Cyano and the end of my reef.(vent thread)

[natman2]

Once again cyano is growing in my reef tank. I have read up on how to eliminate this beast until I am blue green in the face and have just about given up.

Increased flow, aggressive skimming, new bulbs, kalk drips to raise alk level, large water change routine, ro/di system, fuge with macros and the use of antibiotics a few times and still the beast returns.

All the above produced pristine water conditions with no effect what so ever. I even had it growing when the tank was fish-less and unfed for a few months despite water changes and manual removal.

I guess I can only assume at this point where my tank is concerned that provided enough light for coral growth and the cyano will grow also.

My fuge on the other hand with just normal output fluorescent to grow my macro has no cyano at all. At this point I think my only recourse is to remove my corals from the DT and go FOWLR and normal output lighting to eliminate this problem.

[vessxpress1]

Triple dose it in one day with chemi clean. That's what our LFS does and I did it. Turn off the skimmer, take out the carbon and triple dose it in one day. Let it work for a couple days. It will all be gone. Nothing was harmed by it. Not even my anemone.

[Marinemom]

DO NOT TRIPLE DOSE THE CHEMICLEAN! I recently used chemiclean in my reef because I had tried everything else to try to get rid of this stuff and nothing worked. I used this stuff as directed and I had disasterious results. My reef CRASHED within 24 hours of using the stuff. I lost all of my inverts, two of my fish, and all of my corals died except for one of them. It has been an horrendous job trying to clean this mess up after what this stuff did and causing so much death in my reef. I am only telling you what happened to me; my own personal experience with this stuff. I am sure there are others that will say that they have used this stuff time and time again with no ill effects but that is not what happened to me. Why do you think that they put some kind of disclaimer on the package saying that they will not be held responsible if it does not work as intended. They must have some experience with it doing something weird sometimes like what happened in my case. They just want to make sure that they cover thier own butts. Either use it the way they tell you to on the package or don't use it. I certainly would not triple dose this stuff unless you want massive death in your reef. I will never use it again. May I suggest that you possibly increase your flow in the tank and check your PH. I think I have read somewhere that this stuff likes to populate tanks with a lower PH.

Hope this helps.

Marinemom

[The_Strobe]

well, two posting and two different opinions, that's reefing! :-)

I am fighting cyno as well so I will tag along.

[natman2]

Odd part for me is I set up and maintain a tank for my brother who lives a few doors down from me. The tanks are virtually identical as far as filtration skimming setup etc yet his tank has no cyano growth. Only difference is he runs 8 hour light schedule and his corals do just fine. In fact his tank receives more ambient daylight than mine.

I bought some new timers and am going to a 8 hour schedule for mine to see if it makes a difference. If not I am throwing in the towel. At least it will open up my tank for a few non reef safe fish specimens.

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8344160#post8344160 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by natman2
Once again cyano is growing in my reef tank. I have read up on how to eliminate this beast until I am blue green in the face and have just about given up.

Increased flow, aggressive skimming, new bulbs, kalk drips to raise alk level, large water change routine, ro/di system, fuge with macros and the use of antibiotics a few times and still the beast returns.

All the above produced pristine water conditions with no effect what so ever. I even had it growing when the tank was fish-less and unfed for a few months despite water changes and manual removal.

I guess I can only assume at this point where my tank is concerned that provided enough light for coral growth and the cyano will grow also.

My fuge on the other hand with just normal output fluorescent to grow my macro has no cyano at all. At this point I think my only recourse is to remove my corals from the DT and go FOWLR and normal output lighting to eliminate this problem.

You say everything is fine and good as far as water goes but you really need to give us more info... Like tank size, flow levels, what skimmer, phosphate levels, KH levels, ect. etc.

[akbuuur]

did u try re-aquascaping it maybe some detrius is holding up some where?

[wilsonh]

My son battled it in his tank for probably 9 months, in the end he beat it but the experience left him so worn out he has now changed to a fresh water tank.

However, a few lessons along the way - persistent syphoning of it, every day 5 or 10 minutes, and vodka dosing seemed to get good results, although nothing happens fast.

Also if it is not growing in your fuge, how about upping the light in there so it can out compete the cyano in the main.

[vessxpress1]

Natman, what's your pH at right now? I've heard a depressed pH can encourage the growth of it.

As for the chemi-clean, that's what worked for me and I'll used it again if I have to before I let cyano take over my coral and kill them anyway. That's all this product is made for. If it didn't work, they should be out of business by now.

I'd at least give it a try at the recommended dosage. My LFS has 2 very large and beautiful display tanks. If they're willing to use it, I'll use it.

It says for best results, turn off UV sterilizer and/or ozonizer, and remove carbon filtration for 24 hrs following each treatment. During treatment, maintain tank oxygen level (highlighted in bold).

Must change water 20% after full treatment.

Definately siphon out as much as possible before you begin and when you do the 20% water change. Once the stuff dies, I would imagine it would release a large quantity of whatever it was absorbing, back into your water which probably could kill things.