cyano getting real bad

[ducati1212]

I started off with some small pathces of Cyano (spelling.?) now I have lots of patches. I have been sucking it out with a turkey baster and doing more water changes. but it keeps on comming. Tank is 4 months old params are good except Ammonia might have just bumped up a hair past 0.

What can I do its worse every week

[cpatbay]

Use ChemiClean or Red Slime Remover. Follow the instructions carefully. Many reefers had success with these products. It takes a couple of days to get rid of it. In the mean time, keep sucking them out of your tank.

BTW, you are having this problem because your phosphate level is too high. Get your phosphate level in check, too.

[ducati1212]

I dont test for phosphate but I use RODI with 0 TDS for all water. I do tend to overfeed. What leads to high phosphate.?

[neyugn0w01]

Run some carbon and just keep trying to remove them. A water change would also help.

[Brenden]

Phosphate can be in tap water. Foods tend to be loaded with it. How often are you feeding and how much? I would not add any chemicals to the tank.

[sfilingeri]

I used Maracin and it was gone in a few days, never seen cyano since then (nock on wood)

[Mike de Leon]

Chemiclean is good. I used it once on my fully stocked reef. No side effects at all.......

[LobsterOfJustice]

1. Good flow. Nothing should settle on the substrate.
2. Run phosphate removal media such as phosban. I run the media eventhough I have tested my water with a salifert kit and it read 0. The Algae can be using the phosphate as fast as it's being intorduced to your system, and even small amounts of PO4 (too small to register on a kit) can fuel algae and harm corals.
3. Use RODI water. Check the TDS, your filters may need replacing.
4. Rinse all frozen food cubes before feeding.
5. Keep the sand stirred with a cucumber, conch and/or gobies.

[fancyfish]

you need to rid your tank of high phosphates chemi clean is a bandaid. this will only solve the problem temporarily. cut back on the feeding, rinse your frozen foods and add increased flow. phosphoban and carbon will help.

[ducati1212]

I feed once a day. I usually mix some frozen shrimp with pellets. I would say a put a tad too much food in each feeding because I have a stubborn goby that wont eat. I have been doing 2 5 gallon water changes a week. I am nervous about adding chemicals but I am almost at the point that I will try it.

[Mike de Leon]

I used Chemiclean three months ago. I had a really bad case of Cyano. It hasn't returned since. I feed heavily two to three times a day. You can do all the preventative maintenance, it won't go away unless you do something drastic.
CHEMICLEAN WORKS. IT'S NOT A BANDAID.

[ducati1212]

its reef safe. Wont hurt my inverts or crabs?

[Cox]

ChemiClean is definitely safe for your reef and all of its inhabitants. I was also leary of using this stuff in my reef a while back but my cyano also got so bad I was at the point of trying anything. I dosed once (make sure you follow the directions to a "T", including a water change the next day) and all cyano was gone within 2 days and hasn't returned. I also agree with Mike, that it's not a BandAid, as I haven't changed a thing with my husbandry and it hasn't returned since the one and only dose of ChemiClean (about a yr ago). So go ahead, get the ChemiClean and knock it out now. Best of luck.

[cmsurfr22]

i was reading the instructions on MD and they say to place an airstone in the tank before and during treatment. i have a 210 gallon tank so is one airstone really going to do anything? should i hook up an air pump to a powerhead and have it blast air through out the tank? or is a small airstone sufficient? i have a SEIO M1500 that i could hook up an air pump to. would that be too much air? if it is too much air then what about putting the air pump on a timer to go off every hour for 1 minute or something like that? what are you suggestions/thoughts?

[cmsurfr22]

are these the same thing? or is one better than the other?

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=BE1115

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4122&Ntt=chemi&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

[Craig Lambert]

Since your tank is only 4 months old, I would not add any chemicals at all. Reduce your feeding. (The goby will eat when he's hungry). Don't feed more than can be consumed in 3 minutes. Try to feed only enough so that no feed reaches the bottom of the tank. Cut the feeding to every other day, or even every third day for a couple of weeks. If you are feeding frozen cubes rinse them thoroughly in rodi before placing it in the tank as it's loaded with phosphate. Increase your water changes to 15-20% per week, and run passive carbon 24/7. You have a new tank that is going through a phase.

What's the tank's bioload, and what skimmer are you using?

[Mike de Leon]

You see I have gone through what Craig is suggesting, many times before. Even with little bio load, once it's in the system, just will not go away. You can try and go through all that trouble. Or you can cut through the chase and go CHEMICLEAN all the way. Troubles gone without much ado...
No offence Craig.
Changing the diet of your fishes will have detrimental effects to their health which can lead to the dreaded ICH!!

[Craig Lambert]

Well, then we agree to disagree. His tank is 4 months old. I wouldn't add chemicals to fight the natural progression of a new tank. JMO.

[jmchzn]

you guys are scaring me. IMO and keep in mind I am always wrong but my tank kicks ***! So go your own way. Some tell me "CYNO" has nothing to do with Phos and is a bacteria not an algae. That being said I do everything below so I'm not sure whats doing the trick so I won't eliminate anything.

1) new tank still cycling so a little "cyno" is normal...a little that should disappear on its own.

2) WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T TEST PHOSPHATES! Test testtesttesttest. Thats the issue. It's in the water and probably the food.
3) don't add chemicals in a 4 month old tank.geeeez.
3) don't add chemicals in a 4 month old tank. geeeez
4) fix your water parameters
5) get a phos reactor. they are cheap and they work. 2 little fishes is the best.
6) FLOW and cirrculation and surface skimming is critical. you should have a wave maker of some sort. the return pumps should be cirrculating the water from both sides of tank and you should have an overflow box to skim the surface.
7) Wash frozen food stay away from flakes. check all food content for phos.
8) ok everyone start yelling at me...use UV.


I just started my new 90 on sept 1. the old rock and corals were from a 40 gal so almost everything is new. I have NO ugly algae or cyno, a very heavy bio load and perfect water. tank is flourishing. I feed everyday twice a day at least.

[xcreonx]

In my opinion, avoid the chemicals. There's a tried and tested way to get rid of cyano and to keep it away, it just takes some time. Check out the beginner forums for all the info you would ever need.

Skip the chemicals, they're junk. Especially in a new tank that's going through a natural cycle. Just my 2 cents.

[xcreonx]

"Changing the diet of your fishes will have detrimental effects to their health which can lead to the dreaded ICH!!"

??? I'm not sure I follow this statement?

[pancho]

I used ChemiClean in my reef with no problems.

[buckeyenewbie]

I am a newbie and must admit I have a looooot to learn. I, also had a cyano problem. I did not want to add chemicals if I did not need to. So, I kept doing the siphon thing for awhile and finally bought a turbo snail. WOW! He really does a great job. When I see an area of cyano starting I just move him onto it and it is gone in a matter of minutes.

Just a suggestion to try before going to the DREADED chemicals.

Sondra

[Craig Lambert]

Yours sounds more like diatoms than cyano. Turbos love diatoms. Was it a wavy brown colored algae on your rock?

[ReefObsessor805]

Probably, b/c my Astrea Turbo Snails have, whatsoever, no interest in my Red Slime on my sand.

I am going to use ChemiClean once. Like Mike de Leon did...
He had a full blown 135 gallon and it had no effect on it?
Sounds alright to me...

Should I run a air pump while using it?

[jimbo045]

Run a U.V. system. It suppose to clear up the cynoes. JD

[stingleyman]

Speaking of chemi clean for cyno, The instuctions are pretty unclear.. Are you supposed to turn of skimmer, uv, carbon, during the 48 hrs. or after for 24. I just dosed my tank with it, The way I understood is to turn that stuff of during the 48 hrs ,, correct???

[Craig Lambert]

I think this thread needs to be directed here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=725686&highlight=cyano+uv

[chaungo]

Since your tank is new, this is what I did. I cut off all of the lights on my tank for 1.5 to 2 weeks. I didn't have any coral (or ones that I really cared about) and the fish are fine with the lights inside the house. When feeding my fish, I turned the lights on for a couple hours each day. Then off again. You definitely need a skimmer for this to pull out all of the cyano that is going to dissolve. But, I got so fed up that stuff growing every where! I tried Chemi-clean and chemipure. Both did not really help. It was still there! I siphoned all of the time with a turkey baster. It kept coming back! I got 5 more powerheads and still nothing! Phosphate remover, you name it! Urrgh!

So I knew that the cyano was mostly growing because of the light source. I turned them off and wow! The cyano started dying off by the 2nd day and the rest dissolved after that. Do a 20% water change at the end of the first week and second. My corals that I did have in there survived and so did all of the fish.

It's not traditional but everything else that I was told didn't work. Good luck! Oh, and keep up with water changes to keep the water in check.