Help needed to get rid of cyanobacteria!

[Fishgirl2393]

OK, so I have a 20-gallon high tank. It has an Aqua-Tech 5-15 filter (100GPH with carbon but I rinse the media every 2 days), another similar power filter (don't know the brand but it is similar to the Aqua-Tech), a protein skimmer (Lee's skimmer which is NOT the best I know, but it works better than nothing), and a Koralia 425GPH powerhead. I use T5HO lights (96 watts total) which have new bulbs (only a couple of months old) and I have a small (50-watt I think) heater. The tank has really bad cyanobacteria (red) and this stuff is causing the corals (the kenya tree and xenia in particular) to not open as much. It is forming a carpet over most of the substrate/live rock. I've been trying for MONTHS to get this to go away but it is getting worse. I have a SeaChem SeaGel pouch in one filter but it is kinda old so I don't know how well it works now. I do weekly water changes (up to 5-gallons) with distilled water and Instant Ocean sea salt. The lights are only on for about 8-9 hours a day and (obviously) there is a lot of water flow in the tank. I don't know what to do and need some ideas!

[TeflonTomDosh]

OK, so I have a 20-gallon high tank. It has an Aqua-Tech 5-15 filter (100GPH with carbon but I rinse the media every 2 days), another similar power filter (don't know the brand but it is similar to the Aqua-Tech), a protein skimmer (Lee's skimmer which is NOT the best I know, but it works better than nothing), and a Koralia 425GPH powerhead. I use T5HO lights (96 watts total) which have new bulbs (only a couple of months old) and I have a small (50-watt I think) heater. The tank has really bad cyanobacteria (red) and this stuff is causing the corals (the kenya tree and xenia in particular) to not open as much. It is forming a carpet over most of the substrate/live rock. I've been trying for MONTHS to get this to go away but it is getting worse. I have a SeaChem SeaGel pouch in one filter but it is kinda old so I don't know how well it works now. I do weekly water changes (up to 5-gallons) with distilled water and Instant Ocean sea salt. The lights are only on for about 8-9 hours a day and (obviously) there is a lot of water flow in the tank. I don't know what to do and need some ideas!

[ward827]

 

+1

 

Dosed once and my cyano was gone in 48 hours!

[TeflonTomDosh]

I'm only gonna say this once. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS! Get the bubbler (got mine on the cheap @ wally world) and do EXACTLY AS THE INSTRUCTIONS SAY.

[sfdanksta650]

I was in the same boat as you about three weeks ago. I would suggest 5-6 hour photo period 1st. Feed your tank every three days #2. Adjust your skimmer so it's constantly bubbling up(wet skimming) you will know if its right if you have to empty the cup every 3-4 days. I also started dosin microbacter 7 when I went wet skimming. Don't use chemiclean, unless you want a quick fix. It's better to find the problem then a quick fix. Hope this helps! Danksta

[ward827]

I was in the same boat as you about three weeks ago. I would suggest 5-6 hour photo period 1st. Feed your tank every three days #2. Adjust your skimmer so it's constantly bubbling up(wet skimming) you will know if its right if you have to empty the cup every 3-4 days. I also started dosin microbacter 7 when I went wet skimming. Don't use chemiclean, unless you want a quick fix. It's better to find the problem then a quick fix. Hope this helps! Danksta

 

Nothing wrong with a quick fix to get you back to square one. Then go and find what was causing the cyano outbreak. I dosed it one time and it NEVER came back. 2 cents.

[TeflonTomDosh]

Nothing wrong with a quick fix to get you back to square one. Then go and find what was causing the cyano outbreak. I dosed it one time and it NEVER came back. 2 cents.

ditto

[Mstefa1]

I tried for weeks to get rid of cyano naturally and I have great water parameters. Chemiclean and it was gone.

[skimlessinseattle]

Chemiclean. Follow directions and you won't regret it.

[ward827]

Let me just add another thing. I hear all the blah, blah, blah about trying the natural way and avoiding chemicals. But don't you think reef keeping has come a long way and enough research has been done to substantiate the adding of certain chemicals to HELP our tanks?

 

I know LFS's get a bad rap for the most part, but mine is pretty reputable and they dose chemiclean to every tank as a monthly practice. No ill effects at all and they look great.

 

2 cents. W-

[basser1]

Actually the manufacturer of chemi-clean suggests dosing once a month.

[BulkRate]

Chemiclean works well, but without the bubbler TeflonTomDosh noted running to oxygenate the water it can be a tank-crasher. They really should sell this in a kit-type package with a dinky airpump, 3-4' of tubing and an airstone...it's that important. Be ready with the water changes post-treatment period, but it sounds like you;re already on top of that.

 

I had a tiny bloom when my tank started, but was able to get rid of it with a 2 day blackout period + using a construction paper cover/surround for the tank to block ANY ambient light from the room it was in.

 

BTW - Why are you rinsing your filtration media? Just about any decent carbon should be good for at least a week or two even in tanks that are practically a soup of aleopathic chemicals and other dissolved organic compounds, but once it's fully saturated you're not going to be able to "renew" its absorptive properties. Replace it if in doubt, it's cheap. Physical filtration media should be tossed & replaced if using floss pads or replaceable sponges... nigh impossible to rinse all the crud out without shredding the media to the point of uselessness, plus they;re relatively inexpensive as well. Remember, this isn't a freshwater tank...new media works best.

[Fishgirl2393]

I was cleaning my filter media mostly to clean the floss part of the filter. I know that floss can get gunky quickly.

Another issue I've been dealing with lately (past few weeks) is that one of my hairy mushrooms has gotten really white (bleaching perhaps) except the green tips and a few of the others have slightly white edges. Any idea what this might be or how to fix it? These corals have been in the tank for a year at least (not sure how long but I've had them for several years) and have always been really healthy until now.

HELP!!!

[sfdanksta650]

Wet skim, water changes,microbacter 7. That got rid of my cyano. Enough said

[Fishgirl2393]

I moved the mushroom coral because it is possible it has been stung by an aiptasia anemone. Don't know for sure though. Getting some of the more advanced tests run at my LFS today...

[basser1]

I moved the mushroom coral because it is possible it has been stung by an aiptasia anemone. Don't know for sure though. Getting some of the more advanced tests run at my LFS today...

 

 

Keep us posted on what you find out.

[Fishgirl2393]

Well, I got a bag of Chemi-Pure Elite at the LFS today. Test results are as follows.

 

PH: 7.5-7.6 (too low!)

Hardness: about 4-5 degrees (don't remember exactly but it was quite low)

Calcium: 580 (WAY to high but I don't see any problems and I'm not sure how to lower it)

Phosphate: Very low/barely measuring (less than .25ppm but slightly raised)

Nitrates: less than 5ppm

 

Here's the thing with the phosphate test... the LFS employees (who are very knowledgeable) agree with me that I'm getting a false low reading for phosphate because of the cyano. I removed all the visible cyano on the sand bed with the 5 gallon water change last night and it was back today so it is feeding on SOMETHING.

Oh and I'm adding Kent Marine Superbuffer dKH to the tank to raise pH and hardness.

[Mstefa1]

You don't have your own test kits? These are pretty standard for a reef tank. Bare minimum you should be testing for Ca, Alk, & Mag if all is well. If you are having trouble you should be testing phosphates, nitrates, etc.

[Fishgirl2393]

I have not had issues until now and everything was fine. I figure, if all was well, leave it be. This is a recent thing with my parameters being off. Last time I had a major testing of my water, everything was great! And I've heard CPE is pretty good at removing phosphate. I could have gotten a container of GFO but I've heard good things about CPE and will see how it works. They also have phosphate removing pads and a liquid phosphate remover. The store owner (who I know personally) has a really nice reef tank (mixed) that has been running for 2+ years and still has mostly original corals that have grown considerably so they do know what they're talking about. They use CPE in their reef systems to prevent phosphate problems (they've had levels get high before and used that to lower it).

[doppelganger]

honestly... go with chemiclean. it works and I don't see it causing much problem to shrooms and other easy coral. If u had a tank full of SPS then I'd say maybe consider other options. I've used it on mine and to works great. Like mentioned, just follow the instructions and properly aerate the water. I didn't have an airstone but I did have an air pump. I shoved the hose in to my power head and just let it chop it up to really small bubbles. Also took the cup off my skimmer.