I have a mixed reef tank. Fish, lps, ricordia, and zoas. The past 4 weeks my lps have been struggling. Duncans are shrinking and zoas are only half open. I tested my water and had my lfs teat as well. 78 degrees. Ammonia and nitrites are zero. Nitrates are at 8 and phosphates are almost unreadable. But calcium is over 600 and alk is 8. I have a ton of cyanobacteria on the bed I'm treating with chemiclean. Corals were struggling prior to chemiclean. Filtration is filter sock (changed weekly), chemipure elite (removed a week ago when started dosing chemiclean) and a ton of cheato in the fuge. The fuge is packed with cheato and I need to give it a good pruning. I have done a 50% water change over the past 2 weeks. I dose with sea blocks so I think that is why my calcium is so high. Would the high calcium and alk negatively impact my corals? Or the cheato pulling too many nutrients from the water? But if that is the case why do I have cyano? Not sure what to do.
Corals struggling
- Thread starter NWatt
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High calcium of 600 can upset the corals.
I think there is a little more going on here.
Maybe too much of the good stuff.
You know LPS and softies like dirty tanks so a bit high on the Po4 will help you and it will help you battle the cyano as well.
Cyano is a sign of poor water balance.
Why not just do every other day a 5 gallon water change for the next 2 weeks and dose some regular bacteria.
Take a way the chemi thingies.
If you know for sure it's cyano you can use a oxidizer as in H2O2, but you got to test for cyano first.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cyanobacteria-lets-break-it-down-pure-erythromycin-study.288640/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/positive-identification-of-cyanobacteria.253287/
I think there is a little more going on here.
Maybe too much of the good stuff.
You know LPS and softies like dirty tanks so a bit high on the Po4 will help you and it will help you battle the cyano as well.
Cyano is a sign of poor water balance.
Why not just do every other day a 5 gallon water change for the next 2 weeks and dose some regular bacteria.
Take a way the chemi thingies.
If you know for sure it's cyano you can use a oxidizer as in H2O2, but you got to test for cyano first.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cyanobacteria-lets-break-it-down-pure-erythromycin-study.288640/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/positive-identification-of-cyanobacteria.253287/
Good advice from Diesel, I followed the same advice and cyano is gone. To much flow causes my zoas to close up, I had alot of flow trying to rid cyano, so cutting my flow down helped on them. In addition I vacuum siphon my gravel with water exchanges.
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