Cyano advice

[tsdid]

what should my next move do? It seems I have cyano, from what I have read it comes from excess nutrients/ nitrates and phosphates. What I don't understand is all my levels are perfect. My nitrates are 0 and so are my phosphates. The only thing I can think of is that maybe my 10000 k lights need to be changed, I have a coral life compact florecent fixture and I have had them running for 8 months now. The other thing it could be is the flow? Please give me any advice you can think of. My LFS told me maracyn works well, but after reading on this forum about it I don't think I'm going to try it.
Thanks

 

[frankthetank]

My personal opinion is check your flow. Cyano loves to grow in areas where there is little to no flow. You need 20x flow minimum all over your tank. The more the better!
Also, sometimes algae consumes nitrates to the point that tests read little to none while there are nitrates present.
I'd seriously start with your flow. What is it? How is it produced? What size tank?

 

[kimkromann]

I had a recent outbreak with similar situation. It seemed like my flow was inadequate. I came online and asked for advice. I decided not to use chemi clean or any other additives. It seemed, from what I was told, that it caused other problems, and could throw all of the other levels out of wack. I am a beginner, so hopefully this is good advice ( I got most of it from this board). Use a bulb syringe to remove as much cyano as posible. Turn the flow way up, add another pump or something (I had problems with too much rocks so put a pump inside the rock to move the debris that got stuck in there). Turn the lights off for a few days and completely clean out your filtration, change filters, etc. Once you turn your lights back on, you might see a few smaller outbreaks, or possibly none. Use the bulb syringe right away and get rid of it. You should start noticing less if not having it all gone right away. Cyano feeds on light and nitrates (if I remember correctly), causes nitrates as it kills off things in your tank, which then furthers it's food source. You have to stop the cycle. Hopefully someone out there can verify this. Like I said, I am new, but this really worked for me. Good luck! It's nasty stuff.

 

[salt monger]

i used a product from my lfs "ultralife reef products" red slime remover, it's a yellow powder you mix with water, and pour in the tank... within 3 days nasty red slime was all gone.... fish, vert, and coral safe..... now i wouldn't want to add this too often, but it worked for me, and in the mean time i made some corrections so it won't come back, it was like $18 but the tank looks great

 

[earlybird]

It's a battle for sure. I've had it a few times in the course of 2-3 months. I had adequate flow and nitrates and phosphates also read zero. Also, my lights were only 4 months old. It's a bacteria that is present in a lot of conditions and is still somewhat of a mystery. I'm convinced that nobody really knows what it's all about but we all do the same things to rid our systems of it at least for the meantime.
If you have enough flow try re-adjusting your powerheads to create a different flow. Have some aged saltwater mixing and manually siphon out as much of the cyano as possible with a smaller diameter airline hose and replace the water with new water. I ended up changing about 1g each day for about a week or more. You can try reducing your lights but this stuff can bloom or continue to grow even in the dark. Cyano is more of an eye sore than anything but can eventually wreck havoc on your tank and corals if not dealt with. It will eventually go away if you do these things but it may come back. I've been cyano free for a couple of months now. Good luck.

 

[tsdid]

well my flow is a little light i have a quiet one 3000 speced at 780gph but at 5 feet it would be around 500, the thing is it is coming out one return, which i have bought the loc-line returns so i can split the direction of the water. Also i bought a Powerhead speced at 240, I have not put them in yet but will be doing so soon. My tank is a 40 gallon , it messures 24 wide 18 deep by 21 tall. So its almost a cube. The cyano isnt growing on the rock, just the sand, and its in the corner right now.

 

[earlybird]

Get those powerheads in asap. Will help a lot.

 

[bang guy]

How long has the tank been set up? Can you detail the history of the sand itself? It's common for PO4 to come directly from the sand if it was mishandled live sand or was previously used in an aquarium.
Can you see a noticeable current directly above the sand bed?

 

[tsdid]

I have had it up for 8 months now. havnt started seeing the stuff untill about a month ago. Its live sand that i bought fresh from the bag. there is a current over the sand because i have caulerpa in the tank and you can see the current by the movement of the caulerpa.
amm 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
phosphate 0
ph 8.2
I have 2 clownfish 2 cardinals 1 scooter blenny 5 hermits 4 snails and a serpent star.
I feed mysis shrimp every other day.

 

[dreamer44]

Originally Posted by salt monger
i used a product from my lfs "ultralife reef products" red slime remover, it's a yellow powder you mix with water, and pour in the tank... within 3 days nasty red slime was all gone.... fish, vert, and coral safe..... now i wouldn't want to add this too often, but it worked for me, and in the mean time i made some corrections so it won't come back, it was like $18 but the tank looks great
this worked for me too! it took 3 days as stated above, I only used one dose. this was a couple of weeks ago, and I dont see any sign of cyano anymore! mine was only on the sand, but it just wouldnt go away, and I physically removed it daily, no more worries, its gone now
"red slime remover" cost me about 21.00 before taxes
good luck,
Lori

 

[frankthetank]

Originally Posted by tsdid
well my flow is a little light i have a quiet one 3000 speced at 780gph but at 5 feet it would be around 500, the thing is it is coming out one return, which i have bought the loc-line returns so i can split the direction of the water. Also i bought a Powerhead speced at 240, I have not put them in yet but will be doing so soon. My tank is a 40 gallon , it messures 24 wide 18 deep by 21 tall. So its almost a cube. The cyano isnt growing on the rock, just the sand, and its in the corner right now.
This probably says it all. Sounds like you have just over 10x flow. Which in reality, you probably have some areas that receive 5x or less.
Take my 46g tank for example... I have a koralia #3 that does 800gph, a fluval 305 that does 300+gph, and a quiet one 2200 return that gives me about 300gph thru a loc line return.
There's no way you can have adequate flow with just a return line from your sump. I doubt that 240gph ph would be enough. I'd get a koralia #2 or #3 and watch that cyano disappear in about a week.