Randy's Tank and Learn Thread

[Waldek M.]

Not sure if you’re still having cyano issues or not? But to follow up on my recommendation of TM nitribiotic here’s my results. Nothing changed in tank otherwise.

July 5th. Constant dirty glass and cyano all over the sand bed. 1-2 doses of TM nitribiotic performed so far. It was way worse than this photo prior. I dose it in front of left front powerhead

Just got back from vacation 9-10 days away. Glass was spotless minus a ton of coralline so razor scraped clean the glass.

First morning light.

Daytime spectrum

That was last weekend and it’s even better now. I’m sold! 100% believer in it. Curious if you or anyone else with cyano, Dino’s, dirty glass, etc would see the same results? I hadn’t seen the sand bed in over a year/ever really until now

Following your example, I tried it for the first time four weeks ago, and I can see that it works—or at least it has so far. I apply half the dose directly into the sand and pour the other half into the sump, right onto the biological filter media. I’m not sure if this is the right way to do it, but it’s the method I came up with, and it’s working for now. I do this weekly, using a dosage of 3.5 ml per 370 liters of system water.

 

[salty joe]

Just caught up on your mag, sorry it did not make it. i want to get one for my Allards but IDK...Is your clown trio a mated pair and a third wheel? That's how my Allards were for several years until they got to breeding size. Then one day third wheel disappeared. Gone.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Just caught up on your mag, sorry it did not make it. i want to get one for my Allards but IDK...Is your clown trio a mated pair and a third wheel? That's how my Allards were for several years until they got to breeding size. Then one day third wheel disappeared. Gone.

They appear to be male female and juvenile. I had a trio like that in the past in a gigantea, but these guys continue to hang together even without an anemone. :)

 

[Waldek M.]

Cyanobacteria Treatment

It’s been a bit over 5 months since I last treated for cyano with the antibiotic tylosin (Chemiclean). Cyano has begun to become significant again, and today I’m treating again. Hopefully it works as well.

This morning I added 2 g of Chemiclean to my system (dissolved in a cup of tank water). I removed the collection part of my Tunze skimmer, added one air stone and two open tubing bubblers to my sumps, and increased flow through the tank and sump systems. I set the refugium lights to be on 24/7 all for increased O2. I also removed the GAC.

Last night I turkey basted the display. Here are a couple of before pictures from this morning:

Aren't you afraid to use Chemiclean so often? Your experience also shows that it only works temporarily. No one knows why it appears or why it vanishes; I’ve had it myself many times—it would come and go without any apparent reason, or at least none that I could identify. That’s why so many people set up bare-bottom tanks, though I’m not a fan of that look. I recently used TM’s Nitribiotic and it worked, but no one knows for how long.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Aren't you afraid to use Chemiclean so often? Your experience also shows that it only works temporarily. No one knows why it appears or why it vanishes; I’ve had it myself many times—it would come and go without any apparent reason, or at least none that I could identify. That’s why so many people set up bare-bottom tanks, though I’m not a fan of that look. I recently used TM’s Nitribiotic and it worked, but no one knows for how long.

I’ve tried a variety of things, but I cannot do some that will work, such as high flow, because I am trying to keep the tank as quiet as possible.

I’m not sure bare bottom would matter since the cyano grows on the rocks and back coralline at least as much as the sand.

I’m not sure there is a treatment that is a long term solution, but I will continue to explore options such as reducing organics. C

 

[Waldek M.]

I’ve tried a variety of things, but I cannot do some that will work, such as high flow, because I am trying to keep the tank as quiet as possible.

I’m not sure bare bottom would matter since the cyano grows on the rocks and back coralline at least as much as the sand.

I’m not sure there is a treatment that is a long term solution, but I will continue to explore options such as reducing organics. C

High flow doesn't really work on sand either—or rather, it does work, but by burying things rather than clearing them away naturally. I experimented with that too, but to no avail. If you want to tackle the issue that way, buying sand-sifting gobies would be a better option. I had some and actually liked them, but I had to give them up because they kept burying my low-lying corals