Partially Submerged Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 This has been happening for a couple of weeks. The walls of my tank (and to a much lesser extent the sandbed) get covered in brown goo. I clean it off, and it just grows back within a week or so. At first, I thought it was diatoms for sure, but now I am not so sure anymore (no microscope). What mystifies me is that: I have not added sand or rocks I use RO/DI water only I don't feed the tank other than a few tiny pieces of shrimp or flakes of food every so often I do my water changes There is nothing else that would suggest a nutrient imbalance I have relatively frequent salinity fluctuations (no ATO unit), but my corals are doing great. I seem to lose snails fairly often, but everyone else (peppermint shrimp, porcelain anemone crabs, emerald crab) seem very happy. I don't have any other significant algae issues. Any thoughts on this? Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Do you have any test kits? Doing some testing first is what you need to do. After testing then we/others can better help you fix the problem! Link to comment
Partially Submerged Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Yeah...other than temperature and salinity, I have never measured anything. I'd love to keep it that way because I don't want to start obsessing about things. I will get a test kit as a last resort, though. For now, I am just looking for general advice. I just took another good look today, and I am pretty sure it's cyano. What perplexes me is that I haven't made any significant changes. I added a Reefcleaners CUC plus an emerald crab to get rid of some green hair algae (which was successful). I can't remember if the cyano was as bad before, but it was definitely there to some extent. Other than that, no changes in a while. I did switch salts a while ago, but I think I would have noticed if the cyano had coincided with the new salt. As I said, I don't feed the tank, no supplements. 20% WC every week. Corals are growing well, no other algae problems. Link to comment
Partially Submerged Posted November 11, 2015 Author Share Posted November 11, 2015 Okay, so what I don't get is this: Yesterday I cleaned my tank, vacuumed the sand, and squeezed out the filter sponge. Today there is a fine dust of algae again. I know within a week, it'll be back. Where does it get the nutrients? I don't feed the tank, there are no fish, no other major polluters. I have a fuge full of cheato, too. Crazy stuff. Might need to change my salt. Link to comment
vi3tboi7i4 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Okay, so what I don't get is this: Yesterday I cleaned my tank, vacuumed the sand, and squeezed out the filter sponge. Today there is a fine dust of algae again. I know within a week, it'll be back. Where does it get the nutrients? I don't feed the tank, there are no fish, no other major polluters. I have a fuge full of cheato, too. Crazy stuff. Might need to change my salt. If its cyano I would just use chemiclean and call it a day. I had a similar problem as well. 1 fish fed only 1 pellet a day and yet somehow the cyano is getting nutrients. Chemiclean didnt affect anything in my tank other than cyano. So its a clean tank...for now. Link to comment
Partially Submerged Posted November 11, 2015 Author Share Posted November 11, 2015 Might looks into that, thank you. I have never used a chemical anything to kill algae, snails, etc., but I guess there is a first time for everything. Before I consider drastic steps, I'll keep scrubbing and vacuuming the algae away a couple more water changes. My theory is that the damn stuff must run out of fuel if I keep exporting the algae matter. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 I've stated this before, but coral snow and microbacter 7 mixed together and dosed daily. My cyano was gone in a week. I personally wouldn't use chemiclean, that stuff doesn't just kill cyano but other bacteria as well. Link to comment
metrokat Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Sounds like Dino's to me. Link to comment
Tamberav Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Would love a picture. Link to comment
teejay Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Based on what you've said about your tank, the first thing I would do is test your RO water. If you're not actually feeding anything, it's the ONLY thing that you're consistently re-adding to your tank. If your TDS in the final output isn't 0, then you should change your filters and the problem should go away on its own in time with water changes or as the nutrients get expended by the tank/chaeto. Link to comment
vi3tboi7i4 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I've stated this before, but coral snow and microbacter 7 mixed together and dosed daily. My cyano was gone in a week. I personally wouldn't use chemiclean, that stuff doesn't just kill cyano but other bacteria as well. That sounds like an interesting mix. I'll give that a try next time. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I just bought some more, having just a small patch of cyan again....been months since I've seen any, plus added a tang, or poop factory. lol Link to comment
uwdanno Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I just bought some more, having just a small patch of cyan again....been months since I've seen any, plus added a tang, or poop factory. lol What ratios are you mixing in?? I'm going to try this out. Got some cyano I can't bust in my tank Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 What ratios are you mixing in?? I'm going to try this out. Got some cyano I can't bust in my tank I did 10-15mm of MB7 and 15-20 of KZ coral snow. You can do 15 of MB7 and 15 of snow, they don't have to match exactly half in half. I usually use more snow. This is in a 68 gallon tank, although you can't really overdose, you can waste it in the fact that a smaller quantity will yield same results. Link to comment
metrokat Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I mixed up about 5 ml each. Mixed it, let it sit for 2 days. Then dosed about 1-2 ml a day. One week cyano buh bye. Link to comment
uwdanno Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I did 10-15mm of MB7 and 15-20 of KZ coral snow. You can do 15 of MB7 and 15 of snow, they don't have to match exactly half in half. I usually use more snow. This is in a 68 gallon tank, although you can't really overdose, you can waste it in the fact that a smaller quantity will yield same results. I mixed up about 5 ml each. Mixed it, let it sit for 2 days. Then dosed about 1-2 ml a day. One week cyano buh bye. Gracias. I'm thinking I'll give it a shot. Other option is - I am moving the tank across town in T-17 days. Thought about just completely replacing the sand bed. That makes me more nervous though. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 New sand bed just means taking more time to get it colonized. Whenever I moved my tanks I've always used new sand. Kat lets hers sit longer as far as the mix, I mix mine during the day and use at night. I notice it just comes out of suspension and the two products don't stay mixed together. Link to comment
dandelion Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Do I have to turn off skimmer and filtration for a few hours after putting the mixture in? Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.