cyano

[cthegame]

Hey guys,

I know that new tanks go thru the stages of alage which is normal. Firstthe brown stuff, then the gree hair and then cyano. I seem to be stuck on cyano for a while now. But lately it has become out of control. Its everywhere on the sand, back glass and now its starting to cover my LR.

In all honesty, i have no clue where all this nutrition is coming from. I feed my tank the bare minimum every other day. I dont use tap water, my ammionia, nitrites and nitrates are all 0. When i clean the tank and remove as much of the cyano as i can, within hours, i see the sand turning red again.

I have two questions: 1. Is this normal? if so, how long does this cyano stage last? 2. Can i do more frequent water changes. Say like 5 gallongs every other day until the cyano is gone? or would that stress the tank.

Thanks for your help. This algae is the worst kind i have ever experienced. I guess back then i should have appreciated the green & brown alage as they were alot easier to control than this cyano.

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah it's normal and it sucks and it can take months to clear up. Went through the same thing with my tank a few months back. Also try taking a turkey baster and blasting your rocks and sand off.

 

[cthegame]

This has been well over a month for me. Even over two months probably.

Is this something that will go away on its own or do i need to actively fight it until the battle is won.

Is the more frequent water change (every other day) ok here or is it too much?

 

[reeffreak]

What inhabitants do you have now?Doing water changes that often with fish and corals can be stressful,opening the door to diseases and other ailments.How long a cyano outbreak last really all depends on your systems nutrient,lighting,flow,foods,inhabitants etc.There just way to many variable to be sure.When I did get a cyano outbreak it lasted about a month.Consider doing some of these things.

Increase flow-I find that cyano has a hard time getting a hold where there are turbulent high flow.

Food-frozen food is the best IMO.Many people will steer you away from flakes and pellets.Something to do with ash/phosphate leading to algae blooms.I would minimize using them and stick with the high quality stuff.The only pellets I feed is the ORA glow,expensive little bag of fish food but it says its ash and phosphate free.

Lighting-cut back on lighting if you don't have corals or any photosynthetic animals that needs it.I don't recommend turning the lights off completely for days.It will cause a significant drop in pH and without removing the source it will come back anyways.

Media-I find this the best solution.Run a phosphate media,better yet....run phosphate media and good activated carbon.Run it where water flows through it at a slow to moderate rate and not passively.

It will take time but you will get through it.
Good luck!

 

[yote]

Biff and Reefs got it covered pretty good.
A good media to run is Chemi-pure Elite.Its got the carbon along with some stuff for phosphates.

 

[cthegame]

Thanks. I guess I will keep at it. I will try the less light suggestion. I do have lights on 24/7 on my fuge so PH shouldn't be affected that drastically.

I never used phosphate removers before. I'll give that a try asap.

Other than that, the only other factor is that my flow is at the bare minimum i have about 1,200 GPH. I will upgrade this later on when i can afford it.

Hopefully the phosphate remover will make a huge difference.

Thanks.