. I have no corals or anything. light bar is only 5 months old. some one else said go a couple days without lights. what about recureing the rock

 

[melosu58]

had water tested 6 weeks ago at the local aquatic store

6 weeks ago is a long time. Need it tested today.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Yup... what he said. Best to get your own test kits so you can not only test your tank water, but also the water you're getting from the LFS. Until you know the exact numbers of your water parameters then you're just throwing money away on "solutions". If the water you're getting at the LFS is bad, then it's just like throwing gas on a fire. And if your nitrates or phosphates are through the roof in your tank, then you can keep dosing with any of the "wonder fixes" and it'll just keep coming back. It's best to find the problem, and fix it.

And just my personal opinion... ditch the PurpleUp, completely. If you have no corals, it's doing no good other than adding a bunch of stuff you don't need. (And even if you had corals... it's still not needed, in my opinion.)

How often are you doing water changes? If you have a cyano problem, and you aren't doing at least 10-20% weekly, then that would be a good place to start.

Recuring the rock will do nothing really. Your rock is cured already. No need to start over. The rock isn't the problem... it's what's in your water.

 

[artie]

if the water from the LFS was bad, wouldnt everybody that goes there have the same problem. and from the last part of my first post, I have a buddy with a 125 who used his well water to fill his tank, uses it for top off's, never does water changes, 1-1\2 year old light bar(400 w cpf's), and has a sweet tank, choralline algae, and lots of other healthy specimans. Just lucky?? for 2 years?

 

[buddha_red]

we all know that guy that has that tank that is perfect with no effort. I cannot explain their success. For me aquariums take work, lots of it.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

if the water from the LFS was bad, wouldnt everybody that goes there have the same problem. and from the last part of my first post, I have a buddy with a 125 who used his well water to fill his tank, uses it for top off's, never does water changes, 1-1\2 year old light bar(400 w cpf's), and has a sweet tank, choralline algae, and lots of other healthy specimans. Just lucky?? for 2 years?

Obviously, you should have no problem then with cyano. Guess I can't help ya. Good luck!

 

[artie]

Sorry, its just frustrating. I've done water changes, I've changed the crushed coral, I,ve cleaned the filters, the hoses, the wet-dry, the canister, I've cleaned the rock. Work has slowed so theres not extra cash to try new bulbs or other possible maybe's. Even water changes cost. May have to call it a day. But thanks to all for all the input.