Cycling and Cyano

jamespias

jamespias

Paranoid Reefer
I have many years under my belt for fresh water, but this is my first try at my dream of a reef aquarium. I have a new 36 gal tank that I have been cycling for 4 weeks now. I used distilled water to fill the tank, so I know my problem is not from bad water. I am at 1.023 SG, 0 Amonia, 0 Nitrates, 0 Nitrites. I started the tank with around 40 lbs of live sand, and 40 lbs of live rock. I am running a t5HO 4 bulb set up with all new bulbs.
My problem is that I have a massive red cyano outbreak that is out of control. I am running my lights for 10 hours a day. I turned them off for the last 5 days to get rid of it (and sucked out what I could). It worked decently well, so I turned my lights back on today, and in the last 6 hours, the cyano is back with vengance! I started to cycle my tank with a few pinches of fish flakes before I put in a cocktail shrimp, and I think this raised my phosphate levels (which are currently at .2 ppm). Is this why I am having my troubles? Will the cyano eat up the phosphate and go away? Insights?

-Thanks
 
in due time ya, it will die out, just keep up with your water changes and look at staring your clean upmcrew ( hermit crabs, snails, shrimp). be patiant and it will pass.
 
Rocks can absorb phosphates and nitrates, which they will release once they are put in a tank with water that doesnt have nitrates and phosphates. That is likely what is fueling the cyano. But it should go away once the fuel source is all used up!

Keep up the with the water changes and dont get discouraged, we have all been through this!
 
I am trying to take my time with putting animals in the tank, and
i have heard of people putting in CUC's and having them starve to death for lack of food. Would the cyano feed them enough? I have a small diatom bloom right now, but I am certain that the "problem" right now is cyano. I have looked up a lot of articles on it before coming to you guys for help.
Lastly, I haven't done a real water change yet (which I will do tomorrow), and I am running a Reef Octopus BH1000 which is pulling out some skimmate as the days pass.
 
ya lights on a 8-10 hour scheduale is good, and you would want to do a water change on at least a once a week basis. and it will die out over time.
 
Most clean up crew members will not eat cyano. Do you have anything at all in the tank yet? Your skimmer shouldn't be doing much of anything unless it's pulling out that fish food. Feed a frozen food to your fish when you get one to reduce phosphates getting introduced to the tank and keep up on water changes with 0 TDS water and the cyano will run it's course. If I were you, I would reduce the time your lights are on to 8 hours. Good luck :D
 
Thanks guys. Lights adjusted to 8 hour cycle. And "no," there is nothing in my tank yet (save the live sand and rock, some bristle worms, peanut worms, pods, and a current run of hydroids). I was looking forward to adding something soon (maybe a snail or hermit?) but I am resisting temptation and waiting. Didn't want to add any fish during this cyano outbreak.
 
Essentially they are about the size of a pin head, white with little legs (like a sun shape), but they don't move. They are on the glass of the tank. Maybe I have them under the wrong name?
 

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