If I had the time or facility to do weekly or biweekly water changes, I would. But that's just not realistic for me

You win.... Good luck with your cyano ... I know a couple Maint guys in edm if interested.

No need to have a fit just cuz I won't agree with you

Can you please explain: if cyano is feeding on neutrients and absorbing them. How is a water change going to help if none of those neutrients are in the water column

chemiclean. worked. cyano almost gone

Lol
 

Definitely not having a fit my friend... Just trying to help you out as you had asked a question on a public forum because you didn't know the solution to your problem... I gave you a suggestion, you didn't like it, and maybe I hit a nerve as you're super defensive on the topic of water changes. It's happened in threads prior to this one... It'll happen in threads after this one when you run into your next problem that maybe could be solved by some good old fashioned water changes...

Vast majority out there does water changes on their tank. I'm
Just saying.

Glad your cyano is gone... Drop me a line if you want some advice on how to fix it when you open your mind a little...

+1...... Obviously Marko knows something that 99% of everyone else in the hobby doesn't

cyano uses nitrogen fixation ->grows without nitrates and uses nitrogen gas in the air, but it still needs a source of phosphate.
large W/Cs did nothing to cyano for me
extra GFO worked, but it took a long time and was a gradual change with less growing back each time it was removed
(GFO also removes silicates which can contribute to cyano)

no its that i tried all the obvious things and was looking for the one person that knows something that 99% of us dont know

and last time i had a problem with my clams being closed up, how was a water change suppose to help me resolve the problem of my cleaner wrasse nipping on the clams?

you didn't try ROUTINE water changes... Tried a couple for the first time in 14 months...

I do ROUTINE water changes, so why didn't it fix my cyano problem?

Routine water changes never fixed mine but it did import better quality water while I fixed the problems

Exactly, I'm just trying to make a point, I do routine WC, vacuum, socks, maint, don't overfeed, maintain good water params, but sometimes when cyano gets the chance to rear its ugly head, the best maintenance in the world can't correct it.
I battled it for over a month, then I chemicleaned it and now it's gone, I'm back to my regular routine(that worked for years) and no sign of cyano, tank is happy and I'm happy.
So to say that Marcos problem is because he doesn't do routine water changes is a farce, and to say that doing routine wc will clear it up in a few weeks is a greater farce.

cal
 

I dont know much about your system... Wish I could help you. You said it happened after "acans dies from a disease?" I am glad you keep to regular water changes, and wish I could help you further. but with so little information, you are asking a question that I could not possibly give you an answer to. You have set me up to fail with this question. Its like me asking you why is my Duck Toller barking right now. Could be a bird, could be the cat, could be that I'm paying attention to a thread that I've wasted too much time on today...

Furthermore, I believe you are not even currently battling cyano?

Again, I would like to go on record as not being against the chemiclean. I have used it as well. In fact I bet that I've purchased more than anyone else on the board (humorous). I just always find that the guys that are very strongly "anti water change" are often having tank crashes or issues that would likely have been solved with routine water changes.

I wish marko the best of luck in the future and who knows, perhaps he can develop a method of no-work reefkeeping that can put me out of a job?

Wasn't this about Marko? lol
 

Ok Im wrong nuke it with the chemiclean!

You did 4 20 % water changes after you did the chemiclean to get your skimmer back in order Cal. Willing to bet that helped whatever parameter was out when you had it. Maybe prevented it from coming back? No?

No I am not battling cyano right now, I won my battle with chemiclean and I was sharing my experience with Marco so he could make an informed decision about using chemiclean and or other maintenance to help in his battle with cyano, you are just throwing him under the bus for not doing routine water changes, I know people who don't do routine water changes and have successful reef tanks.

Why do you think a large enough refugium with lots of macro algae can't keep perameters in check?

this is my cheato ball a week after harvesting it

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...5at31931PM.png

Dude, your not reading the thread, I did daily 10% water changes for a month while I was battling the cyano, it didn't help, I did 4 20% water changes after the chemiclean to get my skimmer to not overflow.

I did read...you guys are always accusing me of not reading
 

I thought I was clear in my last post guess not...

You won with chemiclean yes...

But did 80 gallons of water changes to get your skimmer to calm down yes...

Do you think that the fact that the cyano did not come back, after removing the chemiclean was because maybe you adjusted your water chemistry with that big of a water change?

he did this before chemiclean "I did daily 10% water changes for a month while I was battling the cyano"

10 percent per day for 30 days is more than 20 percent per day for 4 days

LOL this is not a battle of whos balls are bigger marko. YEs that cheato will assist with some degree of nutrient export. No I dont think you can run a tank without doing water changes on a fairly regular basis. Yes, I challenge you to prove me wrong. Yes, I assume you will be on here in a couple more months with another problem asking everyone " whats wrong with my..." and then arguing the fact that it has nothing to do with water changes.

Once again, I hope everything works out for you.

I could show you the piddly little ball of cheato in my 500 gallon, but thats exactly it, its a piddly little ball, as I do WATER CHANGES to maintain low levels of nitrates!

oh like when you told me to do a water change to stop my cleaner wrasse from nipping at my clams?

im sure you'll be back in a couple of months, failing to read, skip to the last page, and recommend something generic like "do a water change"

if you're such a successful reef keeper, why dont you show us all your accomplishments and your 50 service customers tanks

When I told you to do water changes, I was:

A) trying to help

B) YOU DIDNT TELL US YOUR CLEANER WRASSE WAS NIPPING YOUR CLAMS!

Guys my clams wont open any ideas?




Then later in the thread... the cleaner wrasse keeps nipping them think thats it?

YAY no water changes necessary?

Dont worry marko when you have a crash I'll slip into the thread for advice bro.

dont worry about me, i dont want your advice

my point was that not everything can be solved with a water change. which is why i come here to look for actual helpful advice.

any idiot can come in here and say "just do a water change, it fixes everything"

ouch
 

You got me...

"I'm not claiming divinity. I've never claimed purity of soul. I've never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can... But I still believe in peace, love and understanding." - John Lennon


Good luck on your future endeavours, marko.

will water changes starve the aptasia in my tank?

Probably because that's the first thing everybody try and it does not work. When ever I get cyano, I get it where I have the most flow in my tank, and have absolutely zero where the flow is gentle.

The flow simply spread it better, that's all, and cyanobacteria just plain love flow, so it seem in my tank.

nope
 

Nope, they'll only feed into it with all the minor elements you are missing from not doing water changes.

You working on your post count here?

Has anyone suggested water changes? Sorry, haven't read the thread...

GOOD GOD!!! This is getting rediculas!!! You two guys should really just leave each other alown.

Nate, I have only done 1 water change in the last 6 months in my 165 so does that also mean my tank is doomed? I don't have alot of SPS but I do have a few. Everything in my tank is thriving so it's safe to say not every tank needs bi-weekly WC.

MarkoD, I also agree with danillas last post. It dose seem that when my cyano shows its ugly red face it is in a higher flow area. I had it really bad for a long time until I started to make changes to my system but not to battle the cyano. I added carbon, GFO, pellets, changed my MH / T5's to LED's & got a bigger better skimmer. Now I can't really say what if any of these helped battle the cyano but I do see it more frequent when my pellets get low, does that mean anything.....I have no idea.

To sum it up make a few changes that don't cost a lot of money. Try switching up you light cycle, break it up into 2 sections of the day for high light periods or shorten it. Syphon out what you can, don't blow it off the rock and hope to catch it all in the water column

karma

WHAT IS THIS REEF CENTRAL!?

Marko, try dosing vodka, ever since I started with vodka its has helped control the excess nutrients in my tank. I only do a water change when I clean out my sump and thats only once every 2-3 months though I do add 5g of ro a week due to evaporation but everything in my tank is doing great. I also overfeed my tank at least twice a day but my tests always come out zeros.

Thanks for the suggestion,I've actually started dosing microbacter7 to build up the bacteria, I think another week of than and then vodka

I started microbacter7 a few weeks into my battle, followed the ULN instructions, I thought that the daily 10% WC was stripping the bacteria from my system, after a week or so I started the biofuel as well, although it didn't make a dent in the cyano I am still dosing it as a preventative measure but at the stabalized dose, I've been cyano free for a month now ( I feel like a recovering addict ), be careful with the vodka as I understand it's like biofuel on steroids and can strip all nutrient from your system and cause a bacteria bloom.

I think you should be able to breathe a sigh of relief today, some fresh carbon and a few 20% wc should get your skimmer back to normal in a few days.

thanks for your help man. i've got a 55 gallon tank of freshly made saltwater ready to go in tonight when i get home from work :)

Your welcome and good luck. RID THE CYANO!:biggrin:

Give the MB7 time to work before adding vodka or other carbon sources. I dosed MB7 heavily first couple weeks, then only about once a week there after. The beneficial bacteria needs to be well established, before gradually adding carbon, or you will have even more cyano. But once the MB7 and beneficial bacteria are established, the carbon (I use bio pellets) will do the job. I have not seen cyana since.

Hey Marko, I havent read the entire thread but most of it, Have you tried a black out period at all? I have heard that it helps as well, or atleast shortening you light cycle. I could be wrong though. Hope the battle goes well. Cyano is an ugly "b"

I tried the blackout, 4 days no light except 1/2 hour a day ambient light to feed the fish, cyano was gone but quickly returned a couple days later and seemed to spread even faster.
Cyano is probably the most resilient, opportunistic thing on this planet and normally we can keep it in check but sometimes something happens and you get a plague.
I am totally against chemical treatments but I have to thank chemiclean, I was getting ready to quit.