Cyano problems

[Speaker]

I have a redsea 750. 6' x 2' x 2' are the rough dimensions. The tank is a year old. Most of the rock is 2yrs old. I have attached the last two weeks of water parameters. For flow I have two mp40s running reefcrest at 70% and two Jebao SOW 15s running at 30-40% on a gyre setting. I am running 3 g5 xr30s for ligting at 55٪. For filtation I have filter socks which are cleaned every 3days, a protein skimmer, and a refugium growing sea lettace and cheato. My problem is the cyano on my sand bed that will not go away. I remove it once a week with a waterchange and it looks like this again in 5days. I have been dosing MB 7 for 2months and have used chemiclean which knocked it out for a while, but it came back. What else can I do?

 

[PeterC99]

Three things got rid of my cyano naturally and I never cleaned any Cyano out of my tank.

1) Strong UV light
2) Started an Oxydator (look for threads on this site)
3) Phytoplankton every other day

Before and after pics (also have since increased the light point intensity by 15% on my Radions - up to 75%)

PO4 .05, NO3 2

 

[skylar]

Get some red leg hermit crab a.k.a dwarf red tip hermit a.k.a mexican red leg or sometimes known as dwarf mexican hermit crabs. They are from Mexico and they don't grow as big, but they kept my tank clean of hair algae, cyanobacteria, etc. They eat any and all types of algae except purple algae.

 

[Speaker]

Three things got rid of my cyano naturally and I never cleaned any Cyano out of my tank.

1) Strong UV light
2) Started an Oxydator (look for threads on this site)
3) Phytoplankton every other day

Before and after pics (also have since increased the light point intensity by 15% on my Radions - up to 75%)

PO4 .05, NO3 2

How large is the oxydator you used? I found some of your posts about it, but the website doesn't give the dimensions. As far as UV is concerned I was not planning on running it. What is dosing phytoplankton supposed to do?

 

[Speaker]

For comparison, the tank looks like this after I vacuum the sand bed. Little cloudy due to wc.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations go haywire. Just like when you eat too much sugar and your waistline starts to bloom, the same happens in your tank when concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.