Cyanobacteria outbreak again (help please) - Page 2

Sk8r · 06/21/2006, 09:28 PM

Hey, that's improving! Good! I'm still waiting for that kh to drop a little bit---it will. But you've knocked another 5 off that nitrate. That's really encouraging.

The carbon will help clean out anything that's nasty in the water.

Leave the carbon...the label usually says 3 days...but I think you can push it 5 unless it's particularly bad stuff you're taking out. The thing you should never do is forget it's in there: talk about a sneaky nitrate factory! So just pick a day to remember to yank it.

And I'd say [if you aren't out of salt, prepare another 20%er for tomorrow, just in case, and add another dose of calcium. If that next change could get it down to 5, you'd be in a much better neighborhood!

dpsa98 · 06/21/2006, 10:23 PM

I'm going to keep working on it. I'm off work tomorrow so I should be able to keep a close eye on things during the day. If the cyano does not get any worse and my numbers get any better I may let it sit for a day or two and see what happens. If you think its ok I may do a very light feeding on Friday that will be 4 days without feeding anything hopefully that will keep my nytrates in check. I will mix up another batch of water in the morning and change it in the evening if I need to if not I will have it prepared for my next water change in a few days. I keep an airstone in the 5 gal jug with the mixed water to keep it mixed well. I will pull the carbon on Saturday. We will see what happens tomorrow..Have a good night

Dave

Sk8r · 06/21/2006, 10:39 PM

Oh, indeed---a light feeding won't hurt: just feed slowly and make sure they eat it all.

Y'know, I have something of a theory what may be going on.

Chemi-clean doesn't list its ingredients, but one thing that works pretty much like it is Maracyn, a reef-safe antibiotic---meaning it kills bacteria. It's possible that what's driving this nitrate is that the kill-off of cyanobacteria unhelpfully included part of your useful bacteria in the substrate, your live sand and rock. The skimming you're doing is going to help get rid of anything else that died that you don't know about, but it's possible that your sandbed is letting nitrates loose just because it's weak and overwhelmed, having to recover from a heavy hit. If this is what did happen, bacteria from deeper down in the bed are racing up, recolonizing the sand and rock surface and taking over the business of waste-processing, but it just may be a really fragile, weak sandbed right now. Don't stress it, if that's the case. Feed, but feed gingerly. Anything that goes into the fish also goes into that sandbed, and what you've got going on here just may be sort of a mini-cycle as the tank flexes its chemical 'muscle' and prepares to shoulder the load again. Corals can live through it---I had a little bubble coral hitchhiker and some xenia that lived through my initial cycle, which indicates how tough some of these organisms can be.

dpsa98 · 06/22/2006, 08:27 AM

You know what , it's funny you said that about a mini-cycle. Last night when I was in bed that it what I was thinking. I thought to myself "you know Dave this seems alot like what should be happening in a cycle". Then this morning I woke up and tested my water.
Salinity 1.024
Amonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 10
Calcium 370 (Dropped a bit but I put in 1/2 tspn. liquid cal. this morning to see if it goes up from there)
KH 14.7
Alk 5.26

And the red tint did not get any worse since last night , we will see what happes today with the lights on all day. The only thing I really need to feed is my plate coral. My snails and cleaner shrimp seem to be feeding on the rocks.

dpsa98 · 06/22/2006, 11:40 AM

My calcium level is up to 420 and all my other parameters are still the same. The corals seem to be happier than they were a few days ago. My green plate is bright green and hes even puffed up a bit and my zoas are all opening, my frogspawn is bigger than he was in the store. Hopefully the water continures to improve and everything in my tank will stay this happy.

Talk to you soon ,
Davehttp://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/1/110010Tank_after_2_-_20___water_changes.JPG http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...er_changes.JPG

06/21/2006, 09:28 PM	#26
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Hey, that's improving! Good! I'm still waiting for that kh to drop a little bit---it will. But you've knocked another 5 off that nitrate. That's really encouraging. The carbon will help clean out anything that's nasty in the water. Leave the carbon...the label usually says 3 days...but I think you can push it 5 unless it's particularly bad stuff you're taking out. The thing you should never do is forget it's in there: talk about a sneaky nitrate factory! So just pick a day to remember to yank it. And I'd say [if you aren't out of salt, prepare another 20%er for tomorrow, just in case, and add another dose of calcium. If that next change could get it down to 5, you'd be in a much better neighborhood! __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

06/21/2006, 10:39 PM	#28
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Oh, indeed---a light feeding won't hurt: just feed slowly and make sure they eat it all. Y'know, I have something of a theory what may be going on. Chemi-clean doesn't list its ingredients, but one thing that works pretty much like it is Maracyn, a reef-safe antibiotic---meaning it kills bacteria. It's possible that what's driving this nitrate is that the kill-off of cyanobacteria unhelpfully included part of your useful bacteria in the substrate, your live sand and rock. The skimming you're doing is going to help get rid of anything else that died that you don't know about, but it's possible that your sandbed is letting nitrates loose just because it's weak and overwhelmed, having to recover from a heavy hit. If this is what did happen, bacteria from deeper down in the bed are racing up, recolonizing the sand and rock surface and taking over the business of waste-processing, but it just may be a really fragile, weak sandbed right now. Don't stress it, if that's the case. Feed, but feed gingerly. Anything that goes into the fish also goes into that sandbed, and what you've got going on here just may be sort of a mini-cycle as the tank flexes its chemical 'muscle' and prepares to shoulder the load again. Corals can live through it---I had a little bubble coral hitchhiker and some xenia that lived through my initial cycle, which indicates how tough some of these organisms can be. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

06/21/2006, 10:23 PM	#27
dpsa98 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Fallon,Nv Posts: 234	I'm going to keep working on it. I'm off work tomorrow so I should be able to keep a close eye on things during the day. If the cyano does not get any worse and my numbers get any better I may let it sit for a day or two and see what happens. If you think its ok I may do a very light feeding on Friday that will be 4 days without feeding anything hopefully that will keep my nytrates in check. I will mix up another batch of water in the morning and change it in the evening if I need to if not I will have it prepared for my next water change in a few days. I keep an airstone in the 5 gal jug with the mixed water to keep it mixed well. I will pull the carbon on Saturday. We will see what happens tomorrow..Have a good night Dave

06/22/2006, 08:27 AM	#29
dpsa98 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Fallon,Nv Posts: 234	You know what , it's funny you said that about a mini-cycle. Last night when I was in bed that it what I was thinking. I thought to myself "you know Dave this seems alot like what should be happening in a cycle". Then this morning I woke up and tested my water. Salinity 1.024 Amonia 0 Nitrites 0 Nitrates 10 Calcium 370 (Dropped a bit but I put in 1/2 tspn. liquid cal. this morning to see if it goes up from there) KH 14.7 Alk 5.26 And the red tint did not get any worse since last night , we will see what happes today with the lights on all day. The only thing I really need to feed is my plate coral. My snails and cleaner shrimp seem to be feeding on the rocks.

06/22/2006, 11:40 AM	#30
dpsa98 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Fallon,Nv Posts: 234	My calcium level is up to 420 and all my other parameters are still the same. The corals seem to be happier than they were a few days ago. My green plate is bright green and hes even puffed up a bit and my zoas are all opening, my frogspawn is bigger than he was in the store. Hopefully the water continures to improve and everything in my tank will stay this happy. Talk to you soon , Davehttp://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/1/110010Tank_after_2_-_20___water_changes.JPG http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...er_changes.JPG