cyano problem

[badspstank]

Hello Anthony every few months I develope cyno algae It only takes a few days to get rid of it but I'm tired of dealing with it. I feed my fish every other day I vaccum my sand bed every week water condition are good

salinty 1.026
Ph 8.1-8.3
cal 500 little high
temp night 78 day 80
nitrite 0
nitriate o
mag 1480
dkh 4.57
kh12.8
I have been unable to test my phosphate sure that the problem what can i do to bring the level down and keep it down

 

[Anthony Calfo]

Cyano is one of the easiest nuisance algae to get rid of. It is entirely about nutrient control and export. In some way(s) you have a nutrient problem: overfeeding, lack of adequate skimming [a cup 3-5 times weekly of coffee-dark skimmate] or improper tuning of skimmer, weak water changes (less than 10% weekly or 25% monthly?), inappropriate feeding (throwing pack juice from frozen foods into aquarium without thawing and decanting... yikes! rocket fuel for algae)1, etc.

If none of the above were true... it could still be a nutrient problem via inadequate water flow (20X turnover per hour min.) which is allows solids to accumulate in places and feed the bloom.

in a nutshell... increasing water flow and skimmate production can completely irradicate this problem from your tank ins 2 weeks or less... and forever.

no worries

Anthony

 

[badspstank]

I move about 4500 gal per hour i believe its more of a feeding problem then anything

 

[Katchupoy]

(throwing pack juice from frozen foods into aquarium without thawing and decanting... yikes! rocket fuel for algae)

Ooops!!!

can you explain further...

 

[Anthony Calfo]

cheers, Cesar

yes... admitting pack juice from frozen foods into the aquarium is one of the most underrated and significant sources of accumulating "fuel" (pollution!) in aquariums over time.

Otherwise seemingly "perfect" systems can suffer from nuisance algae from this bad habit.

The water/liquid used to pack whole frozen foods (shrimp, krill, mysids, brine shrimp, etc.) is a rich source of nutrients, and is really too much by far for any system to handle unless the bio-load is enormous, established and in concert with large water changes and very aggressive protein skimmers over time. Few aquariums operate this way. As such, most hobbyists that thaw their frozen foods (or not) and simply throw it all into the tank are, at best, burdening their nutrient export vehicles... and, at worst, racing faster towards a nuisance organism bloom over time (weeks/months) like aiptasia, anemonia, hair algae, cyano, etc.

For the proper handling and feeding of frozen foods:

always thaw frozen food in COLD water (fresh or salt is fine) to preserve nutritional value. Just like people food. Never thaw in warm water or room temp... very bad for food quality and health (bacteria).

Then... strain the thawed meats/matter through a fine nylon net, strainer, cheesecloth... whatever <G>... to get rid of the pack juice. If you then wish to feed the matter as a slurry, simply add some clean new water (saltwater this time) to the mix and offer it to the system.

Advanced aquarists and some public aquariums (like Osaka, Japan) take this a step further and actually aerate their thawing foods in a bucket of cold water for several hours to strip away some proteins in the solution! The nutritive value of the meat/matter is hardly affected... and the nutrient rich moisture content is exported... rather than admitted to the tank... and it really helps to control nasty excess growths like diatoms on the viewing panes of glass.

very interesting, yes?

This is one of the things I mention often and harp on when chatting to fellow aquarists and reinforcing the notion of "finessing" aquarium husbandry. Little things like this food technique... and other little things like changing 1X portions of carbon weekly rather than 4X portions monthly... make a huge difference in the success of an aquarium over the long run.

Anthony

 

[badspstank]

Anthony my coral colors are 10x better now then they were when I had lower nutriets in my system is that possilble and do you suggest that a can you keep the cyno outbreak undercontrol in such condition

 

[Anthony Calfo]

badspstank,

this is possible and as it should be... you have simply been feeding (directly or indirectly vis a vis DO's) your corals better. Literally fertilizing them.

But it does not have to be an either or situation. Before you did not have enough nutrients... now you have too much. Somewhere between the two is good color and no nuisance algae. You need to experiment with finessing nutrient export mechanisms to strike a balance. It is different for every system... no one can give you a recipe for "how much". This you must discover for yourself and know that it changes over time as the bio-load/corals wax and wane.

 

[badspstank]

That sounds good to me thanks alot and enjoy

 

[JusReefin]

Anthony, great info on the frozen food thing. I had no idea of this.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

quite welcome... sometimes I am just full of it...

(Mike, an open door here for ya, buddy )

 

[Curtswearing]

Little things like this food technique... and other little things like changing 1X portions of carbon weekly rather than 4X portions monthly... make a huge difference in the success of an aquarium over the long run.

Great info as always.

I always recommend this because if you only change monthly, you're wasting a lot of money. Once a bacterial biofilm builds on the carbon, it really starts losing it's effectiveness quickly. It will also start spitting off Nitrates as it turns into more of a biological filter instead of what it was intended for.

I soak my brand new carbon in RO/DI water for a couple of days before putting it in my sump. Most of the phosphates spit off in the beginning so I prefer to leave them in a bucket of water that can be thrown out instead of in my tank.