cyano arghhhhhhhh

[jstan]

So I've finally reached my breaking point with my battle against cyano. At this point I'm ready to try chemiclean, but still have some reseravtions about using a chemical in my tank. Any one have any insight on how well this product actually works, and is it safe for a full reef tank. input would be great.

[EMUreef]

So I've finally reached my breaking point with my battle against cyano. At this point I'm ready to try chemiclean, but still have some reseravtions about using a chemical in my tank. Any one have any insight on how well this product actually works, and is it safe for a full reef tank. input would be great.

What have you tried to make it go away? Did you start a thread previously on your battle with it?

[MizTanks]

I've used chemiclean twice. Both times with great results and no I'll effects.

[lionhead]

I have used chemiclean in the past with great results. Make sure you follow the directions closely. I would first increase water changes, increase flow, and buy some blue leg hermits. Those are the natural ways. Plus manually loosen it and skim it out with a net. If non of this works then use the chemiclean.

[jstan]

No previous thread, just an ongoing battle...

Tank stats - 24 gallon long ( 36" x 12" x 12" ) Set up a little over two years now.
Originally there were 4 power heads
1)aquaclear 40/30(cant remember which)
2)zoo med powersweep
3)odysea powerhead
4) nano koralia
My light fixture is an aquaticlife 4bulb T5 HO (3 actinic bulbs and one white bulb)

stuffed full of live rock
and a simple hang on back filter with rubble and carbon

then about a year into the tanks life the cyano appeared.

So I increased flow as suggested, changed out the powerheads for 2 maxi jet 1200's and a koralia 1, dicthed the HOB filter and put on a coral life super skimmer rated for a 60gallon tank( as at the time I was going to upgrade to a 60gallon tank, still waiting on that upgrade).

Removed some of the rock to allow for better flow, and weekly I get the turkey baster out and suck as much of the red stuff out of the tank manually.
My water comes from "water to go". I use reef crystals for salt. I feed very sparingly, and only dose with aquavitro's fuel twice a week. Water changes get done weekly. Not to mention the gallon or two of fresh water I add everyother day due to evaporation and to keep my salinity at 1.025.

I've been blasting it and sucking it out manually as mentioned above for the last year or so now. Tank looks good for about a week then it starts to creep back up again.
Already have a few blue legged hermits.

The only other thing's I can think of is that my sand bed (which is about 4inches deep)is dead and needs to be replaced. I got it from another reefer when I first setup the tank(he had it for about 4 years before I got it, and as a beginner back then I never cleaned or rinsed it just put it in the tank). Or the layer of eggcrate I layered the bottom of the tank with when I first set it up so that if some of the rocks fell over from my watchman goby digging the bottom wouldnt crack. Or the thin layer of caribsea freshwater cichlid substrate I put on top of the eggcrate before the sandbed was put in, I did this only because when using it in my cichlid tanks I always had a constant PH of 8 to 8.5 which is what that substrate is meant to do. That and the fact thats its made up of mostly crushed shells, so I figured the added calcium would be a benefit down the road as it slowly dissovled into the water. I've thought about going barebottom, but never made the leap. Could this be the root of my problem ????

So thats my battle in a nutshell.

Other than that everythings good, water parameters are all good, nitrites/nitrates/ammonia ect ect all good. and about a month ago I removed the skimmer and put back on a HOB filter with these filter pads(PURA filter pads) in it that are supposed to remove multiple things from the water and nothing else in it.

[ReeferRob]

This is gonna sound silly, but what is your temperature?? I've been battling all sorts of algae and cyano for months. I recently dropped the temp to 77 and have noticed a huge improvement.

I forgot to add that although many have used Chemiclean and the other stuff with success, I feel it is last thing you should do. You need to truly find the source to make it go away. Weather it is adding a more deversified bacteria or an improved skimmer etc.

[greenstarfish03]

Many years ago when I started my first tank I had a similar issue and I tried a antibiotic type cyano killer product I forget which and it created the largest mess known to man. IT wiped out all of the bacteria in the tank inducing the cyano. The problem is the algae took over and my water turned so green you couldn't see a yellow tang 3 inches in. A 50% water changes helped and the it became green again overnight. It was relentless. I eventually took the whole tank out and bleached it, a scrubbed each rock. Terrible process but that finally worked.

Now a days if the cyano creeps up and I can't get rid of it w/ flow and a water change I just put a blanket over my whole tank and block all light tot the tank for a couple of days. The corals will be fine and all of the cyano disappears. It usually doesn't come back once its gone. Its easy and almost always works for me w/ Cyano.

As reefer Rob said I would avoid chemicals at all costs. If your ecosystem gets out of balance something worse may fill the cyano spot.

Good luck

[brandeewyne]

i've had good luck with both erythromycin (antibiotic) and anti-red .. although, i agree with the thought process that finding the source is imperative. even after successfully treating a current outbreak, you'll find yourself victim to future attacks if the source isn't eliminated.

have you checked your phosphate levels? what is your current light cycle?

[jolson10450]

what is nitrate, phosphates at and also how old are your bulbs and how old is the fixture that they are in?

what type of food do you feed? a lot of cheaper brands of flake tend to cause cyano a lot more than other foods such as the formula flakes, also if you use frozen foods be sure to rinse it before adding it to the tank to get rid of the excess nutrients. (that is where most people go wrong) i recommend using PE mysis and the formula flakes and pellets.

chemiclean works but it is tough on the tank if you dont follow the directions exact.

poor quality bulbs also have a higher tendency to form cyano in a tank so buying a higher quality bulb such as ATI could help. (not sure what you currently use)

[MizTanks]

I would stop the dosing with aquavitro's fuel~just adding more nutrients. Your feeding the cyno.

[Sir Patrick]

^ Sounds like you are on the right track.

[jstan]

Thanks for all the great input, however..... I won the war against cyano earlier this year. Tank has been free of it for a few months now. The only thing I've changed is my bulbs, out with the old stock bulbs, and in with the new ATI bulbs. Then poof cyano was gone a week later.