Possible Cyano Caused by AcroPower?

[Steve2020]

Was dosing Brightwell Aquatics Coral Amino and Koralle VM for 3 months with no issues and good results especially on my LPS. 4 weeks ago I purchased a few SPS and my LFS recommended AcroPower because it targets Acro's and is a different amino acid than Coral Amino so they say. I discontinued the Coral Amino and started with a half dose of AcroPower. After a few days I noticed a 3 inch area in the back of my tank was developing a reddish brown substance on my sand. It was not slimy, hairy or had any air bubbles. Thinking it may have been cyano I vacuumed it out. I stopped dosing AcroPower for a few weeks and it never came back. Decided to add AcroPower to my tank this morning and about 5 to 6 hours after dosing I now have two small areas in the front of the tank on the sand that has the same substance that was on the sand before but now in a different area. Tank has good flow on the sand bed in all areas. Think I will go back to Coral Amino or just discontinue Amino's all together. Have NEVER had an algae or cyano issue before and tank is approx 19 months old post cycle.
Anyone else seen this issue with AcroPower before? Again I am only dosing a half dose.
Any recommendations?

Sorry for the blurry photos. Focus is terrible with up close photos.

 

[lapin]

Looks like the cyano in your tank likes the AcroPower

 

[Steve2020]

Looks like the cyano in your tank likes the AcroPower

Just read a few research papers and one thing I did not know is Cyano exist in all reef tanks but will only show it's ugly head when it likes what your feeding it or when water parameters are to it's liking to include lighting. Also did no know there are a few thousand if not more types of Cyano. Guess I have one that likes AcroPower like you said. I will discontinues using it. Don't want to take a chance of this stuff exploding in my tank.

 

[taricha]

looks more like dinos to me.
There are a fair number of reports of Dinos seeming to love amino acid addition.

 

[Steve2020]

looks more like dinos to me.
There are a fair number of reports of Dinos seeming to love amino acid addition.

You may be correct with that assessment. I vacuumed them out yesterday and added a flocculant with with some MB7 added to it and will stop adding AcroPower altogether. Weather Dino's or Cyano, I want neither.
Thanks for your observation.

 

[sixty_reefer]

What’s your current no3 and po4 after dosing aminos?

 

[Jdadams]

I have noticed something similar as well. Every few months I’ll dose some for 3-4 days and my sand and back wall start growing cyano. Not much, but enough to tell something is starting to grow. It goes away.

 

[Steve2020]

What’s your current no3 and po4 after dosing aminos?

NO3 9.6ppm, PO4 0.03ppm. Check both twice a week and for the last 4mo has been very steady. I carbon dose 2ml every hour during a 12hr period from 7am to 7pm. ( DIY solution ). Keeps my nutrients where I want them. ( I feed heavy ). I don't believe I have ever checked nutrient levels the same day I dose Amino's.

 

[Tonycass12]

Been dosing acropower for a year and have never had any cyano. Any chance you can increase flow in the problem areas?

 

[Steve2020]

I have noticed something similar as well. Every few months I’ll dose some for 3-4 days and my sand and back wall start growing cyano. Not much, but enough to tell something is starting to grow. It goes away.

How long did it take to go away? As you can see in the photo in my original post it also was not much but decided to vacuum it out. Was worried if I tried to let it go away on it's own the opposite would occur and then I would have a real mess. Tank is fairly large 84x30x24.

 

[jmichaelh7]

When I dose Acropower I get cyano and red cyano on rocks. When I give it a break they disappear slowly.

I’m trying to dose only once per week … we’ll see today when I get back from work how my tank looks.

Maybe try half the dose

 

[sixty_reefer]

NO3 9.6ppm, PO4 0.03ppm. Check both twice a week and for the last 4mo has been very steady. I carbon dose 2ml every hour during a 12hr period from 7am to 7pm. ( DIY solution ). Keeps my nutrients where I want them. ( I feed heavy ). I don't believe I have ever checked nutrient levels the same day I dose Amino's.

Thank you, I’m just finding difficult to understand how would they show up and disappear under those nutrients conditions unless po4 is slightly lower than what the test kit is showing. It’s definitely a interesting situation

 

[Steve2020]

Been dosing acropower for a year and have never had any cyano. Any chance you can increase flow in the problem areas?

Have 2 MP60's and 2 MP40's running and you can see the flow across the sand with particles of substrate moving back and forth when flow direction changes so I do not believe it is a flow issue. Plus when I set my power head locations and speeds I injected air into the 2 MP60's to better see the flow and no dead spots were observed.

 

[Jdadams]

How long did it take to go away? As you can see in the photo in my original post it also was not much but decided to vacuum it out. Was worried if I tried to let it go away on it's own the opposite would occur and then I would have a real mess. Tank is fairly large 84x30x24.

Maybe 2-3 weeks. I never really worry about it. It never gets worse than what your pics look like. on my back wall it’ll build up alittle thicker. If I clean my sand and scrap my back wall during a water change it doesn’t really come back much. I have a 20gal full of sps and I’m pushing 2300gph in it with my mp10 and nero3. flowing isn’t an issue and I don’t believe it is for you either with mp60s and mp40s.

 

[Steve2020]

When I dose Acropower I get cyano and red cyano on rocks. When I give it a break they disappear slowly.

I’m trying to dose only once per week … we’ll see today when I get back from work how my tank looks.

Maybe try half the dose

I was dosing once a week and the first time I dosed it was a full dose and that's when I first noticed cyano or dyno's on the sand in the back of my tank. I stopped dosing for a few weeks and then dosed a half dose and in 5-6hrs it was back again but in a different location.

 

[Steve2020]

Thank you, I’m just finding difficult to understand how would they show up and disappear under those nutrients conditions unless po4 is slightly lower than what the test kit is showing. It’s definitely a interesting situation

Sorry it took awhile to get back. Fish were begging for some food. I have two phosphate checkers both electronic. The Milwaukee Instruments Mi412 Low Range Phosphate Photometer and the Hanna ULR Phosphate Checker. Both read the same +/- 0.01ppm. They disappear because I vacuumed it out.
Do you think I should raise or lower my nutrients or keep them where I have them? Mixed reef tank but mostly LPS? I do have some nitrate and phosphate from Loudwolf on hand. Have never had to dose nitrate but a few months back I was dosing phosphate at a 0.02ppm rate daily to maintain a PO4 of 0.03 to 0.04ppm until I lowered my carbon dosing amount and now has been stable for a while at 0.03 to 0.04ppm.

​

 

[Williamson’s Reef]

I get cyano from acropower. Took it offline for 6 months. Tried it again as I bought a gallon. Cyano came right back. I know for some they have no issues. But I do. Even with a ton of flow.

 

[Steve2020]

I get cyano from acropower. Took it offline for 6 months. Tried it again as I bought a gallon. Cyano came right back. I know for some they have no issues. But I do. Even with a ton of flow.

Looks like I have one of those cyano strains that like AcroPower. Correct me if I'm wrong but after doing some research I found that there are about 2700 confirmed strains of cyano and probably thousands more. What I couldn't find out as of yet is how many are in the ocean that find their way into our tanks. I am assuming that different strains will react differently dependent upon conditions. From what I have read, cyano exists in ALL reef tanks. I guess they just need certain conditions before they show their ugly head.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Thank you, I’m just finding difficult to understand how would they show up and disappear under those nutrients conditions unless po4 is slightly lower than what the test kit is showing. It’s definitely a interesting situation

His po4 is bottoming allowing carbon source to build instead of bind, creating the Dino outbreak. just a theory tho.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Sorry it took awhile to get back. Fish were begging for some food. I have two phosphate checkers both electronic. The Milwaukee Instruments Mi412 Low Range Phosphate Photometer and the Hanna ULR Phosphate Checker. Both read the same +/- 0.01ppm. They disappear because I vacuumed it out.
Do you think I should raise or lower my nutrients or keep them where I have them? Mixed reef tank but mostly LPS? I do have some nitrate and phosphate from Loudwolf on hand. Have never had to dose nitrate but a few months back I was dosing phosphate at a 0.02ppm rate daily to maintain a PO4 of 0.03 to 0.04ppm until I lowered my carbon dosing amount and now has been stable for a while at 0.03 to 0.04ppm.

​

Makes sense. The carbon source was pulling nitrate and phos down to balance out but there was little to no phos available