Is this Cyano or Dino?

[Jonas Bergkvist]

Is this Cyano or Dino?

My tank is 4 months old and lately that pink slime thing (has bubbles under the slime) has increased on the sand bed. I have added some more flow to see if that helps. I change water each week and try to remove as much as i can, but it is back pretty much next day.

Would carbon help to reduce it? Can i run my tank without light even if i have two Bubble Tip Anemones, because i heard it will help getting rid of the Cyano. Do i need to reduce Nitrate and maybe increase the Phosphate level to have more of a balance? Or maybe i just wait it out and it will die by its own?

I am also running a 40 gallon sump with a Nyos 160 skimmer and Chaeto.

I run my lights on for 9 hours and then there is the moon phase for a couple of hours.

My parameters are:
Nitrate: 3,5 ppm
Phosphate: 0,0 ppm
Ammonia: 0,006 ppm
PH: 7,4 ppm
DKH: 14.1 (i know this is to high but i don't know how to lower it)

 

[Deep]

This is Cyano mostly. I have seen people doing lights out with a BTA and it works okay ( i think for 3 days). Your PH is very low so I would fix that first ( look at aeration), get the alk down with water changes - do all this before you do the lights out.

 

[Jonas Bergkvist]

This is Cyano mostly. I have seen people doing lights out with a BTA and it works okay ( i think for 3 days). Your PH is very low so I would fix that first ( look at aeration), get the alk down with water changes - do all this before you do the lights out.

Thanks, i have now increased my wave pumps to 80%, and this evening i will increase the flow of my return pump from 60% to 80%, i think it could help some for the ph? Other than that how can i increase my ph?

 

[Seadoc]

Agree. Look like cyano, but the only way to be sure is to look under the microscope for the organisms. More There are some beginner/toy microscopes that can help. As @Deep stated, I would look into aeration as the first measure to improve your pH. Is there enough surface water agitation? Do you have a skimmer? Here is an excellent article by Randy Holmes-Farley about low pH http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

I would also look into increasing your phosphates to 0.05ppm and rechecking your Alk. I am not aware of any salts that mix at that level. Are you dosing anything? Can you verify the measurements with a different test?

 

[Jonas Bergkvist]

Agree. Look like cyano, but the only way to be sure is to look under the microscope for the organisms. More There are some beginner/toy microscopes that can help. As @Deep stated, I would look into aeration as the first measure to improve your pH. Is there enough surface water agitation? Do you have a skimmer? Here is an excellent article by Randy Holmes-Farley about low pH http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

I would also look into increasing your phosphates to 0.05ppm and rechecking your Alk. I am not aware of any salts that mix at that level. Are you dosing anything? Can you verify the measurements with a different test?

I will adjust the power heads so that they make the surface agitation better. Yes i have a Nyos 160 skimmer, that i am still learning how to make it skim properly Each time i change water i need to tune it again to get some foam out of it.

I will buy something that will add some Phosphates....

Your are right, now that i think of it i added some pH buffer, that didn't increase my pH anyway, but i didn't know that it would in fact add to the Alk (honestly i didn't read the instructions to carefully lol), but now i will stop dosing it. I only dosed twice.

Maybe i will have to add a Co2 scrubber down the road.

Oh, and about my tests, i tested it twice since i thought too that the reading was to high And thank you for the link!

 

[Reab]

Agree. Look like cyano, but the only way to be sure is to look under the microscope for the organisms. More There are some beginner/toy microscopes that can help. As @Deep stated, I would look into aeration as the first measure to improve your pH. Is there enough surface water agitation? Do you have a skimmer? Here is an excellent article by Randy Holmes-Farley about low pH http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

I would also look into increasing your phosphates to 0.05ppm and rechecking your Alk. I am not aware of any salts that mix at that level. Are you dosing anything? Can you verify the measurements with a different test?

This is 100% caused by your lack of phosphates, you shouldn't have to do lights out unless it is killing corals. Upping the flow may help the cyano break up. If that is not a possibility just blast it with a turkey baster

 

[LeftyReefer]

My tank is about 7 months old. I had a similar red slime covering my sand bed recently and a few days of dosing H202 took care of it. Dosing H202 is easy and relatively safe. I'd give that a try first.

1ml per 10gal is a pretty safe starting point, but I was dosing 1.5-2 ml per 10gal, twice per day.

 

[Seadoc]

I will adjust the power heads so that they make the surface agitation better. Yes i have a Nyos 160 skimmer, that i am still learning how to make it skim properly Each time i change water i need to tune it again to get some foam out of it.

I will buy something that will add some Phosphates....

How old is the skimmer? They usually take a few weeks to break in. My Nyos 120 did not need to be readjusted after water changes once properly tuned.

Be careful of what you add to the system. You can attempt to increase your feeding or reduce your nutrient export until you obtain the right balance.

 

[Jonas Bergkvist]

How old is the skimmer? They usually take a few weeks to break in. My Nyos 120 did not need to be readjusted after water changes once properly tuned.

Be careful of what you add to the system. You can attempt to increase your feeding or reduce your nutrient export until you obtain the right balance.

Hi, my skimmer is a few months old, so i don't think there is a problem with it still breaking in. It's just me who need to learn how to configure it properly. I will try to do it the coming weeks.

So i just read of the internet that Kalkwasser might be the solution i am looking for, it will raise my pH but not the Alkalinity. I will look into buying some, granted this is not the root of the problem which brings me to: Co2 scrubber (or what ever it was called) that will remove almost all Co2 from the air that comes into my skimmer. Do you have any experience in using one? Is it worth getting one?

Edit: i forgot to say that i have no swings in pH night/day. I just checked my Seneye.

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

I found that flow doesn't cure the cyano it helps. But bring Phosphates up and keep nutrients steady and it will leave !

 

[Seadoc]

Before you add Kalkwasser, I would just take a sample of your water and take it outside with an air stone and pump. After an hour of aerating the sample, measure the pH. If you have a higher read, then aeration is your issue and you can solve your pH problem by opening a window and increasing surface agitation. Kalkwasser will increase your alkalinity.

 

[Jonas Bergkvist]

Before you add Kalkwasser, I would just take a sample of your water and take it outside with an air stone and pump. After an hour of aerating the sample, measure the pH. If you have a higher read, then aeration is your issue and you can solve your pH problem by opening a window and increasing surface agitation. Kalkwasser will increase your alkalinity.

Good idea! I will do that!