Brew's 187g slice of the ocean

[NautiTang]

Finally finished the thread. I had to take a break in the middle there while building a bench and moving but i got back to it. It has been one heck of a Rollercoaster ride thats for sure. Sounds like you have a tank upgrade in your future . The kitchen looks good, the tank is breathtaking despite the cyano, and I'm glad to see you got some time off!

 

[Brew12]

Quick video of some pellets being dropped in the tank. Yes, I have no shame for my cyano. #honestyinreefing
I am confident I could clean it up in a week but I’m curious what it does with limited reaction from me.

 

[User1]

Nice video. I have a bit of cyno as well. I know how mine came about or at least believe I do. I used dry Pukani as my base and as you can imagine it takes a long while to mature. I'm at 2 years and on the surface the rock looks amazing. However, a true test of rock maturity and biological filter is to take one of those dry rocks, lift, turn 180 degrees, and look at that piece and see if it compares to what was visible. 9 out of 10 times it doesn't.

Anyway I had a large piece that I thought was breaking flow so I figured either I'd remove it and place in sump, use it as hard scape out in the front yard, or take it out and split it. I split it and even though Pukani is full of nooks and crannies and very porous there was no way for algae and the biological filter to get that far in even in 2 years. Those rocks interesting enough are the ones I'm battling cyno on. As a by product of this I have a few patches elsewhere in the tank when before I didn't. Only thing I can think of is that it is related.

Like you I'm just leaving and watching since I believe in my case it is caused by the mini cycle or exposed new surface. I do take a turkey baster and blow it off every couple of days. Not sure that is wise but its what I do.

Great looking tank though. Just a minor bump is as I view it.

 

[Flippers4pups]

A little cyanobacteria never hurt anyone!

 

[Brew12]

I've been so bad with the updates lately. One of these days I'll get better.

So... I did another CaRx change out. The Skimz CM202 is off of my system and has been replaced with a Reef Octopus CR200.
The Skimz worked great, but over time the cavitation from the CO2 on the pump caused it to get LOUD. And I mean, hear it across the house with doors closed kind of loud. With the design of the pump, I couldn't just replace the impeller. A new pump cost $200+ and I wasn't going to deal with that every few month. Very disappointed.

Anyway, the CR200 is extremely quiet and seems to be doing the job nicely. Still have some work to do to get it dialed in but it is getting there. Of course, it isn't perfect either. I really wanted to have it under my stand, but you can't move the CR200 with media in it and I can't fill it with it under my stand. Still... I'm happy with it overall so far.

 

[Sallstrom]

Leave the Cyanobacteria! But you know me by now. Tell me your NO3 and PO4! Adjusting NO3 and PO4 to get rid of Cyano is probably one of mine favourite things to do... Meassuring is more fun than cleaning sand! And you can drink coffee while doing it

 

[Brew12]

Leave the Cyanobacteria! But you know me by now. Tell me your NO3 and PO4! Adjusting NO3 and PO4 to get rid of Cyano is probably one of mine favourite things to do... Meassuring is more fun than cleaning sand! And you can drink coffee while doing it

You want me to find my test kits? I haven't sampled either of them since 2019.....

I can't get to my sand bed very well anymore. Just a few spots at the front of the tank, but I'm an expert at drinking coffee so I'll continue to work on that. A few conchs or a sand sifting star would probably be wise at this point. I'm a bit hesitant though, because of another potential issue I have in my tank. Apparently, one of the Emerald Crabs I got was not an Emerald Crab. Either that, or they gave this guy steroid shots before they shipped him. He came in at a normal size but he's grown into a monster. I'd say the carapace is a good 3" across. He doesn't seem to be hurting anything, and I haven't lost any fish, so I've just been watching for now. He seems to have found a new hiding spot, because I haven't seen him in a few days and he used to have a hard time hiding. I do worry he would eat any conchs I add to the tank.

I'm guessing my NO3 is bottomed out, or darned close to it and my PO4 is around 0.12ppm. But... maybe I'll dig out the test kits and see what they say.

 

[Brew12]

Tell me your NO3 and PO4! Adjusting NO3 and PO4 to get rid of Cyano is probably one of mine favourite things to do..

Ok.. you inspired me. I knocked the dust off the test kits and t was about as expected. NO3 is 1.5ppm and PO4 is 0.16ppm. I am a bit surprised I even got an NO3 reading.

 

[Victoria M]

That is crazy about the “emerald crab”. Only a matter time though. His new home is probably prime ambush location.
Look at you all testing and stuff.
So what is your fav type of coffee?

 

[Brew12]

That is crazy about the “emerald crab”. Only a matter time though. His new home is probably prime ambush location.
Look at you all testing and stuff.
So what is your fav type of coffee?

Still not sure what type of crab it is. It's claws make it look like an algae eater. It really does look like a giant emerald crab.

As for coffee? Hot, black, and in a cup near me.

 

[Sallstrom]

Ok.. you inspired me. I knocked the dust off the test kits and t was about as expected. NO3 is 1.5ppm and PO4 is 0.16ppm. I am a bit surprised I even got an NO3 reading.

Yes, I would have guessed lower nitrate too. That was a bit tricky.
Aaaanyway, here what I would have done (even if I know you’ll do it your own way).
Start up two dosing pumps to add nitrate and a carbon source. Then aim to stay at 2-3 ppm nitrate while phosphate hopefully slowly decreases. And do nothing else other then keep measuring and adjusting the dosages. And drink coffee.
Or just put in some new phosphate remover, feed a little extra and drink coffee. I’m not sure

 

[ksed]

Yes, I would have guessed lower nitrate too. That was a bit tricky.
Aaaanyway, here what I would have done (even if I know you’ll do it your own way).
Start up two dosing pumps to add nitrate and a carbon source. Then aim to stay at 2-3 ppm nitrate while phosphate hopefully slowly decreases. And do nothing else other then keep measuring and adjusting the dosages. And drink coffee.
Or just put in some new phosphate remover, feed a little extra and drink coffee. I’m not sure

Why add a carbon source if you are trying to elevate NO3?

 

[Zerobytes]

Leave the Cyanobacteria! But you know me by now. Tell me your NO3 and PO4! Adjusting NO3 and PO4 to get rid of Cyano is probably one of mine favourite things to do... Meassuring is more fun than cleaning sand! And you can drink coffee while doing it

Can you please expand on that? I got rid of my cyano by raising NO3. I did the same a good while back with minor Dino’s and thought I would give it a go cyano. Just wondering if I got lucky or there is something to it.

 

[Brew12]

Why add a carbon source if you are trying to elevate NO3?

You elevate NO3 more than your target value and then use the carbon dosing to reduce the excess NO3 along with some PO4.

 

[Brew12]

Can you please expand on that? I got rid of my cyano by raising NO3. I did the same a good while back with minor Dino’s and thought I would give it a go cyano. Just wondering if I got lucky or there is something to it.

Lots of theories, but I can share my thought. First is that having more NO3 helps feed organisms which can out compete cyano. And, there are some strains of cyano that seem to be unable to form mats if NO3 is above 3ppm.

 

[Zerobytes]

Lots of theories, but I can share my thought. First is that having more NO3 helps feed organisms which can out compete cyano. And, there are some strains of cyano that seem to be unable to form mats if NO3 is above 3ppm.

Thanks much. Mine normally runs about 5. I increased to about 15 over 2 weeks or so. And then once was gone I did exactly as you said. I carbon based and water changes to get it back down over 2 weeks.

Heading to the store to buy a lottery ticket.

 

[NautiTang]

I have learned much about nitrate and phosphate ratios/balance in the journey through this thread. Thanks for your mentorship Brew12 and friends. (I think I may even be able to get the checkout, with lookups )

 

[Sallstrom]

Why add a carbon source if you are trying to elevate NO3?

Can you please expand on that? I got rid of my cyano by raising NO3. I did the same a good while back with minor Dino’s and thought I would give it a go cyano. Just wondering if I got lucky or there is something to it.

The nitrate + carbon source would be to keep the nitrate level and decrease the phosphate. A way to decrease the phosphate without using regular remover/GFO. Long term, not as a quick fix.

Some kind of Cyanobacteria do very well in low nutrient water. That much we know. So both too low nitrate and too low phosphate could probably those Cyanobacteria.
Cyanobacteria also do well in unstable and shifting environments. That could be quick changes in temp, nutrients, light etc. They are opportunists and can take over quick when the environment isn't good for more slow growing organisms(the ones we like, corals and coralline algae for example).

So I like to joke about the meassuring and keeping my hands dry "method" for getting rid of Cyano, because so many like to do something greater when they see a problem. Like cleaning the sand or scrubbing the rocks. They want to get in there and do hands on work. But meassuring and slowly adjusting the nutrients is the way we have worked against Cyanobacteria the last 10 years at my work. So for us it works. Not in a week, but over time. Of course together with keeping every thing else we can stable and the water parameters as good as possible.

I've cleaned 1000L tanks in the exhibition twice a week from Cyano back in the days. That was a Sisyfos work, they just kept coming back So I won't go back to that.

There are theories on why Cyanobacteria blooms in low nutrient waters and why they form mats, but I leave that to @Lasse and the other bacteria nerds to explain..

 

[Sallstrom]

Happy Independence Day!

it’s a holiday, and I live in Alabama, so something has to go on the smoker, right?
Brisket flat is today’s choice.
Oh, and remember to call Will Smith if you see any large flying objects today.

At first I though you were making a coffee table out of your Montipora

 

[Brew12]

At first I though you were making a coffee table out of your Montipora

It seemed like such a great idea. Struggling to put it into practice.