Cyano again...need help

[chainsaw5vent]

i don't know anything about Perfecto. but if your tank is brand spanking new you will have problems w/ cyano outbreaks. algae is due to the amount of nitrates (fertilizer/decaying food/dead fish/poop)left in the tank. and if you give it the right amount/color of light, it will cause nuisance problems for your tank. we all want our tanks to look beautiful, and we will have to pay $$ for the right lighting to get it into the shape that we want. add a kick butt skimmer and your problems will lessen.

 

[sammystingray]

No water flow = no waste even getting to a skimmer or any other filter....it just settles to the bottom. You still need water movement to even keep the waste in the water column long enough to even be removed.......I would look at the water flow before I worried about lights, but that is my opinion. How many feet does this single pump have to push water upwards against gravity??

 

[broomer5]

Using one Mag18 on a 125 gallon tank.
You have two overflows
Your Mag18 is probably pushing around 1300 gallons per hour ( if you have about 4 feet distance from pump to return nozzle in tank.
That's around 10 turns per hour - estimated.
Sometimes it's not the actual gallons of water than turnover - as it is the speed at which the water enters the tank from the returnline's nozzle.
As Sammy said - we want good water movement in all parts of the tank - especially down near the substrate.
And we also want to have water moving from lower parts of the tank up to the surface. This keeps some wastes in suspension and allows it to reach your overflow/wet/dry/bio-mechancial filtration.
Higher velocity water shooting out of the spraybar can be accomplished by reducing the pipe size at this point.
This can jet the water out harder - and sometimes will create better intank circulation. You may be able to fab up some PVC jets that point in several directions into the tank.
Some point up near surface - some mid level - some down.
Obviously adding powerheads is an easy way to move the water around too. I recall you not wanting to do this for some reason ?
I don't know much about Perfecto hoods - but I would say that lighting a tank that contains no corals for 11 hours is excessive - and may be part of the cyno problem.
Old bulbs would also contribute as many have mentioned.
I don't have any cyno in my display tank either. Like Sammy - I run a lot of water movement with spraybars. Close to 20 turns per hour. I have noticed some cyno in the past in my refugium - but it's all gone now.
What's your budget on lighting ?
We're somewhat limited on what we can do with the standard fixtures/ballasts that come with many tanks.
But for a FOWLS - it may be fine.

 

[marinerock]

Hey All...
First...Chain....I am running a Kent Nautilus skimmer and I have to clean the cup approx. once every two weeks...thick gunky extract
brown to black in color...real good stuff....
Next...Sammy...one side maybe 1 1/2' height , the other overflow maybe 4' height
Next....Broomer....the reason I can not place powerheads ,
which I do have,brand new in the box, in my tank is because
I have a good size filefish that loves to bite into things...
he destroyed my Tropic Marin hydrometer in 1 second of it
entering the water, as such, I am afraid that he will chew
the wire....if I had room in my sump...I would drop another
Mag-Drive in there just for circulation to the bottom of the
tank...maybe you can suggest other alternatives...
maybe tap off the 2 returns , making them longer with that
flexible ball tubing and run it down to the bottom of the tank?
Also, the tank is about 11 months old, everything brand new,
and I have glass canopies w/ the 6' strip light...
whatever lighting you say to purchase...preferrably bulbs only,
as the strip light cost me $225 but whatever you think is best...
just let me know....
Much thanks all...
Regards...
Marinerock

 

[overanalyzer]

Originally posted by MARINEROCK
Hey Over....
Did you add any Chemi-clean or anything else to
remove it....or just the water change and lights on
for only 2 1/2 hrs. a day...?
Also, are you using RO/DI or tap water ?
Thanks much...
Regards....
Marinerock
Nope - just did the water changes and cut lighting. I am using the RO/DI water and or just plain RO water - depends on wheterh I get to the fish store or the grocery store to pick it up

 

[sammystingray]

I figure you are then dealing with the combined height, since the waters weight in both tubes is combined when deciding what back preasure is placed on the pump.....so figure about five and a half feet of head....what does that run at? anyone?

 

[sammystingray]

Nevermind...I found the info.....it's at about 1150-1200 at that pressure.....It just seems to me that cyano almost always grows in slow flow areas.....that is it's nature. I run my reef at 30 times over without a sump...all in the main tank. Is the cyano blowing around or just sitting motionless?

 

[marinerock]

Hey Sammy....
Not blowing at all....it is all over my sand bed,really thick
dark purple and all over my dead corals...
absolutely nothing on the glass....and just another note...
I just had my water tested the other day....
Nitrates...5
phosphates almost nothing...
all other daily tests... excellent
does this make sense...?
and man....sorry to bother ya....
Much appreciated....
Regards...
Marinerock

 

[marinerock]

Sammy.....

 

[sammystingray]

Sorry...I had to go to work for awhile......if it isn't moving at all....not enough flow in my opinion.....I basically just wanted to know what the flow across the bottom is like. I guess it depends on the shape it took on really as to have much it can move anyway. I always had trouble with my seahorse tank getting cyano since the flow was sooooo slow. Good luck.

 

[marinerock]

Hey All....
I removed as much cyano as I could with the net on the
sand bed...It was like pulling up carpet....thick and stuck
to the sand....Made the tank look like crap for an hour or
so...shut down the protein skimmer, the UV light and removed
the Chemi-pures....then added the proper amount of
Chemi-Clean and it looks like it already started working...the dead corals are already showing the white color in them as they were all covered in cyano....hopefully by tomorrow morning, all
the cyano will be gone...
What a freakin mess though...this sucks...!!!
Thanks for all the help ....
Regards...
Marinerock

 

[david s]

Marine how old are your lights and what spectrum old lighting and a few slow flow spots a litle junk and it equals a big cyano outbreak

 

[marinerock]

Hey Dave...
My regular flouresants are 1 yr. old....its a FOWLS tank...
Im running a great protein skimmer and UV...
I dont know if you read everything above, but ,
I have a filefish that bites stuff so I am unable to put
the brand new powerheads that I have into the tank
for safety reasons....He already bit in half a brand new
hydrometer as soon as it hit the water....
but he is the coolest fish around....!!!
Maybe I can rig up something to bring some water movement
to the bottom of the tank....
Regards...
Marinerock