Yep anothe ID thread, Cyano?

[DesertReefT4r]

Yep another ID thread. Its this red blown slime all over my sand and slowly spreading to the rock. While I was 99% sure its cyano now Im at 50%. Some info on this slime; odviously is red brown in color and looks like thick cyano, mostly in mats but some stringy filaments, small bubbles devolpe in it, disapears at night and shows up a few hours before lights turn on, started after my salinity drop cause a mini crash. I have done 2 Chemi Clean treatments, last one was 2 days ago and was a stronger dose then last time, manual removeal, both are having no effect. Reef Roids seems to fuel it. Tank has been running with low almost 0.00 no3 since the end of the cycle, Red Sea test does show the lightest hint of pink but I need to put the 2 vials on a white paper to tell, almost clear. Tank is 15 months old, used real live rock that was cooked in the dark for several months before use. I can not get no3 to increase over the last 6 months, even dosing, more feeding, removing my fuge and a few more fish had no efffect on no3 so I gave up and stopped casing it, this was before the out break. Po4 was 0.08 ppm with last weeks tests and stays around 0.03-0.08 ppm. So now I am starting to wonder and dreading that it might be.... on man I dont even want to say it...dinos!

 

[Bryson.bobby]

Definitely cyano. Cyano can thin out at night much like Dinos. Is there anyway you can get a microscope just to be sure?

 

[flchamp89]

Looks and sounds just like what I'm fighting. Your story is even similar to mine. I increased roids to 2x week and bam. I'm on week 2 and feel I'm winning the battle.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Awesome, pretty sure its cyano just wanted to be sure. Never had cyano that would not even be phased by Chemi Clean and had a few people comment it may be dinos. Doing a 3 day black out starting this morning. Sucks, tank was doing so well and looking awesome before all this. I need to add to my cuc, the mini crash kill most of my snails.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its cyano. Dino becomes string and floats upwards.
Chemi-clean works well.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Its cyano. Dino becomes string and floats upwards.
Chemi-clean works well.

2 treatments of Chemi Clean has not even began to touch the stuff. 2nd on was 2 days ago and was a stronger dose.

 

[vetteguy53081]

2 treatments of Chemi Clean has not even began to touch the stuff. 2nd on was 2 days ago and was a stronger dose.

I saw no change until day 4.

 

[Katrina71]

Wait it out. It will go away.

 

[NY_Caveman]

This was mine 2 months ago. I just kept blowing it off until it stopped coming back.

This is this week. Best to just wait it out. Yes, I had some hair algae under it. These things are nuisances though, not problems. A tank can digest it with patience.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Wait it out. It will go away.

Been waiting it out for about 2 months. Hoping it would naturally clear up and the system would rebalance itself. Its not working, slowly getting worse so I started chemi clean also with no results.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Been waiting it out for about 2 months. Hoping it would naturally clear up and the system would rebalance itself. Its not working, slowly getting worse so I started chemi clean also with no results.

I would never wait it out- Its bacteria. you want to eliminate it, not hold on to it.
First attack the cause before the issue. Things that cause cyano:

Overfeeding. Too Much Reef Food - Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom. Bare rock or non-seeded rock. Adding a live rock that isn’t completely cured acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae.
Lack of water changes. If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank nice and clear. Lack of water flow. Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development and poor water such as tap. Using water which contains nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano.

• Remedy:

water changes and water change
Increase water flow
Use RO water. If you have none, many pets stores sell it by the gallon
Feed what can be consumed in two minutes. Its easier to add food than to remove it.
And. . . I really like ChemiClean and the results it offers

 

[DesertReefT4r]

• Remedy:

water changes and water change
Increase water flow
Use RO water. If you have none, many pets stores sell it by the gallon
Feed what can be consumed in two minutes. Its easier to add food than to remove it.
And. . . I really like ChemiClean and the results it offers

Totally agree however... I was doing bi weekly water changes, 10g on a 75g tank, slowed water changes down due to low no3 and not wanting to export any more. I have a 6 stage rodi making 0 tds water for water changes and top off, never a drop of anthing higher than 2 tds has ever gone into the tank. Over feeding does not seem to be an issue because no3 stays nearly undetectable, under what Red Sea Pro and API can read. Po4 has never gone over 0.08 ppm. Chemi Clean has always worked really well for me in the past but not on this stuff, it does not even phase it.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Water testmfrom today.
Temp 79.8
Ph 7.8
Alk 7.6
Cal 400
Salinity 1.025
No3 4 ppm Red Sea Pro 5 ppm API
po4 0.04
Dosed some Neo Nitro the last couple of days trying to up no3. I will see how long it lasts, my tank uses no3 really fast.

 

[saltyhog]

I read somewhere that Chemiclean is only effective against spirulina and that H2O2 is effective against regular cyano. If so a microscopic ID would be helpful wouldn't it?

 

[Idoc]

You can keep hitting it with chemicals, but is going to keep coming back until thou resolve the nutrient imbalance. High po4 and low NO3 is a great recipe for cyano. Your PO4 numbers lik good, but the NO3 needs to be raised to be in balance... look up Loudwolf Sodium nitrate... make a mixture and dose a few millilitres a day until you can get the NO3 around 5-10ppm and metro it there. I had the same problem... i also squirt in some Microbacter7 every come of days to increase my nitrifying bacteria diversity... that has seemed to help as well.

 

[bonarjoseph]

2 treatments of Chemi Clean has not even began to touch the stuff. 2nd on was 2 days ago and was a stronger dose.

Did you increase the amount of air going into the tank?

 

[sixty_reefer]

Water testmfrom today.
Temp 79.8
Ph 7.8
Alk 7.6
Cal 400
Salinity 1.025
No3 4 ppm Red Sea Pro 5 ppm API
po4 0.04
Dosed some Neo Nitro the last couple of days trying to up no3. I will see how long it lasts, my tank uses no3 really fast.

I was going to suggest that, try and keep it up and it should die off soon. The original propelem must of come from the Po4- NO3 imbalance. As nitrate shouldn’t never be lower than your Po4. Meanwhile try not to do any more changes.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Yep just going to try and keep no3 at 5 ppm and no big changes. I already feel like I am doing too much. I was dosing MB7 a couple times a week but was thinking it was contributing to the low no3 and cyano so I stopped. Trying Live Rock Enhance again instead, its bacteria so hoping to add diversity to out compete cyano.

 

[brandon429]

offering this: several cyano cures before and after all in the same thread. wanna make several + 1

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

the only reason not to run a method with that many fixes in one place is if your tank is too large to run it...ie, be drained into a brute or two. Any aquarium that can have its make water drained off into a brute tank, or two, has no reason to take longer than about a day to win, we show to the tune of 99%/

you just follow the sand rinse rules and but back clean sand, vs massively heavily clouding sand which it currently is. then you put back the brute water or make new, doesn't matter. the filthy sand and no direct access is the cause, the cure is the opposite. there are many things you can do fast and successfully in reefing, and not being invaded with cyano is about #2 on the list of ten allowed speeds. if its dinos, it still can work and if not, then you having no waste pent up in the bed is best for N and P balancing anyway, at no time is a sandbed that is cloudy/invaded helping. best to neutralize it we show.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Yep just going to try and keep no3 at 5 ppm and no big changes. I already feel like I am doing too much. I was dosing MB7 a couple times a week but was thinking it was contributing to the low no3 and cyano so I stopped. Trying Live Rock Enhance again instead, its bacteria so hoping to add diversity to out compete cyano.

Cyano thrives on unbalanced system, but I see you in the right path, keep us updated see how it goes.