Cyano

[CAB]

I have an 80 gal regular (48x18x24) that has been set up for about two months now. On the rock, there has been a huge brown diatom bloom. Cyano now has grown over the diatoms and many, many bubbles form under the cyano. It looks like hell. I could really use some advise on what to do.

I am not new to the hobby, but I sure aint no expert. I did rush curing the rock a bit. I had the brain, hydno, clown and hawk fish in a temporary setup and needed to get them out quickly. I had the first expected diatom bloom, but the snails ate it away and the rock looked really great for a few days until this. Again, I sure could use some help/encouragement.

Here is info on the system:

Fish: Tomatoe Clown, Flame Hawk, Yellow Tang. All fish are eating well and get along with no stress apparent.

I feed the fish once per day only what they eat alternating between flake, mysis, and nori.

Corals: huge Open Brain that I have had for several years is happy, large orange monti cap frag doing well, small hydnophora colony looks good, small frag each of green slimer, pink stylo, blue-tipped acro. All corals have good color and polyp extension.

I use RO for top off. I have found a very slight amount of nitrate in the RO top off water.

Lighting is 2x250w MH with new Hamilton 14k bulbs and 2x54w T5 with new actinic and daylight bulbs. The T5s are on for 11 hours and the MH run for 6 hours daily.

Flow is handled by two Tunze 6060 Streams both running continuously 24/7 and a Little Giant MDQ3 running the sump.

I am set up to dose two-part, but am only using lime water (Mrs. Wages) at present because the load is small.

My skimmer is a Tunze DOC9010 that has been pulling a full load daily.

I use filter floss that is cleaned daily.

Water parameters as of today (Salifert):

PH - 8.3
Ca - 350
Alk - 10.4 dKH
NO3 - 0
PO4 - 0
Si - 0
Mg - 1150

Pics (T5s only, cheap camera, no Photoshop):

 

[mmkeeper]

Welcome to RF you should receive a lot of help around here. Ask question and search the data base. Water changes, cut back on feeding, maybe cut back on some light. Increase water flow. These are a few on the standard things to try.

 

[spongebob lover]

i'd do big water changes, vacuum all the cyano and put more more flow...that's what i'd do but i'm not an expert .

good luck dood

 

[jesshimom]

Having dealt with just that a couple of times.... all that I found that really worked is tons of syphoning, like a couple times daily. Add with that substantial water changes and reduce the lights for a few hrs per day. It will eventually just pass.

 

[sihaya]

Having dealt with just that a couple of times.... all that I found that really worked is tons of syphoning, like a couple times daily. Add with that substantial water changes and reduce the lights for a few hrs per day. It will eventually just pass.

I second the the above. And personally, I suspect that there are different kinds of cyano and some are more annoying than others.

 

[OmarD]

Am in current battle with red slime myself. Mine is primarily in low flow, low light areas (go figure?)....

Am combating with vigorous vacuuming and increased water changes, & cutting back light. --- don't really think I am overfeeding.

Have some "Red Slime Remover" on shelf, but only going to use as last resort...am not there yet.

But sure is frustrating.


----other ongoing battles...

small nuisance, rapidly reproducing snails...- am starting to win this one with much help from recently introduced sixline wrasse...

These:

-​

have to scrape a dozen or so off glass every day...wrasse seems little help here. Am thinking of getting a Harlequin shrimp to help out.

 

[SRV]

Syphon what you can and I found using a turkey baister/powerhead with a micron sock works well at getting to the places a syphon hose can't, especially around the corals. Hitting it with a baister/power head will bring the cyano to the surface and the sock somewhere in line with the overflow will collect it. Let the tank clear and remove the sock. Don't see an easy spot to put one in line on your system, maybe some dacron on top of your rock in your sump? Your setup looks good BTW. Good luck