Purple Hair

[makana]

I know most people are against treating it but I battled cyano constantly until I treated it. My parameters always read zero so I really don't know what is wrong. I have no doubt that it is caused by improper nutrients, but I have not been able to figure out how to fix it. So I treated my tank and had no cyano for almost a year, it just came back and I treated it again a couple weeks back.

[wingedfish]

cyano is a form of algae (debatable), blue green if I'm not mistaken and it takes both nitrate and phosphate to grow as do all "plants" Because the tank is new, my advice FWIW, is to keep siphoning it off till the nitrifying bacteria can get established in the rock. Growing algae in a fuge is the best means to starve the cyano. vodka dosing with a good skimmer should also do the trick but it all takes time. I had an outbreak at around the three month mark and it took weeks of siphoning five gallons at a time every two days. I used a two foot piece of hard clear plastic pipe with four feet of vinyl pipe attached around 3/8" thick to pinpoint the siphon where you want and not get too much water. Siphoning off is exporting unwanted nutrients rather than killing it to fuel other outbreaks of different nasties.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by wingedfish

I used a two foot piece of hard clear plastic pipe with four feet of vinyl pipe attached around 3/8" thick to pinpoint the siphon where you want and not get too much water.

This is exactly what I did. That and pickup a sand sifting goby. Those issues are entirely gone now. I also started feeding my pellets a little more carefully to ensure no food hits the bottom although if a few do now the goby is all over it in a heartbeat. Good luck!

[Madreefer]

Your tank is not old enough for a sand sifting goby to survive. It will quickly strip your sand of food than most likely starve to death. New tanks usually go threw a few outbreaks before it gets established. Just do as others mentioned. Syphon it off, keep up on your water changes and cut back on your feeding.