Last Call Before Tearing Down Tank

[incloud design]

Hey everyone I've been dealing with what I believe is Cyanobacteria for about 2 months now and have tried every remedy known online and four days ago resorted to Chemi-Clean and it still comes back full bore with the slightest bit of light. I've gone as far as a 300 gallon (100%) water change and even built a new mixing station with additional RODI/Carbon/GFO units to double filter all my mixing water. Blacked out for 4 days, siphoned for days. blew it out five or six times a day, nothing. I'm hoping someone has a last resort or I'm tearing it down and done with the hobby for a while. In the past 8 months I've dumped over $8000 into this on top of the 10 years I've been doing it and have decided that as much as I love my tanks it's a never ending battle and bottomless money pit. Any suggestions are welcome but I'm pretty well convinced I've tried everything that's ever been posted here. Thanks in advance for any and all help with this.

ATTN: Everything tests with Hanna testers to stable levels and all coral except a Kenya are healthy.

 

[brandon429]

Pull the sandbed altogether

Fix the Cyano

Then put back a rinsed clean bed

 

[incloud design]

Pull the sandbed altogether

Fix the Cyano

Then put back a rinsed clean bed

Yuck, siphon it all I'd imagine and I may just go bare bottom and try it out. I'm wondering if my 150 gallon sump in the basement could be the problem. It's not a poured basement and gets kind of funky down there.

 

[Triggreef]

Get it in the sump too? Light on 24 hrs on the sump? Is it in the bed only or the rocks too? Banded trochus do pretty well at cleaning up cyano btw. In large numbers. But obviously won't help with the sand bed. But a bunch of fighting conchs would.

 

[Triggreef]

Also don't blow it, that just spreads it around. Siphon it out during water changes. Use a small 3/8 line so you get plenty of siphon but not enough to drain too much water before getting the job done.

 

[incloud design]

Get it in the sump too? Light on 24 hrs on the sump? Is it in the bed only or the rocks too? Banded trochus do pretty well at cleaning up cyano btw. In large numbers. But obviously won't help with the sand bed. But a bunch of fighting conchs would.

I have no sand in the sump and have been going with no light for some time. It's sand and rocks that have Cyano and I have around 2 dozen Trochus and a pair of Fighting Conch in my Reefer 450. But I haven't seen Cyano in the sump. I'm wondering if the light coming into my living room is causing it. It's not direct light but certainly bright in my living room.

 

[Neilth1]

don't give up

 

[incloud design]

Also don't blow it, that just spreads it around. Siphon it out during water changes. Use a small 3/8 line so you get plenty of siphon but not enough to drain too much water before getting the job done.

Unfortunately I have been blowing it and filtering it out. I had the lights off for 4 days and cardboard wrapped around it and it was gone. Turned the lights on and within a couple hours was back. Now it's all over again and I put in Chemi-Clean 3 days ago. i'm leaving the lights off again while i think.

 

[brandon429]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

Just posting this to show works to draw examples from
I don't think we have a 300 but the biology is scalable just the same, helps to at least consider options

 

[incloud design]

don't give up

Chances are that's not an option.

 

[Triggreef]

Put a nice red LED light on your sump, 24 hrs a day. You'll never have issue in your tank anymore. Also throw a couple live rock chunks in there and some macro. Let it take off. It will be night and day for you.

 

[incloud design]

Here's my fish room. I'm thinking about running the Reefer independent with the sump it came with and just use all my equipment for water changes.

 

[incloud design]

Put a nice red LED light on your sump, 24 hrs a day. You'll never have issue in your tank anymore. Also throw a couple live rock chunks in there and some macro. Let it take off. It will be night and day for you.

Already have it as you can see above.

 

[Triggreef]

I have no sand in the sump and have been going with no light for some time. It's sand and rocks that have Cyano and I have around 2 dozen Trochus and a pair of Fighting Conch in my Reefer 450. But I haven't seen Cyano in the sump. I'm wondering if the light coming into my living room is causing it. It's not direct light but certainly bright in my living room.

If I remember I'll take a picture of my tank tomorrow in the afternoon sun. Then I'll take a picture of the nastiness in my sump and you'll see what I mean. The bad stuff will grow the most where it is the easiest to grow. Right now, that is your tank instead of your sump. Make it your sump instead by giving ideal conditions.

 

[Triggreef]

I have no sand in the sump and have been going with no light for some time.

Already have it as you can see above.

I'm confused I guess.

 

[incloud design]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

Just posting this to show works to draw examples from
I don't think we have a 300 but the biology is scalable just the same, helps to at least consider options

So you think I should leave the lights on over the sump? I was leaving them on 24 hrs. but thought i may be adding to it so started turning them off. And I can't run my skimmer now due to the Chemi-Clean.

 

[incloud design]

I'm confused I guess.

The red light over the sump. And Macro is growing in the sump is what I meant.

 

[Triggreef]

So you think I should leave the lights on over the sump? I was leaving them on 24 hrs. but thought i may be adding to it so started turning them off. And I can't run my skimmer now due to the Chemi-Clean.

So You have macro in the Big rubbermaid tub? Yes I would leave that light on 24hrs. Full blast. What is the condition of it now? If you have it off, is the algae dying off in there? That could be fueling your problems.

 

[incloud design]

So You have macro in the Big rubbermaid tub? Yes I would leave that light on 24hrs. Full blast. What is the condition of it now? If you have it off, is the algae dying off in there? That could be fueling your problems.

I turned it on and will let it run 24 hours for ever, lol. And yeah when i turn it off the sump clears out of algae.

 

[biophilia]

What is your NO3 and PO4 at currently? Might be worth letting them elevate a little rather than working to strip them so that other algae species are better able to out-compete the cyano... and making sure you're not stripping the tank of some other limiting nutrient that would keep something like diatoms or the like from growing in place of the cyano.