My wife picked up a 7.5 gallon all-in-one for $100. It came with rocks, sand, three small clownfish, lights, a few snails, and a pump. Even though it was in poor, poor condition (lots of GHA), there were three corals that actually survived (I did not know this at the time since they were obscured by GHA). I can't actually believe there was anything alive in the tanks since it smelled like cigarette smoke inside and out!
Anyway, after cleaning off as much GHA as I could, washing and rinsing the rocks and sand, and several water changes, the GHA is gone. Now, I have a terrible cyanobacteria outbreak. I run a small skimmer, but I can't seem to get the cyano to go away. I tried come ChemiClean, but that only served to tick off the corals. I assumed that the issue was leaching phosphates and nitrates from the rock, but when I tested I actually have zero phosphates and 1-3 ppm nitrates.
How do you guys control cyanobacteria? I have the circulating pump operating at full speed (it's a DC pump...very unexpected for a tank of this size), but even the smallest powerheads I have turn the tank into an aquatic cyclone.
I have a nice 125 gallon reef with a 55 gallon sump, so I'm used to being able to do more things with a tank than I can with an all-in-one of this size. I'm kind of at a loss, but even though I don't like how the tank looks, the corals are loving life right about now.
Thoughts?
Anyway, after cleaning off as much GHA as I could, washing and rinsing the rocks and sand, and several water changes, the GHA is gone. Now, I have a terrible cyanobacteria outbreak. I run a small skimmer, but I can't seem to get the cyano to go away. I tried come ChemiClean, but that only served to tick off the corals. I assumed that the issue was leaching phosphates and nitrates from the rock, but when I tested I actually have zero phosphates and 1-3 ppm nitrates.
How do you guys control cyanobacteria? I have the circulating pump operating at full speed (it's a DC pump...very unexpected for a tank of this size), but even the smallest powerheads I have turn the tank into an aquatic cyclone.
I have a nice 125 gallon reef with a 55 gallon sump, so I'm used to being able to do more things with a tank than I can with an all-in-one of this size. I'm kind of at a loss, but even though I don't like how the tank looks, the corals are loving life right about now.
Thoughts?