Red cyano and chemiclean

[sheasta]

I started getting red gunk on the sand. I started noticing corals closing more especially lower ones near the sand, though some seem unbothered. Have a toddler and a newborn so it’s been hard to find the time. A couple weeks ago I tried siphoning it all out and it came back in about 24h. Yesterday I decided to add a pump for lower flow areas. Then I siphoned it all out again and added chemiclean. Got home from work less than 24h later and it’s back already …. Mid chemiclean dose….. I did not remove my rowaphos which I later heard could affect the treatment , so I removed it. My parameters are decent imo. I have like 5 fish in a 48g 3’ tank full of LPS. Tanks about 7-8 months old and never had anything other than normal new tank green algae on rocks. Thoughts ?

5/24/26

Mag 1455

Calc 460

Phosphate 0.18

Alkalinity 8.2

Nitrate 10.2



5/28/26

Mag 1455

Calc 460

Phosphate 0.19

Alkalinity 8.1

Nitrate 8.3



5/31/26

Mag 1500

Calc 465

Phosphate 0.21

Alkalinity 8.2

Nitrate 11.5



6/2/26

Mag 1485

Calc 455

Phosphate 0.22

Alkalinity 8.0

Nitrate 9.6



6/7/26

Mag 1485

Calc 440

Phosphate 0.20

Alkalinity 8.0

Nitrate 12.9



6/10/23

Mag 1425

Calc 440

Phosphate 0.14

Alkalinity 8.3

Nitrate 9.1

 

[sheasta]

One thing I thought of just now … I removed the LR from the sump to cycle a new tank around the time this started… could it be Dino’s that are red? It’s almost invisible with no light and red under blue light

 

[painter1982]

Did you follow chemi clean directions exactly? Full dose?

 

[sheasta]

Did you follow chemi clean directions exactly? Full dose?

Yes , I have 65 g total volume so I did 65x0.8 to get the 80% for rocks/sand which is 52 gallons so I did 6 scoops. Skimmer off and all media was removed besides the this which I just removed when I posted

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would just ride it out a while and keep up regular maintenance and see how it goes. It doesn't look bad. You admitted you let the tank go for a while, so I would just take time to turn it around naturally.

 

[sheasta]

I would just ride it out a while and keep up regular maintenance and see how it goes. It doesn't look bad. You admitted you let the tank go for a while, so I would just take time to turn it around naturally.

I didn’t let the tank go maintenance wise, I meant I let the red cyano go without cleaning it (didn’t siphon sand right away) to see if it would go away naturally and it didn’t after a month so I siphoned sand again and used chemiclean and it still won’t go away. I only care because the corals aren’t happy with something and I’m assuming it’s the cyano since the parameters have been stable and decent for a LPS tank. My hammers have all been closing up. I can’t think of anything else it would be since my corals were thriving before the cyano. I’m wondering if anyone thinks it could be Dino’s instead ? It kind of looks bubbly in this video

 

[sheasta]

Update, it’s brown under white or ambient light and red under blue light. Since chemiclean did nothing I suspect it’s Dino’s. I don’t have a microscope. It came back 14h after siphoning and chemiclean treatment.

 

[Reef Jedi]

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels?

 

[sheasta]

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels?

That’s where it gets weird…. I’m currently at 11.6 nitrate and .13 phosphate via Hanna testers but I was previously at ~ 8-11 nitrate and .20 phosphate …. Still not bottomed out…. But I have corals dying (especially ones closest to the outbreak and chemiclean did nothing. I also saw a few bubbles on it. I just added UV to my tank. Considering just stopping water changes and dosing tons of microbacter 7 daily…. Maybe considering a blackout but I have expensive corals ….

 

[Reef Jedi]

That’s where it gets weird…. I’m currently at 11.6 nitrate and .13 phosphate via Hanna testers but I was previously at ~ 8-11 nitrate and .20 phosphate …. Still not bottomed out…. But I have corals dying (especially ones closest to the outbreak and chemiclean did nothing. I also saw a few bubbles on it. I just added UV to my tank. Considering just stopping water changes and dosing tons of microbacter 7 daily…. Maybe considering a blackout but I have expensive corals ….

I’ve had super good luck beating them with dosing live phytoplankton. I’m local to Algaebarn however you can get an order going and start dosing right away. It worked so well for me after doing a ton of research. It’s a natural way but works well and fast. Worth a shot.

Here’s some lite reading:
https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/phyt...croalgae-to-control-nuisance-dinoflagellates/

 

[sheasta]

I’ve had super good luck beating them with dosing live phytoplankton. I’m local to Algaebarn however you can get an order going and start dosing right away. It worked so well for me after doing a ton of research. It’s a natural way but works well and fast. Worth a shot.

Here’s some lite reading:
https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/phyt...croalgae-to-control-nuisance-dinoflagellates/

I’ve been dosing it already but I upped the dose and will make sure I’m not forgetting days here and there like I was. Also added more pods because my wrasses massacred my population. I got this Dino M treatment too. Will stop water changes, adjusted skimmer to wet skim etc. Also got that uv installed yesterday. I believe I have the sand dwelling species though so I really want the sand bed sweeper uv light that 3d reefing sells but it’s sold out

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The tank is looking very new, I would guess 1-2 months, the sand meeting the glass is a giveaway. I think this is just regular diatoms.

Chemiclean is an antibiotic, it kills bacteria both good and bad. By using this stuff so early you are holding back the maturing process of your aquarium. Algae and cyano is ugly, but it means that your tank is maturing, it is creating life, it is a good thing. I would leave the tank alone and control the nutrients and maintenance but otherwise leave it alone, let it mature and go through these phases without adding chemicals to try to fix it immediately. Looking at your post #9&11 personally I think this is over reaction to something that is not confirmed as dino's yet. It doesn't look like dino's to me, and if it is then it is mild enough to be beaten naturally without chemicals. Many algae's create air bubbles through photosynthesis, that is not a giveaway as dino's. Just my 2 cents good luck

 

[sheasta]

The tank is looking very new, I would guess 1-2 months, the sand meeting the glass is a giveaway. I think this is just regular diatoms.

Chemiclean is an antibiotic, it kills bacteria both good and bad. By using this stuff so early you are holding back the maturing process of your aquarium. Algae and cyano is ugly, but it means that your tank is maturing, it is creating life, it is a good thing. I would leave the tank alone and control the nutrients and maintenance but otherwise leave it alone, let it mature and go through these phases without adding chemicals to try to fix it immediately. Looking at your post #9&11 personally I think this is over reaction to something that is not confirmed as dino's yet. It doesn't look like dino's to me, and if it is then it is mild enough to be beaten naturally without chemicals. Many algae's create air bubbles through photosynthesis, that is not a giveaway as dino's. Just my 2 cents good luck

The tank is 8 months old. I cleaned all the glass and sand when I siphoned the Dino’s thinking they were cyano like 3-4 days ago. That’s why it’s clean. It’s killing my corals. It’s not diatoms. I’ve had two bleached to death corals that are right next to the main outbreak area (not too much light been thriving in my tank for 3 months). I appreciate the response but I fear that if I listen to our advice my thousands of $ of corals will die. It looks exactly like a few posts I’ve seen that is Sand dwelling species of Dino’s (amphidinium dinos).

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The tank is 8 months old. I cleaned all the glass and sand when I siphoned the Dino’s thinking they were cyano like 3-4 days ago. That’s why it’s clean. It’s killing my corals. It’s not diatoms. I’ve had two bleached to death corals that are right next to the main outbreak area (not too much light been thriving in my tank for 3 months). I appreciate the response but I fear that if I listen to our advice my thousands of $ of corals will die. It looks exactly like a few posts I’ve seen that is Sand dwelling species of Dino’s (amphidinium dinos).

wow you are amazing with your sand! I miss judged the situation, hope you can fix it good luck

 

[sheasta]

Thanks man it only looks this good because I just cleaned it so recently lol. I also simultaneously moved the sand to either side so I could scrape the glass below the sand then put it all back in place. I think this successfully spread the Dino’s further

 

[sheasta]

wow you are amazing with your sand! I miss judged the situation, hope you can fix it good luck

Just wanted to update if anyone comes across sand dwelling Dino’s the uv sand sweeper from 3d reefing is like $60 and nearly eradicated them in 2 days of sweeping. 90% gone.