Cyanobacteria??

[Uncle Dmerr]

I’ve been in the hobby for about two years now and am experiencing my first battle with cyanobacteria, or what I think is cyano.. When the tank’s lights are completely off, the algae seems to bloom and throughout the course of the day the algae seems to fade when exposed to my 6 ATI bulb T-5 fixture (new bulbs). First picture is at the beginning of the day when lights first turn on; second picture is at the end of the day, before lights out. I was always told that cyanobacteria would do the opposite by shrinking in the dark and growing in the light.
This battle has been going on for about 6 months now. The algae isn’t getting worse, but definitely not getting better. I’ve done multiple 3-day “lights-out” attempts, with blankets over the glass with refugium light off. Weekly 10-20 gallon water changes using RODI water, TDS meter measuring 0. I ran GFO for 3 months. In my sump, I have tried activated carbon and multiple bags of Chemi-Clean / Chemi-Pure elite.
Circulation in the tank seems fine, and at times too much. 2 MP-40s and 1 MP-10. My NWB150 Skimmer and refugium seem to be doing their job.. And with Nitrates, Nitrites & Phosphates all undetectable, I’m starting to run out of ideas..

Temp: 76-79, SG: 1.026, PH: Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite: undetectable.
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[moneymm]

im having the same exact problems, those pictures look just like the cyano (i think) that is on my tank for the past 3 weeks or so.

mine started right after i added my new light fixture and i clearly had too much light on the tank for a 3 day break in period before i could dim the lights.

i still havent gotten rid of the algae. although its under alittle better control then it was 2 weeks ago. i have 3 powerheads on the sand bed. a ton of flow seems to be the key. hopefully i can elimate it and eventually take out these extra powerheads.

did you try ultralife red slime stain remover? i bought it, but i am not going to use this just yet, only as a last resort. i first am going to try some carbon.

[Uncle Dmerr]

I have not used anything like that, yet. I was hoping to find a cause and defeat it without any antibiotics. But I might cave.

[moneymm]

yea yours is real bad. i saw some experts saying if your tank is only a few months old try use it only as a last resort, but if your tank is well established then you can use it with little consequence.

the guy from bulkreefsupply told me he uses it all the time and never heard of any negative side effects.

if you do use it, please let me know your results. i hear it makes your skimmer produce a ton of foam, so you need to adjust it.

[coralsnaked]

Originally Posted by Uncle Dmerr

I have not used anything like that, yet. I was hoping to find a cause and defeat it without any antibiotics. But I might cave.

Never put antibiotics in a reef tank

Chemiclean will work on Cyano if you follow the directions closely. However cyano will return if you do not fix the root cause. Too many nutrients!

[julie180]

Your tests are giving you false 0 because the cyano is using up the nutrients. An easy way to eliminate a lot of cyano is vacuum it out. I found a 1/2" clear tube worked better than a gravel vac. You will get lots of sand which you can rinse in saltwater and put back into the tank if you wish.

Running a GFO reactor will also help

[Reduck]

Originally Posted by julie180

Your tests are giving you false 0 because the cyano is using up the nutrients. An easy way to eliminate a lot of cyano is vacuum it out. I found a 1/2" clear tube worked better than a gravel vac. You will get lots of sand which you can rinse in saltwater and put back into the tank if you wish.

Running a GFO reactor will also help

This works. It's not an overnight solution either. It will be a battle. I am also fighting it but refuse to give up. Mine is opposite to yours. Comes in under lights, then fades away under moon and dark. I vacuum the bed every other day to very third day now. I was vacuuming daily for the first week. It's slowly receding. Make sure you skim wet while vacuuming. Especially if you are returning the water to the tank. Use gfo. One of my Xmas gifts was an eheim quick vac. It works great for this with a little tweaking on the filtration.
Good luck, and don't give in to the easy fix...it's only temporary!