cyano

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 05:34 PM

i have a 6 month old 65 gallon aquarium 48x18x18.I have a yellow tail damsel a tomato clown a sebae clown a favia some polyps a purple sea whip two cleaner shrimp a anmone green mushrooms some cerith and other snails a green open brain and a sand sifting star fish.I am at about 65 to 70 pounds of live rock. at about four months i started to see signs of cyano so with advice from a friend i syphoned out everything i saw.I was using tap water at the time wich i treated with water conditioner.I have since started to use ro water. But the cyano got worse.so i finally decide to use red slime remover for cyano.Now the cyano is still their but its yellow now. I did my weekly water change yesterday and their is still some their.I am going to syphone it out.My substrate is about an inch throughout the tank some people have told me the star fish i have will kill my live sand bed could this be the cause of my cyano problem.Also i am running a refugium and my tank consists of four powerheads (each corner)a fluval 404 canister filter and a prizm skimmer running carbon.In my filter i have filter floss and phosphate remover.Am i doing some thing wrong please i would like to have a tank of the month someday but i need alot of good advice and reef central is the place to find it.

alexb518 · 06/05/2007, 05:44 PM

curious, what's in the fluval compartement? also, how long has it been since you started using RO water? products like red slime remover or vacuuming it up is only a temp fix. you gotta find out what the source is. trates? phosphates? feedings--how much and how often with what fishes?

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 05:56 PM

i started using ro at about four months and in my fluval is four foam pads upright and then their is four baskets divide in half from the bottom i have basket one with filter floss, #2 with half floss half phosphate remover and the top two with only filter floss. Feeding may be my problem i feed twice a day flake every secon day adding mysis or cyclops with the flake and twice a week with phyto plankton or kent marine micro vert.

alexb518 · 06/05/2007, 06:03 PM

ok, take the foam pads out..you don't need them and they're probably creating nitrates. phosphate media needs to be changed/removed after 2 days, otherwise it will have the opposite effect. feeding is definately a problem. get rid of the flake food. mysis is good and so is cyclops, but are you rinsing in ro water before putting in your tank? also, other good foods if you're looking for variety is formula one and two. feed once a day. and make sure you're not feeding too much. how much phyto plankton are you putting in? 1-1.5 cap? what fish do you have in there so you can figure how much to feed each day?

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 06:09 PM

I have two clowns and a yellow tail damsel. And no i dont rinse in ro didnt know i was supposed to. I use about 20ml of phyto. should i stop using phosphte remover since i use ro now?

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 06:09 PM

what do i put in place of the foam pads??

alexb518 · 06/05/2007, 06:14 PM

no, i use phosphate once or twice a month for only a couple of days each time and then i throw it out. some people bake them to bring them back, but i'd rather not deal with all that. oh, how many times flow do you have also? lack of flow can lead to problems with cyano. you should be over 20x excluding the return. but the key is to just make some of these small corrections and it will/should go away in time.

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 06:18 PM

Im not sure what you mean by how may times flow. I have a powerhead in each corner with a rotator on three and one with a flow director all four are each facing the center of the tank creating an x

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 06:19 PM

and a spray bar on my filter return could this be restricting flow?

alexb518 · 06/05/2007, 06:31 PM

you know, i've never used a spray bar except when i had cichlid tanks. so i do not know how it would cause the water to churn. but, more current is good. like i said above, try shooting for above 20x flow at least.

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 06:35 PM

I dont really like the spray bar i think ill ditch it are my power heads ok crossing each other and you dont think the star fish has anythiong to do with it

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 06:36 PM

and what do i use in place of the foam pads?

alexb518 · 06/05/2007, 06:44 PM

nothing, your live rock and skimmer, along with regular water changes will do all the work. if you want to use those pads, replace them after a week.

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 06:46 PM

so my sand sifting star is not causing any problems

alexb518 · 06/05/2007, 06:54 PM

if your sand bed is shallow, it's probably a good idea to have one. conversely, they can cause problems in 3" plus sand beds since they will make it so your dsb is no longer "live" or functional.

vultao1 · 06/05/2007, 06:56 PM

thanks for your input im going to try your advice.Watch for my next thread. thanks

alexb518 · 06/05/2007, 07:02 PM

cool deal and good luck. i gotta run, so pm me later if you need some help.

06/05/2007, 05:34 PM	#1
vultao1 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 55	cyano i have a 6 month old 65 gallon aquarium 48x18x18.I have a yellow tail damsel a tomato clown a sebae clown a favia some polyps a purple sea whip two cleaner shrimp a anmone green mushrooms some cerith and other snails a green open brain and a sand sifting star fish.I am at about 65 to 70 pounds of live rock. at about four months i started to see signs of cyano so with advice from a friend i syphoned out everything i saw.I was using tap water at the time wich i treated with water conditioner.I have since started to use ro water. But the cyano got worse.so i finally decide to use red slime remover for cyano.Now the cyano is still their but its yellow now. I did my weekly water change yesterday and their is still some their.I am going to syphone it out.My substrate is about an inch throughout the tank some people have told me the star fish i have will kill my live sand bed could this be the cause of my cyano problem.Also i am running a refugium and my tank consists of four powerheads (each corner)a fluval 404 canister filter and a prizm skimmer running carbon.In my filter i have filter floss and phosphate remover.Am i doing some thing wrong please i would like to have a tank of the month someday but i need alot of good advice and reef central is the place to find it.

06/05/2007, 06:54 PM	#15
alexb518 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: San Mateo Posts: 514	if your sand bed is shallow, it's probably a good idea to have one. conversely, they can cause problems in 3" plus sand beds since they will make it so your dsb is no longer "live" or functional. Last edited by alexb518; 06/05/2007 at 07:03 PM.

06/05/2007, 05:44 PM	#2
alexb518 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: San Mateo Posts: 514	curious, what's in the fluval compartement? also, how long has it been since you started using RO water? products like red slime remover or vacuuming it up is only a temp fix. you gotta find out what the source is. trates? phosphates? feedings--how much and how often with what fishes?

06/05/2007, 05:56 PM	#3
vultao1 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 55	i started using ro at about four months and in my fluval is four foam pads upright and then their is four baskets divide in half from the bottom i have basket one with filter floss, #2 with half floss half phosphate remover and the top two with only filter floss. Feeding may be my problem i feed twice a day flake every secon day adding mysis or cyclops with the flake and twice a week with phyto plankton or kent marine micro vert.

06/05/2007, 06:03 PM	#4
alexb518 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: San Mateo Posts: 514	ok, take the foam pads out..you don't need them and they're probably creating nitrates. phosphate media needs to be changed/removed after 2 days, otherwise it will have the opposite effect. feeding is definately a problem. get rid of the flake food. mysis is good and so is cyclops, but are you rinsing in ro water before putting in your tank? also, other good foods if you're looking for variety is formula one and two. feed once a day. and make sure you're not feeding too much. how much phyto plankton are you putting in? 1-1.5 cap? what fish do you have in there so you can figure how much to feed each day?

06/05/2007, 06:09 PM	#5
vultao1 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 55	I have two clowns and a yellow tail damsel. And no i dont rinse in ro didnt know i was supposed to. I use about 20ml of phyto. should i stop using phosphte remover since i use ro now?

06/05/2007, 06:14 PM	#7
alexb518 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: San Mateo Posts: 514	no, i use phosphate once or twice a month for only a couple of days each time and then i throw it out. some people bake them to bring them back, but i'd rather not deal with all that. oh, how many times flow do you have also? lack of flow can lead to problems with cyano. you should be over 20x excluding the return. but the key is to just make some of these small corrections and it will/should go away in time.

06/05/2007, 06:18 PM	#8
vultao1 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 55	Im not sure what you mean by how may times flow. I have a powerhead in each corner with a rotator on three and one with a flow director all four are each facing the center of the tank creating an x

06/05/2007, 06:19 PM	#9
vultao1 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 55	and a spray bar on my filter return could this be restricting flow?

06/05/2007, 06:31 PM	#10
alexb518 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: San Mateo Posts: 514	you know, i've never used a spray bar except when i had cichlid tanks. so i do not know how it would cause the water to churn. but, more current is good. like i said above, try shooting for above 20x flow at least.

06/05/2007, 06:35 PM	#11
vultao1 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 55	I dont really like the spray bar i think ill ditch it are my power heads ok crossing each other and you dont think the star fish has anythiong to do with it

06/05/2007, 06:36 PM	#12
vultao1 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 55	and what do i use in place of the foam pads?

06/05/2007, 06:44 PM	#13
alexb518 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: San Mateo Posts: 514	nothing, your live rock and skimmer, along with regular water changes will do all the work. if you want to use those pads, replace them after a week.

06/05/2007, 06:46 PM	#14
vultao1 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 55	so my sand sifting star is not causing any problems

06/05/2007, 06:56 PM	#16
vultao1 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 55	thanks for your input im going to try your advice.Watch for my next thread. thanks

06/05/2007, 07:02 PM	#17
alexb518 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: San Mateo Posts: 514	cool deal and good luck. i gotta run, so pm me later if you need some help.