75 gal saltwater reef tank cyano problem?

[Shaedonj]

My tank has been set up for almost two years now and just recently started with the red bloom i’m not sure what kind it is or if it’s something i need to worry about but i’ve siphoned daily and did a water of 25 percent and it keeps coming back any ideas?

 

[Rjukan]

Whats your nitrate and phosphate values?

 

[Shaedonj]

Whats your nitrate and phosphate values?

I appreciate replying to my post i’ve been stressing about it and i ran out of test strips for phosphate im going to go pick some up in a few but the nitrate nitrite levels are barely above zero and other levels seems normal. i have one power head in the tank as well maybe it’s due to little movement in the water?

 

[Rjukan]

From what I've read, cyano will develop when nutrients are near, or at zero. Definitely increase flow if it is low, cyano likes low flow. If you increase flow and nutrients you should see it start to disappear. I'm not an expert though lol, so take my advice with a grain of salt :)

 

[Uncle99]

Very minor if it is Cyano, just a dusting I see.
Syphon that off and first check to see if nutrients or other parameters out of whack.

You need nitrate and phosphate to feed those things which keep our rocks clean and sand white.

Ensure nitrate is 3-20ppm and phosphate .1-.2ppm and they stay there week over week, no rise, no fall.

Phosphate can’t be tested with strips.
Only test I know works well consistently is the Hanna for this important test.

At 2 years, you should not see pest stuff assuming chemistry remained stable. Its appearance is may telling that either nutrient levels are too high, or in your system maybe too low.

The system looks very clean for 2 years.

 

[Shaedonj]

From what I've read, cyano will develop when nutrients are near, or at zero. Definitely increase flow if it is low, cyano likes low flow. If you increase flow and nutrients you should see it start to disappear. I'm not an expert though lol, so take my advice with a grain of salt :)

apparently my local fish store is out of strips so i have no way of knowing unless i order some but what’s your thoughts on api marine algae fix i’ve seen some say its wonderful while others say it’s the worst thing on the planet

 

[Rjukan]

apparently my local fish store is out of strips so i have no way of knowing unless i order some but what’s your thoughts on api marine algae fix i’ve seen some say its wonderful while others say it’s the worst thing on the planet

No, not needed at all.. just up the flow and wait until you can get nitrate and phosphate tested. You can even bring a water sample to a lfs and most of them will test it for you.

 

[Seansea]

Ita just cyano. Like others stated just clean it up the flow if possible and if it persists just chemiclean it.

 

[Shaedonj]

apparently my local fish store is out of strips so i have no way of knowing unless i order some but what’s your thoughts on api marine algae fix i’ve seen some say its wonderful while others say it’s the worst thing on the planet

No, not needed at all.. just up the flow and wait until you can get nitrate and phosphate tested. You can even bring a water sample to a lfs and most of them will test it for you.

unfortunately that’s my issue i have to travel 6 hours to the nearest lfs and i just tested the phosphate and that’s definitely the issue i believe at a .3 any recommendations and ideas besides what you’ve already stated?

 

[Rjukan]

6 hours!! Oof I'm sorry..
I wouldn't get too worried with it just yet. It's just a dusting and I bet if you get a gyre pump setup on one of the sides of your tank you will see a lot of improvement. Except it might blow your sand around a bit if it's a fine grade.

 

[Shaedonj]

so you recommend more movement? and it’s fairly fine grade but it might be necessary and should i cut back on feeding? i feed once a day with pellets in short bursts for 5 minutes then i do frozen food through a turkey baster which they seem to enjoy more i just recently started the frozen so could that be another reason?

 

[Shaedonj]

so you recommend more movement? and it’s fairly fine grade but it might be necessary and should i cut back on feeding? i feed once a day with pellets in short bursts for 5 minutes then i do frozen food through a turkey baster which they seem to enjoy more i just recently started the frozen so could that be another reason?

and this is the other power head i have i just figured it was too powerful for a 75

 

[Dan_P]

My tank has been set up for almost two years now and just recently started with the red bloom i’m not sure what kind it is or if it’s something i need to worry about but i’ve siphoned daily and did a water of 25 percent and it keeps coming back any ideas?

Thinking about your issue. I noticed that there does not seem to be much growing on the rock surfaces after two years. I see a small amount of coralline on the sides but rocks look relatively new. Any thoughts on this situation?

 

[Shaedonj]

Thinking about your issue. I noticed that there does not seem to be much growing on the rock surfaces after two years. I see a small amount of coralline on the sides but rocks look relatively new. Any thoughts on this situation?

the rock bundle in the middle has been there for almost the duration of the tank and the bigger one on the right was added not too long ago, i’ve been snipping at some coral and the zenias for frags and i try to take a turkey baster every day and clean the rocks from algae but this has continued lately are you saying that it could be the lack of organisms on the rocks?

 

[Dan_P]

the rock bundle in the middle has been there for almost the duration of the tank and the bigger one on the right was added not too long ago, i’ve been snipping at some coral and the zenias for frags and i try to take a turkey baster every day and clean the rocks from algae but this has continued lately are you saying that it could be the lack of organisms on the rocks?

I thought the aquarium looked too new, lacking in surface growth, for being two years old. I am not saying there is a connection with the cyanobacteria growth, but let’s chalk up this observation to something else that is occurring in the system.

Adding a new rock would likely result in the new rock surface developing nuisance algae but I would not think that it would result in nuisance algae growth in the rest of the system.