Jump to content
Pod Your Reef

cyano sux


fw2sw-wannabe

Recommended Posts

fw2sw-wannabe

My tank is still cycling, I guess. pH = 8. 1, Ammonia and Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 0.2 (Salifert test). My alk is 3 meq/L and my Calcium is 420 (currently dosing B-ionic to raise those).

 

First, I had the diatoms. Then I had some brown 'n bubbly cyano that some on NR would diagnose as dinoflagellates. I turned out the lights for two days, used only actinics for a week, and changed the carbon every 3-4 days. It then faded into what I have now.

 

Currently, I have what most would consider cyano: grey-ish mats on the sand and rock with red hairs flopping in the flow. Anyone who says cyano doesn't like flow needs to check out my tank! One spot, directly in front of a powerhead, is covered with the stuff.

 

I have plenty of chaeto in the fuge eating up my nitrates (they've been slowly on the drop for about a month and a half now). I change 10% of the water twice a week. When doing this, I tweez out the sand bits that are clumped with the cyano. These just grow back in a day, though.

 

Do I just need to wait longer? Is cyano, in various forms, just one of the things you have to wait out? Seeing tanks of green hair algae, I would kill for that look! I do have lots of amphipods, ever since my peppermint shrimp died a few weeks back. I guess they like the cyano.

 

I guess my question is: what else can I do? I haven't checked for phos yet, nor have I bought any remover. I guess I was just hoping the chaeto I have growing in the fuge and the neomeris macro I have growing out of some LR in the display would take care of those things in a more natural manner.

 

Here's a pic of my tank a couple of weeks ago. Optimistic me thought the purple on the bottom rocks was coralline. HA! Snails and toothbrushes wiped it off nice and easy, though.

 

fts2.jpg

 

Here's a current pic of my tank. Lots of the purple is gone, but greyish-purple mats abound. I'm hoping that light-green stuff will continue to switch over to purple coralline, as it has been.

 

fts3.jpg

 

The red stuff on the bottom right hand rock I don't think is cyano... I can't scratch it off the rock, so I'm figuring it's some kind of coralline or something.

 

Any help, encouragement, or "I've been there... just wait it out" type comments would be greatly appreciated. ;)

Link to comment

I used a product I got at my LFS when I got Cyno durring my cycle. Seeing you don't have any live stock yet you might want to try more drastic measures. It was called Chemiclean Red Slime Remover and it worked with just one or two treatments.

 

 

Keep up the fight! You can beat this!

 

oh yeah and...

 

"I've been there... just wait it out"

Link to comment
fw2sw-wannabe
"I've been there... just wait it out"

 

thanks, pickle. you rock.

 

with the red-slime remover, did it come back? don't want to "treat the symptom but not the cause", as they say...

Link to comment

I had a really bad breakout. 75% of my substrate was covered. The red slime was thick, covering my some of my zoas completely causing them to close. I think I may have even lost a 5 head colony. I used "Chemiclean" -Red Slime Remover- and its gone in 48 hours. Tommorrow ill do a water change and then we shall see how it goes. Im going to have to actually post some updates in my thread because my tank has gone through a bunch of changes in the last month or two.

Link to comment

i had something similar to what you described.... sounds like your on the right track... increased flow, frequent water changes and removing clumps of it as you go along, and chaeto... that is what i did exactly, after maybe 2 weeks with that and one morning i woke up and it was all gone... must have worked... i would just wait it out... keep doing what your doing

 

tank looks great by the way... what are you planning on keeping?

Link to comment
fw2sw-wannabe
tank looks great by the way... what are you planning on keeping?

 

Thanks, Matty! :D

 

I hope to get some LPS in September. I'm going it slow, taking the advice of Borneman. Check out Myth 15.

 

Currently, I'm letting my tank stabilize while building up my pod population for a few months. After adding some LPS, I'll continue to let things stabilize and then bring in a shrimp, a clown, and probably a firefish.

 

The tank has been much more fun than my freshwater tank I started a couple of years ago, which was way too easy.

 

Glad to hear someone pulled through without resorting to chemicals... not that there's anything wrong with that! I suspect that, if I still have this crap in a few more weeks, I'll be buying the chemi-clean red slime remover myself. :(

Link to comment
fw2sw-wannabe
Have you tested your top off water?

 

Top-off is Wal-mart distilled. Nothing in it (literally). I keep it in a clear 4-gallon container, and nothing has grown in it or anything.

 

I started with RO/DI from the LFS, but wasn't too happy with it. First off, their pre-mixed SW was 1.018! Also, their SW costs $2/gallon and RO/DI $1/gallon. F that! After a month, I switched to distilled ($0.68/gallon) and mixed my own SW using instant ocean.

 

Only problem with distilled has been that my alkalinity doesn't stay up... I have to dose to keep it above 3 meq/L (LFS's water was 5 meq/L!). I've managed to keep it up, though, along with the calcium. My pH doesn't swing too much (8.1-8.2), probably partly due to my chaeto in the fuge being on a reverse cycle.

 

As you can see, this noob has been reading up on these forums! Immensely helpful... thanks, guys! :D

 

I forgot to mention before that my LFS tested my water when I had my first cyano (or dyno) break-out and claimed there were no 'phates. I figured that any phosphates I had were probably being used up by my cyano 'n stuff, as I've read around here,. Of course, the LFS also said I had no 'trates when I knew there were 5-10. Hm.

 

I'm keeping a journal with a running cost total (up to $700, I'm ashamed to say!), so I can clearly see that I DO NOT want to buy anything else for a while. That's why I'm dragging my feet on the phos test. ;) My wallet needs a break.

Link to comment

Get some red slime remover. I get it in the fall when the temp. starts to fall. One treatment and its gone for a year.

Link to comment
fw2sw-wannabe
Get some red slime remover. I get it in the fall when the temp. starts to fall. One treatment and its gone for a year.

 

after days of consideration.....

 

I have decided to remain on my course of action and syphon/water-change/carbon my way through the next couple of months. I researched the chemi-clean and various erythromycin treatments for cyano, and feel that my tank is still in cycling mode. Just need to wait it out. fingerscrossed

 

I discovered something super cool, though! Using a small fish-net, I can scoop up the cyano on the sand like clumps in the cat's litterbox. A few shakes and taps of the net on the glass and most of the sand comes out, leaving the cyano in the net! Wicked cool. B)

 

Thanks for your help, everybody. :grouphug: I'll post when this deal is done (or I'm on to GHA... let's hope that doesn't happen, even though it will).

Link to comment

this wont be your last, dont do the chemical thing, the idea of a reef tank (for me) is to try to do it naturally, it will go away, it will come back when you add a fish, it will go away, then hair algae will show up, then it will go away, its a cycle, but thats the fun right? you wanted a challenge, here ya go! by the way, its good to see a newbie reading up before posting! kudos!

Link to comment
fw2sw-wannabe
this wont be your last, dont do the chemical thing, the idea of a reef tank (for me) is to try to do it naturally, it will go away, it will come back when you add a fish, it will go away, then hair algae will show up, then it will go away, its a cycle, but thats the fun right? you wanted a challenge, here ya go! by the way, its good to see a newbie reading up before posting! kudos!

 

Thanks, groyurown...

 

The challenge is what brought me from freshwater to nano-reefing, so you're right: this is what I'm lookin' for! If I wanted to plop some fish in a forget it, I would've stuck to FW.

 

I do still have my old freshwater tank, although I don't spend much time in front of it these days. LOL :P

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
fw2sw-wannabe

figured I would check in...

 

after a couple of weeks of semi-weekly 10% water-changes, sifting cyano out of the sand, scrubbing cyano off the rocks, and adding filter floss with carbon for 4 days a week.....

 

my cyano is gone! No more hairy brown slime waving in the current. Of course, there's a tad still in my fuge, so my battle isn't completely over, but it's getting there!

 

I never used any antibiotics or slime remover. Of course, I'm sure it will reappear as I add some livestock in the coming months, but I'm going to let my tank mature for a few before that happens.

 

my water parameters: 77.4 degrees, 1.026 specific gravity, 0 ppm ammonia,/nitrites/nitrates, 3.5 meq/L alkalinity, 420 calcium. I'm a happy camper! :D

 

just wanted to share the news!

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...