is this Red Cyano?

[gusto]

Hi Everyone,

   Been battling this for a bit tried Chemiclean red cyano remover seemed to help a bit but after a few weeks came back..

 

 

[mcarroll]

A good way to think about this is that your tank is growing cyano because it cannot grow green algae as it should be.

 

More than likely you have little or no phosphate/nitrates in the water, but there can be other causes.

 

To start with, can you post all of your most recent test results?  (ca, alk, mg, no3 and po4)

 

Also, tell us about the tank:  how old, how is it cleaned and filtered, what is your cleanup crew, livestock, etc, et al.

[gusto]

thank you...

  The tank was upgraded from a nuvo 20 to a nuvo 30L in August..had the 20 up for 2 years then upgraded to a 30L about 8.5 months ago.  phosphates are .23, nitrates 10ppm, Ca 420 KH 8.0. for filtration I have a protein skimmer  1) media baskets - filter floss, phosguard, chemipure elite 2) media basket - filter floss, bioballs, sponge. clean up crew is multiple various snails ( got from reefcleaners). Weekly  15% water changes. 2 clownfish 2 cardinal fish 1 orchid dottyback 1 cleaner shrimp. 

 

Now I ended up setting up the Nuvo 20 downstairs and that has the same red cyano. I did just replace membrane in my RODI unit and my TDS has always been 0.  could it be the red sea blue bucket salt possibly? 

 

Thanks 

[Thrassian Atoll]

Looks like the Dino’s I have.  Wouldn’t know without a microscope.

[Daniel-J]

Take a water sample and run some tests. I think we need to add or remove something from the nutrition.

[mcarroll]

On 3/14/2020 at 9:41 PM, gusto said:

upgraded from a nuvo 20 to a nuvo 30L in August..had the 20 up for 2 years then upgraded to a 30L about 8.5 months ago.

It might take a year or so for things to get back in balance.

 

What is your cleanup crew in the new tank? (pls be specific)

 

What has your schedule been like for manual algae removal?

 

Was there anything interesting about the tank in its 20L form?  For example, maybe what led to the upgrade?  Or anything.

[gusto]

Hello Mcarroll, 

my cleanup crew is 28 Dwarf Ceriths -  11 Nassarius vibex - 12 Florida Ceriths  11 Nerites 

I weekly vacuum what I can on the sand..

 

Great point about the lighting that's the only thing I changed I went for a Current USA IC LED  to two AI Primes and I also put one AI Prime on the 20 Gallon downstairs so maybe it's the light..   Here is my lighting schedule for both..  

 

[mcarroll]

3 hours ago, gusto said:

my cleanup crew is 28 Dwarf Ceriths -  11 Nassarius vibex - 12 Florida Ceriths  11 Nerites

If my math is correct, that's 50 herbivores and 11 scavengers.

 

50 herbivores sounds like a lot, but they are also TINY snails.  Consider adding one larger snail (Turbo, Trochus, Astrea) to your mix to see if that helps.

 

Also, I didn't catch what you're doing for manual algae removal.  Are you pulling the longer/heaving growth out by hand?  Snails won't eat longer/older growth -- no teeth for ripping or chewing.  Their mouths are only equipped to eat the fresh new growth after an area is cleared.

 

3 hours ago, gusto said:

I weekly vacuum what I can on the sand.

This shouldn't amount to much.  If it does, you may either be over-feeding or there may not be enough flow to keep detritus from prematurely settling.

 

Vacuuming would ideally be optional, or very infrequent.

 

3 hours ago, gusto said:

I went for a Current USA IC LED  to two AI Primes

What was the total wattage before and after the change?

 

It would be ideal if you had a lux meter or PAR meter to measure the old lights and new lights....then you could simply adjust the dimming to math the intensity of the old light.  (A lux meter costs $5-$20, so is kind of a no-brainer IMO.)

 

An increase in light can lead to an algae bloom, but if your corals weren't tweaked by the change then this seems less likely...but still possible.  

 

Did you make the new light a very different color from the old lights?