Nitrates and cyano issues in my macro tank

reddevilant

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So recently I've run into a bit of a cyanobacteria problem. I've kept my nitrates around 20 ppm since I've started the tank as that seems to be the sweet spot for my macros to grow. My most recent reading from the Hanna HR checker was 15 ppm. I had dosed Microbacter7 to fix the diatom bloom I had a few months ago but that ended up working too well and some of my macros began to starve and go translucent as the nitrates dropped so I stopped dosing it. After the diatoms I had a good month or two of a perfectly clean tank until the cyano came in. Any ideas on how to reduce the cyano? Obviously I try to physically take out as much as I can but my trochus snails never seem to finish it off. I've been thinking about adding ceriths but I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions. Thanks!

Parameters:
Nitrates: 15 ppm
Phosphates: ~0.1 ppm (unsure how accurate that is since I used an API kit)
Alk: 11
Ammonia & Nitrites: 0
 

kpoj9

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I’m sure you will get several answers to best ways to remove cyano. I would start with getting a better Phosphate kit. Hannas works great. You need to get your nutrients in check. I would reduce your nitrates with water changes / skimmer to >10. You want some Phosphates. I try to keep mine around 0.05-0.1. To remove cyano I’ve tried several methods…ie Vibrant, Chemiclean, and Dr.Tims Waste Away, manual removals. Chemiclean by far was the fastest and most effective but definitely can strip out all your nutrients so be careful. I’ve also had some success with Dr.Tim’s but its a much, much slower process which in the long run is probably better for your tank.
 

ClownWrangler

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Odd as it may sound, my cyano problems went away with higher nitrates, not lower, but it could just be a coincidence that it coincided with the tank becoming more established. First it was brown algae for a month or two, then cyano for a few months and it just never came back. Higher flow rates help a lot with slime algae and cyano as well because it does not cling well.

If you can figure out how to keep GHA off macro, you are a genius. Please do share.
 

BiggestE222

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Odd as it may sound, my cyano problems went away with higher nitrates, not lower, but it could just be a coincidence that it coincided with the tank becoming more established. First it was brown algae for a month or two, then cyano for a few months and it just never came back. Higher flow rates help a lot with slime algae and cyano as well because it does not cling well.

If you can figure out how to keep GHA off macro, you are a genius. Please do share.
+1 on higher flow. I am a high input high output type. And moved from a sps tank to a mixed reef tank lowered for low on my single MP40 on my 24 cube and brown algae or cyano started to appear. Added a second MP40 and algae disappeared. Lower flow but no dead areas.
 

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reddevilant

reddevilant

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Thanks guys! I'm going to start dosing a bit of microbacter7 again and dose more phosphates to lower the nitrates and get the phosphates up (the macros consume it so darn fast and I here I was thinking I was dosing too much). Since I'm not keeping corals and it's my first saltwater tank in nearly a decade, its a little on the low tech/cheap side. Other than the filtration I only have a couple of hydors so I'll have to play around with their placement or get another one. Any suggestions on a not too pricey wave maker I could upgrade to in the future?

Also now that I'm thinking about it I should really get ceriths anyway because ten decently big trochus are probably not nearly enough herbivorous snails in a 90 gal.
 

ClownWrangler

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Thanks guys! I'm going to start dosing a bit of microbacter7 again and dose more phosphates to lower the nitrates and get the phosphates up (the macros consume it so darn fast and I here I was thinking I was dosing too much). Since I'm not keeping corals and it's my first saltwater tank in nearly a decade, its a little on the low tech/cheap side. Other than the filtration I only have a couple of hydors so I'll have to play around with their placement or get another one. Any suggestions on a not too pricey wave maker I could upgrade to in the future?

Also now that I'm thinking about it I should really get ceriths anyway because ten decently big trochus are probably not nearly enough herbivorous snails in a 90 gal.

You are 10 steps ahead of me here. I've been struggling to get any macro other than Chaeto to grow, perhaps they aren't getting enough phosphates. Is there a good guide somewhere for caring for macros, nutrient and lighting requirements ect?
 
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reddevilant

reddevilant

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You are 10 steps ahead of me here. I've been struggling to get any macro other than Chaeto to grow, perhaps they aren't getting enough phosphates. Is there a good guide somewhere for caring for macros, nutrient and lighting requirements ect?
Here's some sites that really helped me. The only thing I dislike is that everyone refers to lighting/flow requirements in vague terms like low/med/high which is annoying because its different for everyone depending on their equipment. Whenever I get a new algae there's always a month or so long period just playing around with the placement of it to try and find the best spot for growth. I wish we had solid numbers like gallons per hour of flow and PAR like you can look up for corals.




 
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