cyano?

skirrby · 04/24/2006, 09:41 PM

ok guess im confused. what all causes this? for the most part, what i hear the most is lack of flow, as in people always say to kick up the flow in areas affected by it and alot of time it goes away. but ive noticed its starting to form in small areas of my tank.. but only in what seems to be the highest flow areas of the tank. ive got a great amount of flow, cause im going with mostly sps this time around. all together ive got about 1110 gph of flow in my 55 gallon. which is about a 20x turnover rate. and im going to be adding a maxi jet 600 with maxi jet mod in a month or so. so all in all, i really dont think this is a flow problem.

ive tested phosphates, and they are at 0. and always have been everytime ive tested. all other levels are good too. i do need to get new halide bulbs, but would those really be the cause? ive never really had cyano problems to bad. so anyone with more experience in this able to help out with some advice? the tank has been running for about ehh 2 months now, just part of the whole new tank deal we all go through?

skirrby · 04/25/2006, 02:32 PM

bump back up to try and get some opinions on this

Amy83820 · 04/25/2006, 02:49 PM

There are other ways to get it other than bad circ and water quality. I got my cyano problem from live rock. I bought a few pieces of lr from the lfs that had a small amount on it. Since it was such a small amount, I didn't realize what it was until it started to spread. I think that once it's in the tank, it doesn't matter what your params are... it will keep spreading until you get rid of it. Once it is gone, then it should stay away as long as you keep down the nitrates and phosphates. I tried to manually remove it for months. I ended up having to use 'red slime remover' and that did the trick! Good luck getting rid of yours....it's no fun!!

rustybucket145 · 04/25/2006, 02:53 PM

Do you use RO/DI water?

swhedbee · 04/25/2006, 03:12 PM

Hi,

Cyanobacteria can fix nitrogen gas to use as a nitrogen source so it tends to crop up when there is more P than N. If you have enough nitrogen then you see hair algae, etc.

Live rock is known to bind phosphate in it's calcium carbonate structure and later on leach it.

A relatively cheap experiment is to buy a new piece of liverock and replace/move the cyano piece. If the new piece remains cyano free then you know it's something with the rock.

I have a couple rocks in my tank with a dusting of cyano that disappears overnight only to reappear after a couple hours of light. I bought some cheap base rock several years ago and I suspect that's them.

I also read it's a good idea to replace some of your live rock every few years just to keep things fresh.

-Sam

soundgeek · 04/25/2006, 03:53 PM

I was told by some one that the phospates could be zero because the cyano is consuming them so they recommended me to try some phos ban or other phospate remover and see if it goes away. I just did it today so no results yet but, i figured it is worth a shot.

04/24/2006, 09:41 PM	#1
skirrby Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: orlando fl Posts: 178	cyano? ok guess im confused. what all causes this? for the most part, what i hear the most is lack of flow, as in people always say to kick up the flow in areas affected by it and alot of time it goes away. but ive noticed its starting to form in small areas of my tank.. but only in what seems to be the highest flow areas of the tank. ive got a great amount of flow, cause im going with mostly sps this time around. all together ive got about 1110 gph of flow in my 55 gallon. which is about a 20x turnover rate. and im going to be adding a maxi jet 600 with maxi jet mod in a month or so. so all in all, i really dont think this is a flow problem. ive tested phosphates, and they are at 0. and always have been everytime ive tested. all other levels are good too. i do need to get new halide bulbs, but would those really be the cause? ive never really had cyano problems to bad. so anyone with more experience in this able to help out with some advice? the tank has been running for about ehh 2 months now, just part of the whole new tank deal we all go through?

04/25/2006, 02:49 PM	#3
Amy83820 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wentzville, MO Posts: 626	There are other ways to get it other than bad circ and water quality. I got my cyano problem from live rock. I bought a few pieces of lr from the lfs that had a small amount on it. Since it was such a small amount, I didn't realize what it was until it started to spread. I think that once it's in the tank, it doesn't matter what your params are... it will keep spreading until you get rid of it. Once it is gone, then it should stay away as long as you keep down the nitrates and phosphates. I tried to manually remove it for months. I ended up having to use 'red slime remover' and that did the trick! Good luck getting rid of yours....it's no fun!! __________________ I'm consistently torn between wanting to know more about your life and just waiting to see it on "Cops." Current Tank Info: 90 gallons o' salty goodness

04/25/2006, 02:53 PM	#4
rustybucket145 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: valdosta, ga Posts: 3,707	Do you use RO/DI water? __________________ 400gals of various tanks in the same system. Current Tank Info: 2 175w MH, 2 VH0 Actinics, Lots of Live Rock, tons of copepods, a Fat Mandarin Goby, Niger Trigger, Yellow Tang, Falco Hawkfish, Bi-Color Pseudo, numerous soft, SPS and LPS Corals

04/25/2006, 03:53 PM	#6
soundgeek Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 129	I was told by some one that the phospates could be zero because the cyano is consuming them so they recommended me to try some phos ban or other phospate remover and see if it goes away. I just did it today so no results yet but, i figured it is worth a shot. __________________ GEAUX TIGERS!!! Current Tank Info: 75gal

04/25/2006, 02:32 PM	#2
skirrby Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: orlando fl Posts: 178	bump back up to try and get some opinions on this

04/25/2006, 03:12 PM	#5
swhedbee Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Gainesville, FL Posts: 168	Hi, Cyanobacteria can fix nitrogen gas to use as a nitrogen source so it tends to crop up when there is more P than N. If you have enough nitrogen then you see hair algae, etc. Live rock is known to bind phosphate in it's calcium carbonate structure and later on leach it. A relatively cheap experiment is to buy a new piece of liverock and replace/move the cyano piece. If the new piece remains cyano free then you know it's something with the rock. I have a couple rocks in my tank with a dusting of cyano that disappears overnight only to reappear after a couple hours of light. I bought some cheap base rock several years ago and I suspect that's them. I also read it's a good idea to replace some of your live rock every few years just to keep things fresh. -Sam