Cyano problem

[1st reef]

What is the most effective way to get rid of cyano? I use a turkey baster to blow off cyano from wherever I can and then syphon it out. But keeps coming back. 

[WormLicker]

Chemi-pure blue worked wonders for me, however I have seen people say negative things about it. 

I personally really like the product and it didn't disturb my corals. (All softies)

[1st reef]

My set up isa 5g without skimmer. 

Weekly water changes up to... About 25%

[WV Reefer]

6 minutes ago, 1st reef said:

What is the most effective way to get rid of cyano? I use a turkey baster to blow off cyano from wherever I can and then syphon it out. But keeps coming back. 

Anytime I have cyano the first thing I do is up the flow and take a good look at what I’m feeding and how much.  
 

has anything changed recently?

[1st reef]

More food. Can I feed every other day? 

[Tired]

Feed your fish every day, and any LPS corals every few days. 

 

Check your nutrients. You want at least 5ppm nitrate and 0.03ppm phosphate, and generally no more than 4 times that. Make sure they aren't too low, or super high. 

 

Did you start with dry rock? If so, expect cyano. Keep it off corals, and leave it alone otherwise. It'll go away as the tank matures. 

 

Don't use Chemiclean or anything else. You have to let the tank balance itself without poison intervention. Cyano is harmless as long as it's not smothering corals, so, if you keep it off corals, you have all the time in the world for it to fix itself. 

[ReefTaco]

2 hours ago, Tired said:

Feed your fish every day, and any LPS corals every few days. 

 

Check your nutrients. You want at least 5ppm nitrate and 0.03ppm phosphate, and generally no more than 4 times that. Make sure they aren't too low, or super high. 

 

Did you start with dry rock? If so, expect cyano. Keep it off corals, and leave it alone otherwise. It'll go away as the tank matures. 

 

Don't use Chemiclean or anything else. You have to let the tank balance itself without poison intervention. Cyano is harmless as long as it's not smothering corals, so, if you keep it off corals, you have all the time in the world for it to fix itself. 

Discussion: Isn't cyano caused by excess in nutrients?

 

Everything else I agree  👍

[Murphs_Reef]

5 hours ago, Instant_taco said:

Discussion: Isn't cyano caused by excess in nutrients?

 

Everything else I agree  👍

I find it's when phosphate is bottoming out and nitrates are above 5/10ppm.  

 

OP, Get it sucked out don't leave it in the tank by stirring it up or blowing it around.

[Ratvan]

8 hours ago, Instant_taco said:

Discussion: Isn't cyano caused by excess in nutrients?

 

Everything else I agree  👍

Thats one of the potential reasons, I always find that extreme white light and poor flow are a contributing factor to mine 

[ubpr]

11 hours ago, Instant_taco said:

Discussion: Isn't cyano caused by excess in nutrients?

I had cyano at zero nitrates and phosphates, at Salifert test kits sensitivity.

[ubpr]

Also have 5 gal tanks without protein skimmer (have it, but no need to use, have to dose nitrates and phosphates instead of this).

Keeping phosphates and nitrates in detectable range helped a lot, and for cyano specifically, Chemiclean solved the problem, long time effect. Follow instructions.

There are also other products to try, as Dr. Tim's.

[seabass]

18 hours ago, Instant_taco said:

Isn't cyano caused by excess in nutrients?

According to a lot of people.   However, I believe that cyano blooms are primarily due to excess organics (within the substrate, on the rocks, and even dissolved in the water).

 

Many of the recommended natural cyano treatments actually reduce organics (like protein skimming, increased flow, tank maintenance, filter media, etc).  Products like Chemi-Clean are believed to be an antibiotic, which work, but can throw off the balance of your tank's microbiome (while doing little to address the root cause).

[Mazapis58]

My problems with cyano have always been due to excess nutrients, mainly phosphates. Currently my system is in nitrates and phosphates at 0 and I am unable to increase them although I feed moderately but constantly with phytoplankton and zooplakton. Currently I fear more for the appearance of dinos than for the cyano.

 

I have used Cehmi-Clean and the result has been satisfactory, but it is necessary to correct the nutrient imbalance if you do not want the cyano to appear again

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Mazapis58 said:

My problems with cyano have always been due to excess nutrients, mainly phosphates.

I feel that must be in conjunction with excess organics.  Inorganic nutrients alone shouldn't cause cyano.

 

1 hour ago, Mazapis58 said:

Currently my system is in nitrates and phosphates at 0...  Currently I fear more for the appearance of dinos than for the cyano.

Yes, lack of nutrients seems to be a favorable environment for dino blooms (which are much harder to deal with than cyano).

[1st reef]

On 12/15/2021 at 6:20 PM, Tired said:

Feed your fish every day, and any LPS corals every few days. 

 

Check your nutrients. You want at least 5ppm nitrate and 0.03ppm phosphate, and generally no more than 4 times that. Make sure they aren't too low, or super high. 

 

Did you start with dry rock? If so, expect cyano. Keep it off corals, and leave it alone otherwise. It'll go away as the tank matures. 

 

Don't use Chemiclean or anything else. You have to let the tank balance itself without poison intervention. Cyano is harmless as long as it's not smothering corals, so, if you keep it off corals, you have all the time in the world for it to fix itself. 

Thanks. I use a turkey baster to blow the cyano off corals and rocks. "live rock" was bought from my lfs but was all white. Not cured. 

[Tired]

White rock is dry/dead rock, not live. You'll have cyano for awhile; just ignore it. Also, don't clean your rocks with anything stronger than a turkey baster. Fast-growing green algae will surge if you can get nutrients up, which will push back the cyano, and will eventually fade in exchange for slower-growing green algae and coraline. 

 

Cyano can absolutely come from excess organics, but is also pretty common in new tanks with no competition. I'd be surprised if a tank set up with dry rock didn't have cyano at some point. 

 

To get nutrients up, remove all filter media other than floss (if that), and feed corals as much as they'll eat. If nutrients stay low, consider dosing them; that's an acceptable bottle solution, as it's just directly adding substances that are supposed to be there, rather than trying to poison something away. And you NEED nutrients up; dinos are far, far worse than cyano. Cyano's largely harmless and easily fixed with some time, dinos are not.

 

Oh, and check your water quality. You should be using water with 0 TDS, i.e. RODI or distilled water. If you don't, you'll get constant cyano and other pest algae, and may wind up with things that will directly poison your corals. 

[RCReef]

When cyano pops up in my tank, it usually means the clownfish has killed too many of the hermits and it's time to replenish them.

[1st reef]

Maybe I should add a few more hermits. 

What nutrients should be up? I use filter floss and poly pad. I buy premixed water from lfs that uses reef crystal and for top off I use distilled I buy from the pharmacy. 

[seabass]

3 hours ago, 1st reef said:

What nutrients should be up?

Phosphate should be at least 0.03 ppm (between 0.05 and 0.10 ppm is usually good).  Higher is often considered better than lower.

 

2 to 10 ppm of nitrate should be good.  Again, a little higher usually isn't cause for concern.

[1st reef]

How do you get those up... If too low? 

[Tired]

Feed more heavily. Like I said above, feed your fish daily, and feed all corals that will eat food every few days. Make sure all the food is eaten, though, not rotting.

 

Also, stop doing water changes. Water changes should usually only be done if your nutrients are starting to get too high, or if the minerals used by skeleton-building corals (calcium, etc) are starting to get low.

 

If that doesn't increase the nutrients after a week or two, consider dosing those nutrients. 

 

Don't get hermits until you have plenty of green algae for them to eat. 

[seabass]

Consider tank maintenance separate from changing water.  You'll still want to regularly remove excess organic wastes.  This will require you the change some of the water; however, I would stop changing a particular percentage of water just to change it out.

 

As Tired indicated, you can increase feedings if you are currently under feeding.  However, don't try to increase nutrient levels by over feeding.  Increasing the bio-load (by adding livestock) is another way to increase feedings, and add more nutrients.

 

However, I'm a proponent of dosing clean inorganic nutrients when levels are naturally depressed.  This way you can more easily control the nutrient input without adding to the organic wastes.  Like any dosing, regular testing will be required.

[1st reef]

Will have to get a phosphate test kit. 

Bioload in my 5g is pretty maxed. 

Clown, ywg, pistol shrimp. 

I always had very low nitrates though. 

I'll remove the poly pad and see how it goes. 

[Tired]

Strange that you have low nitrates, your tank is overstocked. Are the fish still babies? Because they shouldn't be in a tank that size as adults; 10 gallons is an absolute minimum for either of them. A 5gal is suitable for very small blennies and gobies only. 

 

The poly pad might be sucking up your nutrients. Keep that out unless it's actually needed. 

[1st reef]

Yeah started out as fowlr and 3 months later.... Ocellaris, ywg and tiger pistol shrimp. 3 hermits and 5 soft corals. 

Planning on setting up a 30G eventually.