- Joined
- Jul 19, 2019
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Hello guys!
I have had to struggle the last three weeks with some nuisance bacteria. It all began when I changed up my aqua scape a bit and added some new Marco rock. My nutrients where relatively low for the last couple months.
PO4 was always between 0.012 and 0.031 ppm and Nitrates from 2-3 ppm. It was all fine I had only very little algae and the corals were very happy. A good three weeks ago some cyano showed up on my sand bed. I added a power head aiming at the corner where the cyano was growing. That didn’t help though. The patch got bigger and I noticed some bubbles and brownish slime on the new rocks and a bit on the sand bed. I reduced the lighting intensity a bit and made the schedule 1 hour shorter. I tested for PO4 and it turned out to be 0. Tested with the Hanna Phosphorus ULR Checker. I was feeding pretty heavy before and decided to increase further. I put a timer on the skimmer so it only runs 12 hours a day now. The cyano kept growing and the days after that I still tested 0 on PO4. I decided to dose PO4 to raise it. I began with a very conservative dose and upped it every day because I kept testing 0 PO4. Yesterday I added 10ml phosphate solution which should rise the PO4 in my tank by 0.075. I tested today, 24 hours later and it was still 0.
I could imagine the cyano taking up a lot and therefore restrict PO4. I also skipped one water change as I do one every week because I heard the trace elements would further fuel dinos and strip nutrients. I also tested for Nitrate and it showed ~8,5 today. So the Nitrates increased, but phosphate stayed at zero. I am really scratching my head right now as I think they constitute another. The cyano stripping out the nutrients so the dinos can spread. What do you think? What should I do next? Should I keep increasing the phosphate dosage? I can see the dinos are getting a little bit better on the rocks, but not sure on the substrate. The cyanos keep getting worse.
I would really appreciate any advice that could help me out a little.
btw. I am not and have never been running any GFO. Just some carbon and a skimmer.
I have had to struggle the last three weeks with some nuisance bacteria. It all began when I changed up my aqua scape a bit and added some new Marco rock. My nutrients where relatively low for the last couple months.
PO4 was always between 0.012 and 0.031 ppm and Nitrates from 2-3 ppm. It was all fine I had only very little algae and the corals were very happy. A good three weeks ago some cyano showed up on my sand bed. I added a power head aiming at the corner where the cyano was growing. That didn’t help though. The patch got bigger and I noticed some bubbles and brownish slime on the new rocks and a bit on the sand bed. I reduced the lighting intensity a bit and made the schedule 1 hour shorter. I tested for PO4 and it turned out to be 0. Tested with the Hanna Phosphorus ULR Checker. I was feeding pretty heavy before and decided to increase further. I put a timer on the skimmer so it only runs 12 hours a day now. The cyano kept growing and the days after that I still tested 0 on PO4. I decided to dose PO4 to raise it. I began with a very conservative dose and upped it every day because I kept testing 0 PO4. Yesterday I added 10ml phosphate solution which should rise the PO4 in my tank by 0.075. I tested today, 24 hours later and it was still 0.
I could imagine the cyano taking up a lot and therefore restrict PO4. I also skipped one water change as I do one every week because I heard the trace elements would further fuel dinos and strip nutrients. I also tested for Nitrate and it showed ~8,5 today. So the Nitrates increased, but phosphate stayed at zero. I am really scratching my head right now as I think they constitute another. The cyano stripping out the nutrients so the dinos can spread. What do you think? What should I do next? Should I keep increasing the phosphate dosage? I can see the dinos are getting a little bit better on the rocks, but not sure on the substrate. The cyanos keep getting worse.
I would really appreciate any advice that could help me out a little.
btw. I am not and have never been running any GFO. Just some carbon and a skimmer.
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