Advice Please !!

[EricTheRed]

For the last month or so I've been getting cyano on some of my LR (never on the sand). I have new bulbs, can't detect any nitrates or phosphates, sg is a stable 1.025, temp is very stable at 78 and there's good flow. In fact the strange thing is that it seems to grow in both low-flow and very high flow areas on the rock. It is not a major outbreak, but a nuisance nevertheless. I usually take a turkey baster and blow it off the rock daily. Today, (after being out of town for 4 days), it was a little thicker than normal when I blew it off. Within minutes of blowing it off the rock, most of the LPS and softies in the tank had a bad reaction. They essentially became VERY swollen and extraordinarily puffy. All my LPS (torch, hammer, elegance, & wellso) and all my shrooms puffed up like little balloons for about 4 hours.

Last weekend I treated the tank with Flat Worm Exit. In the begininning of the treatment I started by blowing water into the crevices (per instructions) which also blew off the cyano. Within minutes, the same thing happened and everything (except SPS obviously) blew up like balloons. I also lost 2 chromis (belly-up) within 5 MINUTES. I originally attributed it to the Flat Worm Exit. I did a 50% water change immediately (approx. 30 minutes after initial treament.) I followed the instructions for the FW exit and don't think it was an over dose. (In fact, none of the flat worms died. Probably because I did the water change so quickly after dosing.) I ran about a pound of GAC for 4 days after the water change and am still running about 2 cups in a reactor. After the water change and all the GAC, I wouldn't think this still (if ever) has (had) anything to do with the FW Exit.

Has anyone ever experienced something like this? Could it be from blowing the cyano into the water column? I've always periodically blow detritus off my LR and never had anything like this happen. In fact, before the cyano, I only blew off the rock every week or 2 when I did water changes.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

Could be a flow issue.

Excess nutrients cause cyno, specifically phosphates I believe. The location of its growth is typically in stagnant areas.

I would try to increase flow through and over your live rock.

 

[EricTheRed]

I'm not as worried about the cyano as I am about the reaction my corals have when I blow off the rock.
Also, that's what's wierd about the cyano growth, it still grows on the rock in places where there is very high flow. Also I run GFO and the phosphates are undetectable...?

 

[ColaAddict]

I thought cyano feeds off sylicates, so having undetectable phosphates probably won't do much to stop the problem. How old is your tank and what kind of salt do you use?

 

[EricTheRed]

It's been a reef tank for 1.75 years and I use Salinity Salt.

 

[lunacris]

I took a friends tank who brought this problem and at first I adjusted the flow then lighting cycle. Still around. Then was skimming and feeding less. When I adjusted all these things it went away. Took few weeks so I don't know what did it but eventually all algae went away. Also did larger water changes.

 

[fastrc]

Usually caused by over feeding the tank. Also light source will magnify the problem while the growth is there. Try to cut feeding down to once a day (at night before you turn off lights) then try cutting light cycle down to 8 hours a day till it goes away. As long as it can feed it will grow. Don't blow it off your rocks because all that doe's is spread it around your tank. Do a water change twice a weak for awhile and use the siphon to remove what you can of it at water change time. Took me a month to get my tank stable till it worked it's way out.
P.S. I have 70 tanks and now they are all zero algae problems.

 

[DanSreef]

fastrc - I have a similar problem to Eric's but probably worse. I have both hair and red cyno. I am running a lot of flow. I am running pellets and my nitrates and phosphates are zero by all indications. I do have a longer light cycle roughly 10 hours or so. I have a four bulb T-5 HO fixture with Actinic and Daylight. I run my Actinic 10 hours and the daylights for about 9.

I have a couple of questions for the group.... If I reduce my light cycle to 8 hours... is that all light, just the daylights..? If I keep the Actinics on longer...say the current 10 hours....does that affect the algae?

Another question I have is I run a RO/DI system. The stages 1-3 are coming up on their 1 year... I have been told that these should last 12-18 months. My TDS meter reads zero or near zero on the output. I flush my membrane pretty frequently. Could my RO/DI system and the age of the filters be somehow contributing to the Algae problem? By the way, Eric is my neighbor and we share the RO/DI water as well as the salt mix. We use Salinity Salt mix.

Dan

 

[jcarlilesiu]

I thought cyano feeds off sylicates

It feeds off of excess nutrients. I have never heard that it feeds off of diatoms.

Typically excess nutrients caused by inadequate husbandry, filtration, water changes, or overstocked aquariums cause Cyno to appear. Low lighting and low flow areas are the trigger for development, not the cause. Even with increasing flow at the location of the algae, something has to be done to remove the excess nutrients (typically nitrates & phosphates from food/waste) from the water column.

Diatoms are caused by silicates.

 

[fastrc]

The actinics shouldn't matter being on 10 hour. The thing that controlled mine was the once a day feeding and the shorter light cycle. Also if your light source is close to water raise it to about 8 inches above if possible. My display never has algae but my breeders started to get some on glass were the light was closer and raising them to 8 inches above water stopped it.

 

[EricTheRed]

I don't overfeed, my nitrates are zero, I run GFO and my phosphates are zero. I have a fuge with chaeto and a good skimmer. It occured to me that a month or so ago I extended my light cycle. I run the actinics for 2.5 hours, then 8.5 hours of daylight, followed by 1.5 hours of actinics.

This is supposed to be a simple solution...too much nutrients = cyano.
I just can't figure out how/why there are excess nutrients.
I'll start skipping feedings and shorten the light cycle.

On a side note, I'm still wondering/concerned about the bad reaction my coral had after blowing off my rock with the turkey baster (see 1st post) This is something I've always done regularly to blow any trapped detritus into the water column, now I'm worried I'm blowing something harmful and I'm only assuming it's the cyano. It's not even that much cyano, my outbreak of cyano is really very mild....

 

[Tangency]

In regards to the Cyano... try skimming really wet for awhile and bump up the frequency and percentage of your WC's. That seems to have worked for me... it has also took me ~2 months.

Corals reaction -- that is strange. It was my understanding that FlatwormExit medication is supposed to be reef safe. It is the chemicals released by the flatworms that is toxic. Is it a new baster? some sort of chemical coating on the plastic material? Some sort of residue? Could it be when you blast the rocks it is bothering the hidden flat worms and they're releasing their toxin? -- seems unlikely

 

[EricTheRed]

In regards to the Cyano... try skimming really wet for awhile and bump up the frequency and percentage of your WC's. That seems to have worked for me... it has also took me ~2 months.

Corals reaction -- that is strange. It was my understanding that FlatwormExit medication is supposed to be reef safe. It is the chemicals released by the flatworms that is toxic. Is it a new baster? some sort of chemical coating on the plastic material? Some sort of residue? Could it be when you blast the rocks it is bothering the hidden flat worms and they're releasing their toxin? -- seems unlikely

Yep, Flatworm Exit is supposed to be safe. At first I thought it was causing the issue, but now, a week later, the same thing happened when I blew the rocks yesterday. The baster is old and have been using it in the tank for a long time. I blew off a rock with some paly's on it to flush out any detritus that was in there. I heard of palytoxin being deadly but I thought they were only release if the paly's were injured or dead.
I'm really strectching here trying to figure out what is causing the reaction when I blow off the rocks. It might just remain a mystery and will hopefully go away after a few more water changes.

 

[dtrm]

I don't overfeed, my nitrates are zero, I run GFO and my phosphates are zero. I have a fuge with chaeto and a good skimmer. It occured to me that a month or so ago I extended my light cycle. I run the actinics for 2.5 hours, then 8.5 hours of daylight, followed by 1.5 hours of actinics.

This is supposed to be a simple solution...too much nutrients = cyano.
I just can't figure out how/why there are excess nutrients.
I'll start skipping feedings and shorten the light cycle.

On a side note, I'm still wondering/concerned about the bad reaction my coral had after blowing off my rock with the turkey baster (see 1st post) This is something I've always done regularly to blow any trapped detritus into the water column, now I'm worried I'm blowing something harmful and I'm only assuming it's the cyano. It's not even that much cyano, my outbreak of cyano is really very mild....

Eric I thought that my nitrates and phosphates were zero till MCF did the test and I was .003, I started to run GFO half the bag didn't see a lot of change till I ran with the hole bag. I had to pull all my cheato out, the bottom was rotten (swamp smell), cut out a lot of chaeto saved the living and put back in my fuge cut back light cycle 5 days later gone. I didn't know that over grown chaeto was a bad thing but the bottom will rot with no light source. When I do a water change I siphon out with hose to pull the junk out of my tank. This worked for me good luck...

 

[EricTheRed]

Thanks. the cyano came and went after a few weeks. All gone now