cyano and diatoms on sandbed

[mitch303]

Alright so I moved my powerhead to the other side of the tank about a week ago and now I have diatoms all over my sandbed, also a small patch of cyano growing on the sand wher my powerhead was. So today I moved it back to where it used to be and put maxijet on the other side. I did just order a koralia 450gph and the other one I have is a koralia 750 will this be enough flow for my 55?

Also my tank is about 8 months old and I already had a diatom outbreak when I first set the tank up so why am I having another one? I also Have not had a skimmer for about 3 Weeks my old one broke and I just ordered one so i'm waiting for it to come. All my levels tested fine 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates. What is causing this?

[jon99]

Did you check phosphate? Cyano is usually due to elevated phosphate levels. What kind of test kits are you using? RODI water? If you have algae in the tank you have nitrates/phosphates... period. Sometimes tests come up negative because the nutrients are being used up by the algae as they're being released into the water.

Not having a skimmer is not helping. You should be doing very frequent and large water changes if you don't have one.

[mitch303]

API test kits, yes I am using rodi. I have a 20L sump/ fuge and my chaeto hasn't been growing lately if I had nitrates and phosphates wouldn't my chaeto be growing like crazy. I thought cyano was caused by low flow? Still can't explain the diatoms though.

[jon99]

API aren't the best/most reliable IMO. Flow will have some effect, yes, but I think the core of your problem is elevated nutrient levels. Cyano and diatoms makes me think phosphates and silicates, that's why I asked about your topoff water. Make sure your rodi is reading 0ppm and try testing it for phos too. Quickest/easiest solution would be a small water change (with rodi water) and try running some phosguard in a filter. It sucks up phosphates and silicates. Long term solution would be getting that skimmer up and running.

[RubberFrog]

It's no coincidence that the skimmer has been down for three weeks and suddenly you have an algae outbreak.

[mitch303]

Yea i'm waiting for my skimmer to get delivered. my rodi unit is running 0ppm what kind of filter do I use for the phosguard?

[davocean]

It's pretty common to have a second mini cycle at the 8-10mo mark, and the changes you made have added to that I'm sure(get that skimmer back up)
Sometimes doing a lights out day or shorter cycle helps, I just did this after a transfer, helped my tank.

[jon99]

Originally Posted by mitch303

Yea i'm waiting for my skimmer to get delivered. my rodi unit is running 0ppm what kind of filter do I use for the phosguard?

Best would be a media reactor like this: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...reactor-1.html

...but basically anything to pass water throughout the media. You can use a cheap hang on back filter, or even just put the phosban in a media bag and place it in an area of high water flow.

[jon99]

Double post

[duke62]

i have an established 92 corner.same rocks ive had for 4 years and i go through stages of cyano.it never gets to bad but keep an eye on it.check your tds coming out of your ro/di