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Slowly losing battle with cyano, I need help!!


brianinak

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Thrassian Atoll
13 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Sounds like a good plan.

 

It's hard getting the perfe t balance of enough nutrients but not enough for gha and cyano.

 

Euphyllia are another coral that helps with reactions with alk swings, do you have any?

I had a really nice candy cane that melted.  ?IMG_1283.thumb.JPG.e8a530f375cf5eda1572234d4c6efffe.JPGIMG_1811.thumb.JPG.921177d1c8286a47061b0ec065ab9c0b.JPG

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cfaye@Delaware

Once again I'm a newbie. Go to nano-reef search box and type in maracyn. Take a look at some of the older threads.....like from 2003 and 2005 I think....a while back I had possible cyano in my 2g jar....it is gone for now, it has been about 3 weeks....this is due to my illness and being way from the jar....the jar went thru a severe temp change and huge salt level rise....somethings did make it....I used chemclean once and it came back....Now the maracyn plain.....they make several different kinds make sure it says salt water on the package also.....The only active ingredient it says on the label is erythromycin.....A while back I also read on nano-reef older threads that you could use it on bryopsis/turf algae....that's what I'm battling now. I did one treatment and seems to have helped some. I under dosed big time because I was not sure.....treatment ended a week ago and things seem ok.....plants, coral,crabs....so far.....This might help, not sure but you could read up on it.....

Fritz Aquatics

Mardel

Maracyn

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cfaye@Delvare

Thank you for the ideas.  I can comfortably say the cyano is dying down.  I am also new, and learning as I go.  I removed GFO about a week ago, phosphate still zero, as per hanna low range and nitrates only went up to 5.    cyano fading.  

 

I am optimistic!!!!!!!!

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cfaye@Delaware

Please keep us updated, seems like a few tanks are going thru this. Some people call this the ugly stage of the tank.....I'm going....this is crazy !!!!

I'm very happy that it has slowed down....keep close watch.....

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so update,

 

About two weeks now without GFO in reactor.  

 

Nitrate 5 and steady

Phosphate 0.00 hanna low range

ALK 8.5-8.7

ca 390

mag 1400

SG 1.025

PH 7.8-8.0

 

Water parameters stable and consistent

 

Cyano still present, on substrate, nothing compared to pictures I have seen online.  I am beginning to think that this is part of new tank uglies that the system has to go through as matures.  It is manageable and not over taking anything.  Just doesn't look good.  I suck it out 1-2x per week.  Not going to have much sand left if this continues.  I am turkey basting rock and sand daily.  Not sure what is fueling it or what the origin is.  Nutrient low, flow maybe too high and has flow has zero impact on cyano.  I continue to believe that has to due with PO4 and NO3 out balance and tank is too low nutrient.  This is based on research and that fact that every other strategy simply not having an impact other than lights out, but that is not solution and temporary addressing a symptom of unknown issue.  

 

Thinking of asking a fellow reefer for 0.5 g. of water from his system to add bio diversity to system.  Is that a good or bad idea?

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Your tank is still fairly new. I got all kinds of algae up until 1 year mark.

I treated cyano like this: suck out as much as possible from the sand...blast the rocks with a turkey baster and let the overflow pick that up and send it into the filter sock...replace that more often.

it took a while to see it gone but it’s not the end of the world.

For the past year I barely had any algae growing in the display. Maybe a couple bubbles and some GHA in some remote spots on the rocks but that’s it.

Patience and sucking out as much as possible will win in the end.

Algae doesn’t go away on its own, you gotta physically remove it. The one that seems to go away and melt it’s just releasing bad stuff back into your water fueling new algae growth...my 0.2c

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Agreed

 

ongoing cyano is merely the result of not removing it correctly, it’s harmless to experiment with as it’s not anchored in place nor hard to correct when the keeper is ready to have a cyano free tank.

 

I think the longest I recall someone willingly keeping cyano in their tank to experiment with slow removal options was two straight years...nanareefers tank off reef2reef. Using the correct removal option will stop cyano here at any time, or it can be left in the tank to see if natural methods work. A reefkeeper should choose whatever best reflects their $ investment for the tank. Post full tank shot here, we should see update pics. should post all white lighting pics, what if you have dinoflagellates vs cyano 

 

 

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5 hours ago, brandon429 said:

Agreed

 

ongoing cyano is merely the result of not removing it correctly, it’s harmless to experiment with as it’s not anchored in place nor hard to correct when the keeper is ready to have a cyano free tank.

 

I think the longest I recall someone willingly keeping cyano in their tank to experiment with slow removal options was two straight years...nanareefers tank off reef2reef. Using the correct removal option will stop cyano here at any time, or it can be left in the tank to see if natural methods work. A reefkeeper should choose whatever best reflects their $ investment for the tank. Post full tank shot here, we should see update pics. should post all white lighting pics, what if you have dinoflagellates vs cyano 

 

 

 

 

Brandon429: below is recent all tank pic.  Cyano has decreased and now thinking getting a second diatom bloom or dinos.  , I stared a second thread but consensus's is diatoms.  I am working on relaxing about all this and allowing tank to mature.  Steady good maintenance and patience.  

whole tank pic.jpg

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Here is what I am hoping is diatoms.  Went through diatoms a bit ago.  When I added GFO it began to disappear.  I removed GFO about two weeks ago.  Cyano decrease and diatoms appeared yesterday.  May be out competing the cyano?

 

 

brown stuff.jpg

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Such a low level invasion that's good to see. Doesn't even look bad, light patches like that sustain grazers in nature. Agreed your tank is maturing good call above none of that looks to be out of balance. If you wanted to try a natural approach try getting a good refresh of live refugium pods there are online vendors for them. Good chance there

 

Cleaning out the whole bed will also readily work on low invasions but that's a bit of work. I was expecting worse invasion that's not bad at all

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If you have a good relationship with the LFS and the fish guy/manager is somewhat of a nice guy you can “borrow”a lawnmower blenny (a small one) or buy and sell it back to them for the same amount in a couple months or so...they’re not expensive either way-the regular ones at least (although I’ve seen some black ones with white spots that look crazy nice).

They get big for a small nano but if you wanted to turn that sand around while still feeding the fish that’s an option if you want that sand to look spotless while your tank matures...(I know , not the best approach but hey, it’s still a somewhat decent option if you hate that algae on your sand.)

 

At second glance at what I wrote, lawnmowers are good for algae that grows on stuff rather than sand. So you might wanna look at some sand sifter goby short term...

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thanks everyone for help.

 

Went back in log, I removed a big rock awhile back to create better flow.  I added 12 1.5inch marine pure balls to sump.  So that may have introduced new silicates to systems, hence new diatom bloom.  Or the removal of GFO

 

What do you think?

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  • 3 weeks later...

So update if anyone following

 

Removed a big rock to help flow weeks ago.  Added marine pure balls to sump (12) and removed GFO weeks ago.  Have a diatom bloom after adding marine pure ball or removing gfo, it is dying down.  Cyano minimal, but making a come back as diatoms fade.  Back to zero.

 

Tested today

nitrate 2 red sea

PO4 0 Hanna low range

 

current plan;

good maintenance and water change schedule, letting it runs it course.  

 

Thoughts?

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