thanks for the info. I know I have a nitrate problem so i'm sure thats where the cyano is from. i'm going to start weekly large water changes right away. the cyano isnt out of hand yet, there is quite alot in the fuge, my Chaeto is coated in it.

I fought a cyano problem for nearly a year...at one point doing water changes daily for two weeks trying to eliminate nutrients. I tried phosphate sponges, replaced my RO/DI filters, replaced my light bulbs, carbon filtration..finally trying chemiclean, and red slime remover.

In the end, a newer, larger skimmer cleaned it up nearly overnight!

http://www.aquariumpw.com/images/maracyn.jpeg

It's not specifically made for getting rid of Cyano, but it does as a side effect.

Nothing in my tank was adversely affected. The only thing is that you have to turn off your skimmer for a few days, because it will overflow within minutes if you dont. After a few days, when the cyano has noticeably disappeared, you have to start doing some water changes to get rid of the chemicals.

Of course this doesnt get rid of the root cause of the cyano, but it got rid of the existing cyano quickly, so that my efforts to reduce the nitrates were more effective in preventing it to start up again. It actually got rid of my green hair algae too. Neither has started up again <fingers crossed>.

yup Maracyn. I just put in 4 tabs in my tanks, 2 3 days agos and 2 more last night.

I know I have a bit of a overfeeding problem,... that the nature of cylopeeze though.

4pts....

Wow, how big is your tank? I was told to put 1/3 of the recommended dosage on the package (I think it said 1 tablet per 10gal?), so 2 tabs worked in my 70gal. They told me I could always dose again after a few days, if the first dosage wasnt enough.

You want to use it sparingly, because Maracyn IS an anti-biotic. And with all anti-biotics (even for humans), the bacteria that you're trying to kill can adapt and become immune to it over time. So if you give it a big dosage now, down the road it could come back worse than ever.

Plus it would take longer to get it all out of your system. I couldnt wait to get my skimmer started again, but it was still overfilling after 4 days. Took a few water changes before things got back to normal.

why wouldnt you guys just treat with chemi-clean a product designed to fight cyano instead of something ment to treat freshwater?

I've got a 46g tank, with about a 20g sump.


never tried chemi-clean. will need to look into that.


4pts

well I;m getting a new skimmer and i'm going to overskim like mad. That should help...did a big cleaning and water change on the weekend and have had virtually no cyano since.

I've read that maracyn is not as harsh as chemi-clean. There are horror stories of chemi-clean wiping out SPS.

Id be interested in reading about this..
Can you post your source please??