Cannot get rid of cyano!
 

Showed up about a month and half ago.

I have:

Physically removed it by blowing it off the rocks and vacuuming it off the sand. comes back within 3 days to cover everything again.

Been running GFO inside of a reactor

Ive got through 2 large bottles of fozdown

Did a water change.

removed the sump and fuge and completely cleaned them and reinstalled them.

i dont know what else to do, i dont think going lights out for a few days is an option.

anyone have any suggestions

i also made sure there isnt any phosphates in my RO water.

I don't have any suggestions but I'm dealing with it too. I had never had it before and one day it shows up out of nowhere and it's been a thorn in my side ever since.

I've added a more extensive CUC, including sand sifting starfish, to help with the problem but I haven't noticed any help.

After a few weeks mine *seems* to be dying down now. All I did was lower the intensity of the LEDs by a bit and started feeding a less.

Tagging along because I wouldn't mind a few new tricks myself.

Not sure what you guys are running for lights but I had a huge cyano outbreak when my T5 bulbs got old. I ran them for about 9 months with no problems, then the cyano started with a little here and there, which got worse, and worse. I changed out my bulbs and the problem went away.

I had the same problem in my tank. Was blowing it off the rocks, sucking up what I could off the sand, cleaned out the sump, didn't make a difference. I have since added a dual reactor running carbon and gfo, added a sand sifting star (he would avoid the cyano and go around it, wouldn't move on top of it). I did adjust the location of my powerheads slightly and lowered the light intensity as well. I've added a make shift refugium with cheato and another macro algae and added a orange diamond goby. I think the goby has made a world of difference. I need to move a couple of corals as his nightly burrying under a rock has pushed sand up against a couple lps, but otherwise, my sand is spotless and he doesn't spit sand everywhere, just basically gulps it and sifts it out wherever he is. Rest of the CUC is able to keep up with the rocks. Its been 3 weeks and no return of the cyano.

for some reason I get cyano from Jan to April every year and then it goes away.... whether I attempt to do anything about it or not

Did anyone try to increase flow to the areas where cyano is present? I know it's pretty basic but I don't recall anyone talking about flow. Some chemicals have also helped me but I recommend some caution if going that route.

Chemi clean. I fought it for a long time... didn't want to use it... gave3 up, tried it and it was cleared up in 3 days. Never came back. Also, no adverse effects.

i have recently added another MP40 and an MP10. cyano seems to be the worse(thick and sticky) in high flow areas

+1 on the chemiclean, had battled for @ 3 months, followed instructions, no adverse effects, took @ 4 20% WC to get my skimmer to settle down,
ran 2 air pumps til then, glad I did it.

It seems that high flow prevents it, but once you got it, it feeds it.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2095174&highlight=how+to+get+rid+ of+it

I found this thread to be helpful with combating it. The dark period really helps kill it. I did not even skim, just did a 20% W/C instead of 10%.

I have also used boyd chemi clean. It worked with no ill effects, clams and all. It was very quick too.

I tried that too, did 4 days of dark, seemed to work but was short lived.
My cyano started after a few acans died from some kind of disease, a couple of them I could not remove from the tank, cyano kept returning on their skeletons, and spreading, chemiclean stopped it.

cyano
 

i started getting it when i started using h2ocean-switched salts,a few waterchanges and chemicals-no cyano

did you use any Marko rock, Marko?(or dead/dry).....whats your feeding regiment like?.....do you rinse/strain your frozen foods (if you feed them)?

Yeah I have Marco rock that's been in there for a while, got it dry from red coral.

I feed nls daily and frozen every couple days. I've never seen any left over food

Stop feeding your tank. its worked every time anyone asked me... and regular water changes

lol and that wont cause more problems?

Ok ok that was dramatic, feed the tank much less food, dosing, and maintain parameters. its just the best advice I can give and it works :razz:

Not to steal your thread Marko but I just realized that my outbreak happened after I added the two tunze powerheads. I doubled, perhaps tripled, my flow in my tank at that time. I thought more flow was better for cyano?

Im gonna start sounding like a broken record here, but......now that Im not officially on the payroll of any LFS, Im gonna take my shot......I think Marko rock is crap.....you might as well fill your tank with field stones......the stuff is nothing more that petrified LR and should be treated as such......there is no way something so solid should ever be considered "live" again.....I wish that LFSs would stop pushing it so hard, or at least sell it for what it is, cheap BASE rock, not the be all end all, perfect, pest free, will be as good as REAL live rock, that they bill it as.....

My advice would be.....take your actual, REAL live rock poundage and stock your tank based on that....

i only have about 15 pounds of that marko rock.... the only reason i bought it, is because of the interesting shape.

i have over 200 pounds of actual live rock

I was fighting cyano myself for some time until I started running pellets. My tank tells me when it's time to add more as the cyano shows up in spots, once I top off my pellets it's gone in a matter of a week.

Just my experience.

ok so the dead rock shouldnt be a contributing factor....perhaps Im a little "Marko rock shy".....Ive just been trouble shooting problems for two years with customers who's only common factor seemed to be the use of a large percentage of dead rock.....


unfortunately then the problem lies elsewhere...... there are a number of contributing factors that cause cyano bacteria (not an algae, so GFO or phosphate reducing products wont help).......cyano is a product of excess nutrients plain and simple (sometimes fueled by lighting).......here's a punch list of things you can try....

increase flow to keep the nutrients suspended so they get skimmed out
reduce feeding (frequency and an amount)
reduce photo period
Turkey baste off your your rocks frequently
siphon crap out of your display
strain all frozen foods
change your bulbs if they are old (I know this doesnt apply to the OP)
increase your w/c regiment perhaps both frequency and and volume
think about your bio-load



these small changes can add up to a big difference......use a chemical as a last resort....I think chemicals are a band-aid solution to an underlying issue

I've been battling a little of it myself. 10% weekly water changes and have a slightly better regulation on food. Pellets in the morning (lasts about 20 seconds) and a cube of mysis and bloodworms in the evening. This is for a well stocked tank. The Cyano has diminished to almost nothing over a period of a month or so. Fish are seemingly healthy and plump.

Another method is to perform regular water changes for a while to reduce nutrients, then hit the tank with chemiclean... If it comes back there is some sort of food source, if your lucky it won't.

While I agree with Doug, to a point, its not the Marco rocks fault that people have problems with it. The problem lies with people thinking they can fill their tank 90% with Marco rock and put fish in 3 months later.... I tell everyone that while Marco rock is cheaper, you seriously cant fill your tank with fish for close to a year with large percentages. But this also has a double edge as Ive seen people put 75% marco/ 25% live and leave the tank empty for 6 months, which doesnt work either because you need the cycle to be created.... and after 6 months thinking it shoudl be populated and ready they have algae problems.....

So final note being, in my opinion, Marco rock is fine to save money, but you need to realise you will need to figure out that happy medium to create your cultures, without going over board and getting a bloom..... not for the inexperienced, or trigger happy consumer....

Steve

I'm running about 90% Marco rock... The rock was full of life and coraline after the 4 month mark. I had a Cyano problem after adding a couple MP40's and a chunk of live rock :mrgreen:

Sorry Wayne, but full of life and bacteria cultures are not related at all. The bacteria that are beneficial to your tank are microscopic and you cannot see them with the naked eye.....

Steve

I agree 100%, I can't see microscopic bacterial cultures with my naked eye... :razz:... But the corals and fish I purchased from your store are still alive and thriving, that must count for something.

Im not saying that your tank isnt healthy, only if you are having issues with cyano or any other nuissance algae, that the reason could be the way you culture bacteria to dry rock.....

Steve

Thanks for the advice guys. But wouldn't physically removing the cyano, remove the phosphates or neutriants causing it?

I've removed it like 5 times now and it always comes back 2-3 days later

Chemi clean!! Oh wait... I already said that.

Lol thanks. But I'm kind of keeping that as a last resort.

Cuz if I use a chemical to kill the cyano, wont it just release everything it's absorbed back into the water?

+1

I over feed my tank and my phosphates are high because of it, which causes cyano outbreaks. So far in the past the thing that worked 100% for me to get rid of it is chemi clean. No ill effects from using it either.

I used to have very high nitrates and phosphates, and had cyano, hair algae, you name it.... That was over a year ago. But since using bio pellets along with MB7, have never had another cyano problem. And I added Marco rocks to my tank since then as well. From what I understand, MB7 adds beneficial bacteria to your tank which out competes the cyano.

Chemi clean is an antibacterial and will kill Cyanobacteria but will also kill good beneficial bacteria. Which can cause an imbalance in the tanks biofiltration and in severe cases cause tanks to crash. I like many others have had success using it and I would recommend this as a last resort. (just before you feel like pulling your hair out).

It will not release the nutrients back into your system it just breaks it down so it can be pulled by the skimmer as dead waste.

i havent read through all of this thread but i read that ro water still contains silicates
which are needed by the cyano to grow. id google what to do to remove silicates from your ro water. the product chemiclean mentioned above i have used and it is a great product removing the cyano and the grunge from glass and equipment also but you have to be prepared to do a large water change after. the skimmer will run way too wet (virtually unuseable) until you to the water change so and bubbler will be needed. just my 2 cents worth

I was sceptical using chemi clean. But after a loosing battle I took that route. Worked great. And has not been back.
Just be prepared for some water changes after. It took three wc before my skimmer was back to normal

Btw. Rowaphos removes silicates

+1 on the chemiclean

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