Looking for some input/help; my tank is suffering a big GHA & Cyano issue

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by WarDog

Yikes... sorry to hear it's causing this much trouble.

Bah, I'm still in (for now) but with all of life's other fun I'll admit I've been a tad stressed lately

[reefwars]

Ok that's not bad , fwiw rocks can only absorb and leach Po4 and not nitrates , nitrates are not bound to anything so if your rocks have been in your system for a long time and your running a P04 binding media then it's only a matter of time before they would stop its not a problem you would have for. Year unless you kept adding phosphates and not exporting them.

While I know the numbers are low the algae is obviously getting enough to get by ,you don't dose iron do you?

I had issues with bryopsis and low nutrients my po4 was always bear zero because of gfo but my nitrates were always above zero , still low but still there none the less.

While large water changes work its time consuming and expensive which is what i use to do , I now dose vinegar and no more bryopsis as well no more nitrates either. I have also not had to run gfo in a fair bit of time as now the bacteria have been able to keep it down as well.


Water changes are still important for other reasons but are a poor way of removing nutrients.....1 step forward...2 steps backwards.
Maybe set up a ats, denitrator or start carbon dosing to help keep down the lower amounts?

The worse part about our kits are ....they suck. Not s much at high numbers as we care less how accurate they are when things are Hugh but on the low side the numbers really aren't all that accurate.

So a little help from our oldest friends goes a long way


With gha it's usually very easy to fix but blackouts , water changes, cutting back on feelings etc are all things that help overnight but not long term. As time goes by things find there way back to where they were so you need a long term plan.

Import vs export

[Reef Pilot]

MB7 regime if you never want to see cyano again. And has many other benefits, too. Have not seen cyano for several years now since I started using it. I did have other issues with my tanks this summer (on the mend now) but no cyano.

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

MB7 regime if you never want to see cyano again

I'm hoping to get a grip on this without incurring another recurring cost

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

I'm hoping to get a grip on this without incurring another recurring cost

How much per year do you think MB7 would cost?

Costs me less than $20/year for a 230g system. Pretty cheap insurance for a guaranteed preventative, if you do it right. Plus as I said, has many other benefits in your tank. Keeps the water very clear, esp if applied after some cleaning, etc where you might get some cloudiness.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

How much per year do you think MB7 would cost?

Costs me less than $20/year for a 230g system. Pretty cheap insurance for a guaranteed preventative, if you do it right. Plus as I said, has many other benefits in your tank. Keeps the water very clear, esp if applied after some cleaning, etc where you might get some cloudiness.

ummmm.

it costs me nothing a year , and ive also never had it in years...go figure i guess i didnt need it or my tank is doomed to have it soon?

so your saying mb7 is a guaranteed cure for cyano and that anyone who does it right will not have cyano? no one that uses it " correctly" will have cyano right?

how many system have you tried this on to verify it works all the time every time if applied right?

since its such a guarantee i guess i shouldnt be able to find any people who it didnt work for , or maybe all those people arnt doing it right and maybe brightwell dont know what they are talking about in the recommended doses?

i find that really, really hard to believe ,sorry but i do. even brightwell them selves dont say its a guarantee, why do you think that is?

i get that in your experience it works but to say guaranteed preventative is kind of pushing it a bit dont ya think to the point where the next person who reads this thinks ...hey its guaranteed to work lol

im very skeptical , i get how it HELPS keep cyano away but again thats no mystery , but its also not a guarantee.

how does it differ from any other bacteria in a bottle?

[Reef Pilot]

Hey, I'm just saying what has worked for me. May be other ways to beat it, for sure. But it grieves me a bit, when I see here so many people struggling with it, and just trying to help.

The reason I am so convinced is from my direct experience. When I first started using MB7, I did see cyano try to come back a couple times. But when I then adjusted my dosage, was always able to beat it back. After the MB7 bacteria was fully established, the cyano has never come back for me, even when I had other problems with P04 and N03 getting out of hand again.

I have also seen MB7 here used very incorrectly (won't name names, but you probably know who I am talking about). Like anything in reefing, you have to know what you are doing, and go slowly. And don't over think it.

I also did a lot of research on RC, where I first learned how to use it, and why it didn't work for some people. Unfortunately, all reefers are not always the most patient or the best at understanding and following instructions.

Also, as a reminder, MB7 is a preventative, not a cure. You first have to get rid of it with Chemiclean. The you start your MB7 regime.

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by reefwars

you don't dose iron do you?

Not intentionally, but ever since I started using this newest GFO from Concept my green corals have become super-green, so I suspect there's some getting in that way

Thanks for the other info Denny
I'm hoping that once the algae is removed I'll be able to baste the crap out of the LR