Losing corals!!!

[Putty]

Something is happening in my tank and I have lost several corals. The rest are not looking good. Color is way off!!!

I have this stuff growing like mad in there now. All the fish appear to be fine. I have made no changes. Fish are eating and swimming with no issues...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/CLovaR1/89884191.jpg

See how bad that devil looks....:headwallblue::headwallblue:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/CLovaR1/fc56c928.jpg

[DrAsTiC]

that is cyanobacteria and you need to do something about it.

search this site or google it and you will find ways to deal with it.

[thegrun]

That is cyanobacteria. Please post the tank's equipment, age and water parameters for us to give you good advice. In general cyanobacteria increases with too much food, phosphates, nitrates and a lack of water movement. It is also a very common problem in newer tank (it is always present in a saltwater tanks but is usually kept in check).

[Phantom54]

just dealt with the same issue not long ago I increased flow moving powerheads around a little bit and cut back on the feeding. seemed to work for me

[cloak]

Check this out.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2095174&highlight=cynobacteria

[muteturkey]

Increase flow, suck out as much as you can without over doing a waterchange, and get some chemiclean. I had a slight outbreak of this as well, I'd suck it out with waterchanges and dose the chemiclean as recommended. It may take a few weeks for you since it looks pretty bad.

[goettner]

I am only at it for 8 weeks and have not run into that problem.Probably all my parameters
are reading pretty perfect.I had some algae problems,but fixxed that with my phosphate reactor and cutting down on lighting time.Good luck with your tank.

[Putty]

That is cyanobacteria. Please post the tank's equipment, age and water parameters for us to give you good advice. In general cyanobacteria increases with too much food, phosphates, nitrates and a lack of water movement. It is also a very common problem in newer tank (it is always present in a saltwater tanks but is usually kept in check).


Tank is over a year old. It's 72g. Has a sump, skimmer, two 1400gph powerheads. Two TLF reactors with carbon and phosban. Have not had the water tested in several weeks. I did a nice water change last weekend. I ran about 22 gallons of RO yesterday to do another one this week.

Basically all of my corals have died or are dying. This sucks cause I had some nice pieces, but I rather it be them instead of the fish.

I do not over feed. I feed once a day. A chunk of peMysis. None really makes it to the ground before they eat it all. Maybe once a week I'll drop some sinking pellets in so the crabs get food.

[Dapg8gt]

Test your water and increase flow. I would try to stay away from chemi clean. Don't get me wrong it will work for a while but it will come back if you don't get to the root of the problem. Increasing flow and doing water changes to get Within parameters would be my course. Chemi clean will work to get rid of it fast but it runs havok on your skimmer. There are a lot of threads on here stating what to do to battle it just read up and be diligent. Sucks you lost your corals.

[Putty]

I think I should rearrange my rock work too.

What are effects of this stuff....kill coral/fish?

[kissman]

you have cyano, lower phosphates by running gfo and water changes. The phosphates are probably why the coral is dying. Chemiclean will kill the cyano but not lower the phosphates and/or nitrates.

[SushiGirl]

How old are your RO/DI filters?

[bluewater921]

thats cynao .. ewww get rid of it .. how old are your lights ?? whats your TDS at ??

[Munchdog]

I'd be testing water daily until its resolved

[mthomp]

How old are your RO/DI filters?


This. I would test for TDS. I would also clean your holding containers.

IMO testing for phosphates at this point will be useless because you will most likely get a 0 reading since the bacteria is feeding off it. The fact you have Cyano says you have high phosphates. you can try skimming a little wetter.

One thing you do not want to do is get discouraged. This is something we all deal with. Just ride it out and eventually it will be okay as long as you are diligent.

[Putty]

How old are your RO/DI filters?


6 months or so. I just changed the DI the other day. Not the other two.

[Putty]

you can try skimming a little wetter.

What does this mean? Turn it up so the bubbles are higher and it fills with a lot water?


One thing you do not want to do is get discouraged.

I am trying not to. I have a great collection of fish now that's close to a year old or better. If I begin to lose them I will be devastated!! :headwally:

[SushiGirl]

Yes, that's what skimming wet means. RO filters are usually changed @ 6 months unless your TDS meter still reads 0.

[kissman]

clean the cyano out, do a few water changes, skim wet, run GFO and change every week or two till the cyano is gone. Test Phosphates and nitrates

[Putty]

Did a big water change yesterday and pulled all the rock down to get a good flow going.....Hopefully what's left recovers..Ugh!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/CLovaR1/2efad7db.jpg

[alanbates12]

Water change is good but your gonna have to get the turkey baster out and clean the rocks, vaccumm the sand and probally do another big water change in a week. Also you should suck all the cyano out, as someone suggested. Your getting lots of good advice here. I've not seen anyone say something about cyano making your oxygen concentration lower, which is bad for the fish. Sorry bout your corals. Cyano is generally an over abundance of nutrients. Your gonna have to get to the source or it will continue to reck havvock on your system.

[alanbates12]

I'd also check my RODI water and see if it has nitrates or phosphates. And by the way, minus the cyano, the tank looks good.

[sponger0]

Yes...frequent water changes. Also while doing water changes, syphon all the cyano you can. That way you are pulling the cyano and phosphates out of your system.

Secondly, after seeing the pic of your tank, I would rearrange the rocks and get them off the glass. That is going to help with the flow in your tank. Its creating some dead spots Im sure.

[Putty]

Water change is good but your gonna have to get the turkey baster out and clean the rocks, vaccumm the sand and probally do another big water change in a week. Also you should suck all the cyano out, as someone suggested. Your getting lots of good advice here. I've not seen anyone say something about cyano making your oxygen concentration lower, which is bad for the fish. Sorry bout your corals. Cyano is generally an over abundance of nutrients. Your gonna have to get to the source or it will continue to reck havvock on your system.

I use a rubber hose to get water out...acts as a vac. I sucked a lot of the sand bed where the cyano was. There isn't any loose areas of it on my rocks, I kinda went over them with the hose.

I'd also check my RODI water and see if it has nitrates or phosphates. And by the way, minus the cyano, the tank looks good.


Thanks!! I added a new DI the other day. I need to change the other two cans now. It's seen better days!! :sad1:

I probably lost 90%

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/CLovaR1/8b1e36c7.jpg


Secondly, after seeing the pic of your tank, I would rearrange the rocks and get them off the glass. That is going to help with the flow in your tank. Its creating some dead spots Im sure.

The photo you're referring to is what it looks like after I took it down from the 2nd pic I just posted.

[faisal629]

sorry for your loss, do you do carbon dosing?

[Putty]

sorry for your loss, do you do carbon dosing?

Thanks!! I can live with losing the corals. As long as my fish remain good I am OK.

I have 2 TLF reactors. One is running phosban pellets and the other is running BRS 0.8 carbon. The carbon reactor is off because as the carbon started to get dirty, the pump started to make a noise that made watching TV not so fun.

[faisal629]

i ment if you dose viniger or vodka, cause i think i read in some cases it will cause cyno.

[Cloudburst2000]

Looks like you have a pretty heavy bioload for a 72g aquarium. That is probably where much of your excess nutrients are coming from. A larger bioload requires more on-hands upkeep from the aquarist. I would continue doing weekly/bi-weekly water changes after the cyano is knocked out or I fear you will run into the same problem yet again.

[Putty]

Looks like you have a pretty heavy bioload for a 72g aquarium. That is probably where much of your excess nutrients are coming from. A larger bioload requires more on-hands upkeep from the aquarist. I would continue doing weekly/bi-weekly water changes after the cyano is knocked out or I fear you will run into the same problem yet again.


This could very well be the cause...I'll tell you why. Seemed like my hands were in the tank everyday due to my Urchin knocking things around. I finally said I'm done. I went a month or better without going in. I'd top the tank off cause of evaporation and feed. Or use my magnets to clean the glass.
I figured I was doing the tank a favor by "just letting it run" while instead was harming it. :hmm5: