Scott's 270g aka Project Mayhem

[Reef Pilot]

Well,... there is a simple sure preventative for cyano. It's called MB7, and a must use with bio pellets, IMO. I have discussed it here many time....

[Myka]

Scott, I think what happened with your biopellet experience is that you were using too many for the amount of available nutrients. That's what I find causes cyano with biopellet use. Discussions with some very experienced professionals seem to come to the same conclusion. The amount of biopellets used needs to match the amount of nutrients available for the biopellets to feed on. Since your tank is so new and you have such massive nutrient reduction equipment already in place, it is possible that 1/2 cup of biopellets would be too much. In my 90-gallon SPS tank I used fractionally less biopellets than was recommended - any more and I would get cyano growth.

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Well,... there is a simple sure preventative for cyano. It's called MB7

I've tried MB7 additions for cyano, and I've never seen any reduction in cyano. I know lots of people report success, but it's far from a "sure preventative".

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Myka

I've tried MB7 additions for cyano, and I've never seen any reduction in cyano. I know lots of people report success, but it's far from a "sure preventative".

Exactly how did you use MB7, dose amounts and time, etc? Did you try it to reduce or eliminate cyano that you had in your tank, or use it as a preventative starting with a clean no cyano tank?

I stand by it as a sure preventative,... if used correctly. Like I said, I have discussed exactly how to accomplish that several times here in the past.

[Scythanith]

Honestly right now my problems aren't the algae type so I am not even thinking about biopellets lol. I am still trying to get my Ca, Alk, Mg balanced.

[Myka]

^ Pretty much.

[Scythanith]

It's been somewhat of a pain in the butt! I had my numbers balanced and started dosing equal parts of the three part ™ system. Within 2 days my alk and mg was low and my ca was ok. I up'd my Part B & C dosing and it seemed like no matter how high I kept dialling up my dosing my alk & mg wouldn't go up. I was dosing extra Part C to try and raise the mg but I could NOT get it past 1300 according to my salifert test (confirmed by Bayside Corals test).

Maybe the chemistry experts can help me. I have ~300g of water volume. I made up the ™ recommended mix of a one gallon solution and have been dosing 2 x 175ml of part B. Two days ago I had an Alk of 7.4 and today I have an Alk of 9.4. What's going on!?

I lowered my dosing back to 2 x 150ml a day Part B and will see what happens in a couple days.

[sphelps]

Scott your tank and basement look great. The problem with new tanks is your chemistry demand is always changing until it becomes more established with a healthy number of corals. Then demand becomes more stable and you can dial things in and maintain levels without constant adjustment. Until then it's test and adjust at least a few times a week. I found this to be particular frustrating when I ran a 3 stage dosing system myself, three separate parts to test and adjust several times a week was just a pain, Ca in particular is hard enough just to test consistently. This is why I switched back to a Ca reactor, I just test Alk and maintain that assuming the rest remains balanced which for the majority of the time is exactly the case.

In regards to your Mag, I'm not sure why you would want levels above 1300, I'd say anything above 1200 is ideal. As far as the alk jump, that's pretty typical after upping the dosage, sometimes it takes a bit for the adjustment to register. It might take a while to come down what that size tank and little stock so don't be too quick to adjust, if it remains stable you're probably at the right dosage. Also upping Ca can help decrease Alk levels.