Cyano due to low alkalinity? New with dosing

[Nadiaa]

So, I have what I believe is Cyano. Both brownish and very reddish/purple in color.
The aquarium have been up and running for almost 5 weeks. I have a few fish, and yesterday I added 3 small corals.
The parameters have been fine since day 1 (used live rocks from a established aquarium and live sand).

My parameters for today (all test kits are Salifert, except kh/alkalinity which is Red Sea)

Ammonia = 0-<0,15
Magnesium = 1200
Phosphate = 0
Nitrate = 1
Nitrite = 0,025
PH = 8-8,15
Calcium = 420
Kh/Alkalinity = 6.7 dKH

I have read that Cyano loves low Alkalinity. In my Red Sea test kit I have a bottle so I can increase the alkalinity. Should I do that?
Any other advices?

 

[Timfish]

Cyano likes any kind of disruption to an ecosystem. Do your water changes, add easy corals to compete with nuisance algae and promote microbiomes favorable to corals, and keep an eye on pH, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. FWIW, I use steel straws to siphon off nuisance stuff when I do water changes (5%-10% weekly max). Here's some stuff you may find informative.


This article might help you understand what maricultured live rock does.

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/estab...obiome-in-a-new-aquarium-using-live-rock.742/

Reef ecosystems are arguably the most complex ecosystems on the planet and lots of researchers are still trying to figure out how they work. Here's some links you may find useful to understand better what is giong on in your system.

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Microbial view of Coral Decline


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)


Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching


DNA Sequencing and the Reef Tank Microbiome


Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

 

[Nadiaa]

Okay, i have really been trying, the last week, to find out why I have cyano or dinos in my tank. It have gotten much worse. It is not on my corals, but there are bubbles on them now (on the brown stuff), but ONLY on my dead rocks (Carib sea shapes), not my live rocks.
I can understand that it often comes when there is a imbalance between Nitrate and Phosphate. And I can have too much nutrients or too little nutrients in the water.

Today I have measured 0 phosphate and nitrate is still 1 and alkalinity still 6.7 dKH. (Salifert test kits and Red Sea for Alkalinity)
So, am I correct in the following: This means I do not have enough nutrients in the tank, and I need to feed more? And maybe not be running the skimmer as much?

I feed about 1 cube of frozen food pr day or pellets once a day. I have 10 snails (Bumblebee snails and Nassarius Snails), 7 fish, 1 hermit crab and one peppermint shrimp.
I use the equipment that came with the AIO Red Sea Max e170 tank.

I have ordered following hanna checkers: Phosphate URL, Nitrate RH and Alkalinity dKH, hoping to get a more accurate test result.

I have also ordered the sump upgrade from Red Sea, but would it be a bad idea to install it now, so that I will add about 40 liters new water to the system, when the nutrients are low?

 

[Nadiaa]

Please anybody

 

[Nadiaa]

Should I remove my REEF-SPEC Carbon bag?

 

[ryanjohn1]

Slow down. It is a very young tank.

 

[ryanjohn1]

You could add some good bacteria mb7 or something like that and do a 3 day lights out.

 

[Kmst80]

I thought cyano comes on when you have not enough flow.
Don't leave your phosphates on 0, could be that your new dead rock is sucking it all up, once saturated your phosphates will go up. Nitrates are a bit low too. I aim for Nitrate 10-20 and phosphate 0.1-0.2, mixed reef tank.
I would raise Alk slowly to around 8 and your Magnesium is low, get that up to at least 1340. Low magnesium can stuff up your Alk/Calcium

 

[Kmst80]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

This is a good read about Alk/Calcium/ Magnesium Relationship by Randy.

 

[Dan_P]

So, I have what I believe is Cyano. Both brownish and very reddish/purple in color.
The aquarium have been up and running for almost 5 weeks. I have a few fish, and yesterday I added 3 small corals.
The parameters have been fine since day 1 (used live rocks from a established aquarium and live sand).

My parameters for today (all test kits are Salifert, except kh/alkalinity which is Red Sea)

Ammonia = 0-<0,15
Magnesium = 1200
Phosphate = 0
Nitrate = 1
Nitrite = 0,025
PH = 8-8,15
Calcium = 420
Kh/Alkalinity = 6.7 dKH

I have read that Cyano loves low Alkalinity. In my Red Sea test kit I have a bottle so I can increase the alkalinity. Should I do that?
Any other advices?

Many of the reasons for why cyanobacteria grow are probably nonsense. I suspect some explanations persist only because they are popular myths or fit with belief systems. What you are experiencing is a normal for a new aquarium.

A new aquarium is perfect for generating a photosynthetic mess. Strong light, clean surfaces, plenty of nutrients and no predators. There is also an element of chance involved. When and with what the aquarium is inoculated will have an influence on what grows. Every living thing you place in the aquarium brings with it microorganisms. How those microorganism grow and which ones dominate at which time depends on a mind boggling number of interactions. No one thing likely determines the growth of one particular species, and that is why many reasons for the appearance of cyanobacteria are likely nonsense.

Another issue is that unless the orgainism is identified with the aid of a microscope, there is a good chance that its identity is incorrect and the treatment applied is useless. And a word on treatments. They are not the equivalent to modern a medicine treatment for humans but more like the ones during the time when bleeding the patient was viewed as a reasonable cure for everything.

What can you do? Nothing is always an option but most aquarist like to take action. This forum is good for finding out what other folks are doing. Even though the treatments might be useless, you will get a sense for which ones will not destroy the aquarium. My approach is to do nothing and when I get nervous, remove the growth as best as I can until it stops growing. Fixing an aquarium issue seems to be a personal choice, not a purely objective, data driven decision.

Good luck with your new aquarium.

By the way, blue pictures are nearly useless for identifying anything. Photos under white light are a must.

 

[Nadiaa]

Thank you all for your answers.
These pictures are from today, only with white light.

I think I have both Cyano and Dinos. Cyano on my liverock and Dinos on the other rocks and sand. OR it could be because of silikat in my RODI water. My tab water measures 640 µS and my RODI water 14 µS :/ If my microsiemens reader is correct.
I have ordered a silicate test kit from Salifert, so hopefully I can found out.

 

[Pistondog]

You can blow it off the rocks if it bothers you. Wait a few weeks. As others have said, this is what happens to a new tank.

 

[Dan_P]

Thank you all for your answers.
These pictures are from today, only with white light.

I think I have both Cyano and Dinos. Cyano on my liverock and Dinos on the other rocks and sand. OR it could be because of silikat in my RODI water. My tab water measures 640 µS and my RODI water 14 µS :/ If my microsiemens reader is correct.
I have ordered a silicate test kit from Salifert, so hopefully I can found out.

Using a turkey baster or siphon hose, vacuum the cyanobacteria from the rocks. No point in being aggravated by the red slime. Also, consider adding to your weekly maintenance routine “blowing” off the rocks. Their rough surface collects organic material which can provide a good source of nutrients for pesky microorganisms, especially in new systems.

The golden sand shouldn’t go undisturbed (unpunished!!) If none of your animals are rooting around in the sand, consider taking over by raking it daily. Disturb this habitat which seems to have become a banquet hall for dinoflagellates. And just thinking out loud and definitely not suggesting a cure, when circulation is weak in an aquarium more organic matter can settle on the sand before being filtered. A decent flow of water would help prevent this and in general would be beneficial for everything living in the aquarium. As point of reference, I adjust my two power head speeds to the point where anymore flow would start creating sand dunes.

 

[markron]

So, I have what I believe is Cyano. Both brownish and very reddish/purple in color.
The aquarium have been up and running for almost 5 weeks. I have a few fish, and yesterday I added 3 small corals.
The parameters have been fine since day 1 (used live rocks from a established aquarium and live sand).

My parameters for today (all test kits are Salifert, except kh/alkalinity which is Red Sea)

Ammonia = 0-<0,15
Magnesium = 1200
Phosphate = 0
Nitrate = 1
Nitrite = 0,025
PH = 8-8,15
Calcium = 420
Kh/Alkalinity = 6.7 dKH

I have read that Cyano loves low Alkalinity. In my Red Sea test kit I have a bottle so I can increase the alkalinity. Should I do that?
Any other advices?
Chain Like Fence Installer

I have looked down every path and this seems to make the most sense... My alk 5.5-6 and I have cyano (bad cyano.) Can this with low levels of nitrate and phosphate create a cyano outbreak? I have tried Phosban, vodka for 3 weeks and I skim like crazy, and top off with ro/di with a tds of 1. Will raising the alk help get the cyano out? The rest of the tank it doing well and no matter what I will raise it, I just hope this is the end. Thanks

 

[I never finish anythi]

You already have very low nutrients. I would no recommend dosing vodka this could be feeding the cyano . Just stop everything let the tank mature and be patient. Maybe increase the flow and reduce the lights if possible.