3yr old reef with a lot of cyano on sand, need help

[bitwise]

Long story short: up until 3-4 months ago I had bad dinos for about a year that would wipe out any snails I put in the tank due to toxicity. I raised my nitrates to detectable levels (2-10 ppm) and continually keep my phosphate at 0.02 - 0.05 ppm. Both actually require me to dose those inorganics directly so that I can keep those numbers.

I've had pretty bad cyano on most of my sandbed for the last couple months or so. My approach has been to use julian's thing (basically a specialized turkey baster) to blast the sand every time it get's to unsightly levels (every 3 days or so). This breaks up the cyano and throws some detritus and other fine particles into the water column. I've done this dozens of times so far and it's been working, but the process just repeats itself. What can I do to get rid of this stuff? Should I vacuum my sand (I'd have to buy a proper vacuum like the python)? Should I get more sand sifters (I have 2 nassarius, used to have a diamond goby who got skinny then disappeared - probably jumped)?

Any kind of harsh chemical treatment would be a last resort for me. I'd like to keep things as mellow and natural as possible.

You can see the cyano in the front left of the photo. I already cleaned up the right side of the tank.

 

[bitwise]

And yes, it does get like that after 2 - 3 days even after I break up 90%+ of it with the baster. This has happened dozens of times

 

[bitwise]

Another photo for fun, since I don't post much

 

[bitwise]

I forgot to mention I have two MP10s on reef crest mode (visible in the second photo). One is at 90% the other is at 100%. The flow is very good (I think). It's not tremendous, but it's good.

 

[Montiman]

I would do my normal cyano removal process. Suck out as much cyano as possible in a water change. Add chemi clean and do 3 days of darkness then do another water change to remove chemi clean after the 3rd day. Finally rinse and repeat if needed. I have sometimes needed to do this 3 weeks in a row but usually 1 go around will fix a cyano problem.

 

[bitwise]

Just watched a BRS video and they recommend using something like microbacter 7 and trying to wait it out. If that doesn't work, they recommend using chemiclean or similar. Has anyone had luck with MB7?

 

[Montiman]

I have never been able to fix an issue with microbacter 7 alone but after manual removal and chemiclean I have found that microbacter 7 will help prevent reoccurring out breaks.

 

[bitwise]

Thanks @Montiman. I ordered a fresh bottle of MB7 (since I was low) and a proper gravel vac. I'm going to try that combination for at least a couple of weeks and see if I notice an improvement. If not, going to use your advice!

 

[Montiman]

Thanks @Montiman. I ordered a fresh bottle of MB7 (since I was low) and a proper gravel vac. I'm going to try that combination for at least a couple of weeks and see if I notice an improvement. If not, going to use your advice!

Keep us posted. We all want to know what happens. It is great for the community to see how these issues can be fixed. Thanks for your sharing.

 

[MightyMO]

Got a cyano outbreak happening here also... Watching this thread for sure!!!

 

[jeffrey750750]

I beat dinos to only get cyano. I am controlling it with microbacter7 in combination with brightwell bio fuel. In my opinion, it works

 

[MightyMO]

Just ordered me a bottle of the micro bacteria 7.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Dr. Tim’s Recipe for Success- for Cyanobacteria
Check it out . It worked great for me. All beneficial bacteria. No antibiotic

 

[MightyMO]

Dr. Tim’s Recipe for Success- for Cyanobacteria
Check it out . It worked great for me. All beneficial bacteria. No antibiotic

You have a link???

 

[ReefHomieJon]

You have a link???

 

[ReefHomieJon]

And shout out Dr. Tim. If you call his personal number, he’ll pick up the phone and answer whatever questions you have personally. I met dude at reefapalooza ‘19 in Anaheim. Him and his wife are real down to earth. Fast forward 11months and I call the number on his website for product info. One of the options is “for Dr. Tim, press 3” or whatever number. Dr. Tim answers in 2 rings lol. He helped me out and then Im like dont you get tired of answering the same types of questions all the time? He said “NOPE, it’s my job” lol

 

[bitwise]

Happy to report that with weekly 5 gallon water changes using a gravel vac (43 gallon tank), plus a few drops of MB7 a day, I’m seeing a dramatic reduction in cyano. It’s taken 3-4 weeks to get here but I’m seeing about 5-10% of the cyano as before. It’s actually looking like I might beat this with just this regimen.

One thing to note is that I’m seeing less and less particulate matter get sucked up as I use the gravel vac each week.

 

[Reef and Dive]

This review i did some time ago might help you find some answers. Check your exact N : P ratio when you can, lower ratios might promote cianos like Oscillatoria...

Redfield Ratio Revisited – What are we doing wrong?

Paulo Mallard Scaldaferri, João Carlos Basso, Marcos Augusto Bizeto, Miguel Mies, Roberto Denadai, Junio Melo Introduction Possible applications of the Redfield ratio in the management of the marine aquarium have been discussed over the year. Many have considered that knowledge very helpful...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Zerobytes]

This review i did some time ago might help you find some answers. Check your exact N : P ratio when you can, lower ratios might promote cianos like Oscillatoria...

Redfield Ratio Revisited – What are we doing wrong?

Paulo Mallard Scaldaferri, João Carlos Basso, Marcos Augusto Bizeto, Miguel Mies, Roberto Denadai, Junio Melo Introduction Possible applications of the Redfield ratio in the management of the marine aquarium have been discussed over the year. Many have considered that knowledge very helpful...

www.reef2reef.com

I tried all the usual suspects, gave up, doubled NO3 to about 18 and it went way in 2-3 weeks. I now keep it higher than it was when the cyano hit. I don’t know what the ratio is but I’m a big believer that there is one..

 

[Reef and Dive]

I tried all the usual suspects, gave up, doubled NO3 to about 18 and it went way in 2-3 weeks. I now keep it higher than it was when the cyano hit. I don’t know what the ratio is but I’m a big believer that there is one..

5 : 1 or lower strongly favors ciano
20 : 1 or higher favors green algae, diatoms, dinos

When both are low ciano could be favored due to its capacity to fix gaseous nitrogen and get bound phosphate from rocks or substrate.

Another idea could be cautiously refreshing that substrate that could have some phosphate in it.