Need to get rid of cyano without using chemicals

rhostam

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I had a terrible outbreak in mine which I briefly documented in my build thread. I took the advice of others despite not being convinced. Over several weeks:
  1. Increased flow. I noticed that one side of the tank was more impacted than the other. Increasing the flow did help, but I could only make small changes without blowing LPS too harshly.
  2. I reducing feeding. I use an @AVAST Marine plank feeder. It is awesome for keeping food in the water column. But I wondered if I feed too much. I reduced feeding by about 30 seconds per day. I saw an additional improvement in the reduction of cyano. But it was still there. The small patches that did remain thickened by a large magnitude.
  3. Finally, I added an appropriately sized and diverse CUC to augment the crew transferred from my smaller AIO. This is where I noticed the biggest difference. The crew was always on the mats and over time the mats started to loosen their hold. But I never observed them eating anything while on the mats so I began to get discouraged. But over a period of a few more weeks the cyano was gone.
Was it the increased flow that helped over time?

Was it the decrease in nutrients due to change in feeding regimen that eventually allowed the system to reach some tipping point?

Was it the CUC stirring up the sand that allowed the cyano to lose its grip and break apart?

Was it the CUC actually eating the cyano?

Who knows?

These are all practices that together seem to work.

I have used ChemiClean in my old AIO as a final resort. It worked just fine when I followed the instructions to the T.

Why did the charges I made in my new tank work when they didn’t in the AIO?

I don’t know.

But I’m glad it did because at least for now it means that conditions aren’t favorable for cyano and that’s why it’s gone. Not because I dosed something that would take care of it while still ignoring the underlying conditions that helped it take hold and thrive in the first place.
 

Coralsdaily

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Oh man I used to use chemical clean, it worked like a charm but then the side effect of not able to skim for few days backlash the nutrient level and caused my problem to prolong. In the last few years whenever I have Canó outbreaks I just do small water change daily instead of massive at once (daily 5g change is now my standard practice). And reduce feeding, sometimes even fast the fish for a few Days. Oh and if it’s on your sand, having sand sifters like goby or cucumber helps a lot too
 

gbroadbridge

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I have a cyano outbreak on the sand and one rock in my 40g breeder. Nitrates and Phosphates got super low and I think that’s what set it off. No changes to flow, etc. Tank is thriving and I’m hesitant to use something like Chemiclean. My alk dropped to 6.2 due to a dosing pump problem but that’s been fixed and the corals weren’t affected. What can I do to get rid of this stuff. Again, not due to excess nutrients. Thanks!!
More flow and vacuum out what you can see each day.

Add a couple of Strombus snails.

It'll solve itself.
 
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Thanks everyone. I’ve been manually removing it but it keeps coming back. I think my gyre position was off and that was part of the problem. I cleaned it yesterday and when I put it back in the tank, the flow to the cyano areas was much better. I do daily water changes already, so that helps. I did break down and do one dose of Vibrant, and it really irritated my SPS, so I’m not going to use it again. I’ve learned that you can do more damage trying to fix a problem by doing a lot of different things at once. I’m going to keep an eye on the parameters and see what happens. Does anyone know if Microbacter 7 is easier on corals?
 
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Thanks everyone for your responses! I cleaned my gyre and adjusted the flow, so the areas where the cyano is growing now have good flow. I’ve removed it several times, but it just keeps growing back. I did do one dose of Vibrant, but I lost an SPS right after so I don’t want to use it again. I’m going to try Microbacter-7 now. Does anyone know how I should dose the Microbacter? There’s directions for daily dosing in a “dirty” tank, but my nutrients are fine. I’m going to start with the weekly dose and see what happens. So far, the rest of my corals are fine, and I really don’t want to do anything drastic. I’m afraid to use Chemi-clean or Red Slime Remover. I still need to pick up some sand-sifting snails to help. I’m concerned that the Cyano is spreading, but if it’s not hurting the fish or corals, it seems that any solution might be worse than the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated!
 

dmy535

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I used microbactor 7 and the zeovit Cyano clean + coral snow. Took about 4-6 weeks, but completely gone. I also had low nutrients, so stopped water changes and bumped up phosphate to .06 (previously .02-.04) and got nitrates above 5ppm currently at 10pm and it’s all cleared up!
 

dmy535

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The best part about zeovit, is that it’s not chemicals. It’s a form of bacteria that out competes the Cyano
 
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I used microbactor 7 and the zeovit Cyano clean + coral snow. Took about 4-6 weeks, but completely gone. I also had low nutrients, so stopped water changes and bumped up phosphate to .06 (previously .02-.04) and got nitrates above 5ppm currently at 10pm and it’s all cleared up!
Thanks! How did you dose both?
 

skyrne_isk

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Thanks everyone for your responses! I cleaned my gyre and adjusted the flow, so the areas where the cyano is growing now have good flow. I’ve removed it several times, but it just keeps growing back. I did do one dose of Vibrant, but I lost an SPS right after so I don’t want to use it again. I’m going to try Microbacter-7 now. Does anyone know how I should dose the Microbacter? There’s directions for daily dosing in a “dirty” tank, but my nutrients are fine. I’m going to start with the weekly dose and see what happens. So far, the rest of my corals are fine, and I really don’t want to do anything drastic. I’m afraid to use Chemi-clean or Red Slime Remover. I still need to pick up some sand-sifting snails to help. I’m concerned that the Cyano is spreading, but if it’s not hurting the fish or corals, it seems that any solution might be worse than the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated!
I can hear on the want to avoid chemicals train, but I dose chemiclean every 3-4 months if/when they pop up and no problems at all. And I’ve got plenty of sensitive stuff - mag nem, gigantea, SPS. Never a problem. And work super well whenever my N drops too low.
 
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I think I’m going to give Microbacter Clean a try. I’ve been reading up on it.
 

Lovefish77

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I have honestly tried to raise nutrients, lower nutrients, lower the light and nothing seems to work.

I am skeptical of using chrmickean as I never used any medications in as my tank ever.

Running out of options here.
 

Jekyl

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I have honestly tried to raise nutrients, lower nutrients, lower the light and nothing seems to work.

I am skeptical of using chrmickean as I never used any medications in as my tank ever.

Running out of options here.
Those imbalances are what cause cyano.
 

Jekyl

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Cyano is there inspite of them I would say. What would you recommend? No meds
FWIW dosing live phyto, stopping nopox and keeping things stable got rid of my cyano and algae
 

Lovefish77

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FWIW dosing live phyto, stopping nopox and keeping things stable got rid of my cyano and algae
I dont dose noppx. Like dosing this you mean?
 

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If the Cyano only occurs in a certain spot on the sand, you may have something in the sand decaying. The simple fix there is to vacuum the sand in that area.

If it pops up here and there then it usually means there is enough dissolved organic carbon to feed it. Reducing the DOC is a start. Water changes, skimming wetter, and using GAC and changing it often can help. Another way to quickly remove organic load in a tank is to create a solution of calcium carbonate and dose it right after sucking out the Cyano. It will bind a lot of organic matter and is removed by filter socks, mats, and filter floss. It might skim out also, but I'm not sure. Mixing MB7 (or another of the bacteria in a bottle products) with this solution right before dosing may also help establish another bacteria strain on the freshly cleaned substrate. That may eventually outcompete the Cyano. Look at threads started by @SunnyX for better explanation of the process. I use this process during water changes.
 

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