Cyano problem?

MarkoD · #1 10-26-2011, 10:13 PM

So I came home from vacation with high phosphates and a cyano problem.

I've been using cyano starver for past 5 day and have lowered phosphates from .14 to .05 and the cyano seemed to be going away

But today I looked at my tank and it seems like its getting worse.

Any idea what I should do?

reefwars · #2 10-26-2011, 10:34 PM

i assume youve removing it manually??

remove all you can with a turkey baster,increase flow to baddest areas,water changes and acvtivated carbon ....bout all you can do besides chemicals.

did anything die and now get found or anything spawn?? overfeeding while away???

MarkoD · #3 10-26-2011, 10:45 PM

Yeah it was over feeding while I was on vacation.

But flow shouldn't be an issue. I have this stuff growing on a rock 3 inches from my MP40 on full blast.

reefwars · #4 10-26-2011, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkoD

Yeah it was over feeding while I was on vacation.

But flow shouldn't be an issue. I have this stuff growing on a rock 3 inches from my MP40 on full blast.

yeah it mats well on rocks flow helps for stuff on the sandbed but also increases the amount of "clean water" the cyano gets , not necessarily blows it away.

cyano is a problem that will come and go over the years it happens to pretty much all tanks even in low nutrient systems.

chemicals do work but i think youll find it does come back if the underlying issues are not getting attention.

the over feeding must have cause a spike in nutrients and as the ol saying goes " the solution to pollution is dilution" so lots of water changes increased flow(or in your case maintain flow lol) and good husbandry will eventually knock it down will just take a coule weeks or so.

goodluck buddy and cheers

MarkoD · #5 10-26-2011, 11:04 PM

thanks.

also, its growing all over my back wall of my tank..... and its producing some kind of gas as there are bubbles all over the rocks where its present. and its the same purple color as coraline algae

also just checked nitrates and its at 0

dc4 · #6 10-27-2011, 12:36 AM

I used PrecisionSolutions Cyano Solution 2 weeks ago and it worked wonders, within 24 hours, all cyano was gone from the tank like it never existed. Not sure where it all went but there was no red slime present on the sand at all.

Keep in mind that you have to do a large water change after its all gone, they recommend 25% but that still had my skimmer overflowing like mad. I did another 10% the next day, used a bag of carbon in the sump and in a reactor for 3 days, afterwards I turned my skimmer back on and emptied about 5 cups of clear skim and then it finally got back to normal.

I tried reducing feedings, light hours, and extra phosphate remover for a few weeks and none of it did anything, it just got worse. The cyano remover worked like magic imo plus the lfs gave me $5 off for trying the new product, lol.

Cal_stir · #7 10-27-2011, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkoD

thanks.

also, its growing all over my back wall of my tank..... and its producing some kind of gas as there are bubbles all over the rocks where its present. and its the same purple color as coraline algae

also just checked nitrates and its at 0

nitrates are 0 because they are being processed by the cyano, you could have dinoflagellates which eats nitrates as well and is more characteristic of the bubbles all over the place.
dino is more photosynthetic, it is less noticable at first light and gets worse as the lights are on and almost disappears at night, dino is more toxic than cyano and usually requires a lights out period of 3 to 5 days, reduced flow, no water changes and heavy skimming to erraticate.
ID is difficult as it is often mistaken as cyano.

reefwars · #8 10-27-2011, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cal_stir

ID is difficult as it is often mistaken as cyano.

thats true it is hard to id, i was going to post a link earlier as i had thought of that as well ill see if i can find it its a good article on dino. elevated ph is supposed to help but is not a cure.

dino tends to be stringy and the stringy slime will have bubbles on it.

dino is also mostly brown to green.

pray to god you dont have dino as its a long process to get rid of it and a blackout isnt a guaranteed thing.

cyano acts the same way tends to "disappear" and show up during the day when the lights are out.

reefwars · #9 10-27-2011, 01:08 AM

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...xHg7Ww&cad=rja

here ya go buddy

reefwars · #10 10-27-2011, 01:17 AM

i think it was christy who had a bad problem with dinos i cant say for sure but i remember hearing something of it so maybe she could help id it and treat it. anyways she linked some good links as well here they are:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...inoflagellates