Red Cyano Plague

[sen5241b]

One of 20G longs has a layer of red cyano covering almost the entire sand and rock bed. Its has slowly gotten worse over the course of the last few months.

The tank has a 1G refugium with cheato. Flow thru the refugium is decent and it has strong light. The main tank has about 70 watts of T5s one white and one blue.

There is a pair of clowns (one is kinda big), a tail spot blenny and a little green goby. Last night I started running phosphate adsorption with passive filtration.

Am I over-stocked? What's causing this?

 

[little_fish]

When was the last time you changed the light bulbs?

 

[Smitty]

I'm thinking it may be the bulbs also.

 

[sen5241b]

I put a new T5 fixture over the tank last summer. My best guess was that it is over-stocked.

 

[little_fish]

I would change your bulbs too, stock bulbs go bad pretty fast

 

[sen5241b]

Wish I had money for a PAR Meter. It could answer so many questions about light.

 

[Nonfamous]

Okay, so I'm getting this red stuff on the sand in my tank too. My fixtures are 2 months and one week old. Think the bulbs are to blame in mine? I removed a LOT of it along with the sand earlier today. My fish don't seem to mind it. Actually, the Flame Angel was kinda nipping at it and appeared to be eating it. My goby doesn't seem to mind being on it. The Turbos either haven't found it or stay away from it.

All my standard tests showed good today.

pH 8.2
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 0.0
Phosphate .25
Ca 480

Still not sure about the phosphate reading. It hasn't changed since I started testing for it and I have a nice healthy ball of cheato in it. Skimmer is always on, I'm rinsing my frozen food and all my corals seem to be looking well.

 

[AmberSunrise]

Okay, so I'm getting this red stuff on the sand in my tank too. My fixtures are 2 months and one week old. Think the bulbs are to blame in mine? I removed a LOT of it along with the sand earlier today. My fish don't seem to mind it. Actually, the Flame Angel was kinda nipping at it and appeared to be eating it. My goby doesn't seem to mind being on it. The Turbos either haven't found it or stay away from it.

All my standard tests showed good today.

pH 8.2
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 0.0
Phosphate .25
Ca 480

Still not sure about the phosphate reading. It hasn't changed since I started testing for it and I have a nice healthy ball of cheato in it. Skimmer is always on, I'm rinsing my frozen food and all my corals seem to be looking well.

How much flow do you have? I would say its being caused from your phosphates since your bulbs are new. Try using phosguard in a HOB skimmer and change out the bag once a week. Also do you use RODI water or any flake foods at all those seem to be a common theme for people with this issue.

 

[Nonfamous]

Turnover is 24x per hour. Can't use a HOB anything due to tanks location. I am working on a new tank to sump set up that will allow me to attach bags, but its not ready yet.

RODI since start up. Actually bought the system BEFORE I got my tank. Recently checked the TDS and it is 720 in with 000 out. Filters are about 4 months old and only have about 500 gallons through them.

No flake foods, but I recently started feeding my Corals PhytoPlan. Once every third day. This red stuff has been there for a while, long before I started using it.

 

[little_fish]

The coral phyto stuff isnt helping your cyano issue, very little of that is actually used by corals the rest just rots and fuels algae.

Almost all new tanks go through a period with cyano. The best things to do are frequent water changes, dont over feed and dont add more fish.

 

[AmberSunrise]

Turnover is 24x per hour. Can't use a HOB anything due to tanks location. I am working on a new tank to sump set up that will allow me to attach bags, but its not ready yet.

RODI since start up. Actually bought the system BEFORE I got my tank. Recently checked the TDS and it is 720 in with 000 out. Filters are about 4 months old and only have about 500 gallons through them.

No flake foods, but I recently started feeding my Corals PhytoPlan. Once every third day. This red stuff has been there for a while, long before I started using it.

Well it certainly sounds like you are doing everything right.

If it were me I would cut back on feeding every other day for the fish and maybe twice a week for the corals and reducing the time the lights are on for a while. Suck up as much of it as you can daily.

I had cyano issues in my freshwater and cutting back the time the lights were on made a noticeable difference right away. Then I went to feeding small amounts every other day Once I subsided I slowly increased the time for the lights again but continue to feed every other day.

 

[Nonfamous]

The coral phyto stuff isnt helping your cyano issue, very little of that is actually used by corals the rest just rots and fuels algae.

Almost all new tanks go through a period with cyano. The best things to do are frequent water changes, dont over feed and dont add more fish.

I'm done with fish. Maxed out! I have been doing water changes every other week, since I was told that corals like slightly dirty water. I'll go back to weekly and see if it helps. As far as the phytoplan, I realize not much is used, but was also told that the Favia need it or they won't grow. Heck, at this point I'm not real sure one of them is even alive!

I'll cut back to once a week on it and reduce the amount by 1/2 also. It did seem odd that I should be feeding 1/4 tsp to such small frags. As for feeding the fish, well, I'm only using one cube a day and the fish really eat it up! All guidelines say feed what the fish can eat in three minutes. My guys definitely do this. I've also read that it keeps possible aggression at a minimum. With the angel fish (dwarf) having shown aggression in the past and with a damsel in the tank, I'd like to keep the tank calm. I will take the feeding issue to heart and give it some serious thought. You were right with this before, no reason you aren't this time!

I am going to move my lights up a few inches. Mostly because of the way my hood is made. As it stands right now, it would take me an hour to change out a bulb. This is going to lift the lights up about 4 inches. Will this effect the creation of algae?

 

[little_fish]

The dirty water depends on the corals, only softies benefit from dirty water, SPS and LPS are only harmed by it. Also flavias dont need phytoplankton, someone has clearly mislead you. If you want them to grow faster you can feed them when the feeder tentacles come out after dark. LPS dont utilize phytoplankton.

Lifting the bulbs wont do anything for the algae issue, but I would reduce your photoperiod and feed a quarter of a cube twice a day if you are using food to mediate aggression.

 

[sen5241b]

Been running Phosgaurd for 3 days and the red cyano is receding

 

[Nonfamous]

Don't think I'm quite ready to go the chem route yet. I am cutting back on the feeding as Little_fish suggested and I did a 20% water change today. I'm a little confused though. My sand was okay before the water change and now, it looks awful! MUCH more than before the water change.

To do a WC I pump out 10 gallons from the DT via a small submersible pump I have (85gph). Then I empty almost all of the water out of the sump with the same pump. I make sure the LR rubble is never exposed to the air. Then I pump water into the DT and into the sump with the same pump. Nothing gets stirred up simply because the pump isn't that strong.

Why would I have "dirty" sand after a huge water change? Its almost like the cyano likes the new water.

ALSO: Is it normal for a Dwarf Angel to eat this stuff? Mine seems to be eating it. It may be eating my Yellow Polyps too. Haven't caught it yet, but a few are pretty beat up!

 

[little_fish]

Can you post a before and after picture? I dont quite understand how the sand is looking more dirty.

And I dont know of fish who would eat that stuff. Are you sure he isnt tasting it and then spitting it back out?

 

[AmberSunrise]

Been running Phosgaurd for 3 days and the red cyano is receding

I swear by that stuff!

Don't think I'm quite ready to go the chem route yet. I am cutting back on the feeding as Little_fish suggested and I did a 20% water change today. I'm a little confused though. My sand was okay before the water change and now, it looks awful! MUCH more than before the water change.

To do a WC I pump out 10 gallons from the DT via a small submersible pump I have (85gph). Then I empty almost all of the water out of the sump with the same pump. I make sure the LR rubble is never exposed to the air. Then I pump water into the DT and into the sump with the same pump. Nothing gets stirred up simply because the pump isn't that strong.

Why would I have "dirty" sand after a huge water change? Its almost like the cyano likes the new water.

ALSO: Is it normal for a Dwarf Angel to eat this stuff? Mine seems to be eating it. It may be eating my Yellow Polyps too. Haven't caught it yet, but a few are pretty beat up!

I am going to have to argue that your water is not as clean as you think. Maybe your meter is inaccurate?? Just throwing out guesses.

 

[Nonfamous]

Not sure what meter your talking about. The TDS meter? Not sure it can even be calibrated. All my test supplies are good according to API.

Okay, one more thing, and this may be the answer........ When the tank lights are off and only the room lights are on, I don't see this stuff. It seems to disappear when the lights are off. So am I correct in thinking this is cyano? If I can shoot pictures I will post them.

I'm pretty sure the angel is eating this stuff and not spitting it back out.

 

[Nanna]

I had a very bad outbreak of red cyano and as a last resort (I don't like putting chemicals in my tank) I used Boyd Chemiclean Red Slime Cyano Bacteria Remove. It worked very well for me with absolutely no problems, Within 48 hours the cyano was completely gone. It has been about 2 weeks since I used it and so far I have not seen any signs of it coming back.

If you should decide to try this product, be sure to follow the directions very carefully. It can cause some very serous issues and even wipe out your tank if not used correctly. Also, cyano can develop an immunity to the chemical causing it to be even harder to get rid of the cyano if it should come back.

Wishing you the best of luck getting rid of your cyano outbreak. Been there, done it and I know how frustrating it can be. :frustrat:

 

[little_fish]

You can and should calibrate your TDS meter