Dinos, Cynao, and bad info oh my...

[grr410]

Good evening everyone and Happy Thanksgiving.

So let me first start off my saying that I have been back in the hobby now for about a year, after being out for about 8 years.
About 3 months ago, I started to notice what I thought was cyanobacteria, read some stuff online and decided to try RedSlime. After dosing it, the tank looked amazing, and I thought this solved the issue. Well we all know the story and within a few days/weeks my good friend cyano had returned. I tried balancing out my parameters and felt I was around a stable environment and the cyano would just go away on its own. Well, that didn't happen so I reached out to my LFS about 3 weeks ago and he paid a visit to my home to "inspect" things which cost me a pretty penny. He suggested chemiclean and also convinced me to get rid of my rock for a full overhaul of the tank, which he promised would help me out, new rock scape (which he sold me), additional sand, and dosing bacteria. Yes, I know, I feel like an idiot and am right back to where I was 3 months ago.

After doing some additional reading online, I feel as though I am having a dino issue. Some people say to dose silicates, others say to let it go, I am just so lost and confused I don't know who or what to listen to. My fish are doing great, my torches and zoas are doing well (i think) but my hammers and euphyllia have all closed up.

Sorry for my rambling, I am just extremely frustrated. If anyone could provide any insights that would be extremely helpful. Thank you, my parameters are listed below.

Tank Info:
Red Sea 200XL
Nitrates: 10.6
Phosphates: 0.01 - currently dosing NeoPhos as phosphates were reading zero
Alk: 8.6 - hoping to raise this, as a I am currently switching from Reef Crystals to Red Sea Coral Pro Salt
Salinity: 1.024

Equipement:
2 MP10s
Radion G5
RedSea Reefmat 250
Nyos 120 Skimmer
Vectra S2 Pump
Helios Heater

 

[Cool Fish]

Sorry you're having these issues. It can be very frustrating. I am dealing with a similar Cyano/Dino situation. so I can sympathize. 1 year might not be enough time to let the tank settle in. Don't go trying a lot of different things at once. Try one thing and give it time to work. I might suggest a refugium, if you don't have one. And, LIVE rock. Try to get a bacterial base going. Might also add some copepods. Stay with as much "natural" remedy as you can before using too many chemicals.

 

[grr410]

Sorry you're having these issues. It can be very frustrating. I am dealing with a similar Cyano/Dino situation. so I can sympathize. 1 year might not be enough time to let the tank settle in. Don't go trying a lot of different things at once. Try one thing and give it time to work. I might suggest a refugium, if you don't have one. And, LIVE rock. Try to get a bacterial base going. Might also add some copepods. Stay with as much "natural" remedy as you can before using too many chemicals.

Thank you for this, I am just trying to figure out where to go next steps. I want to see what options are available outside of some quick fix. I changed all the rock out, so I don't want to do that again, but maybe I will add some smaller pieces of live rock and see what happens.

Thanks again and best of luck to you as well.

 

[Cool Fish]

Thank you for this, I am just trying to figure out where to go next steps. I want to see what options are available outside of some quick fix. I changed all the rock out, so I don't want to do that again, but maybe I will add some smaller pieces of live rock and see what happens.

Thanks again and best of luck to you as well.

You're welcome! Right off the bat you might cut back on the lights and feeding. As for the LIVE rock, you don't necessarily need to replace them all, but adding a few pieces could help. Also, maybe more water flow might be in order. Be patient. Good Luck!