cyano getting bad

[ppanthrah75]

i just checked checked my water salinity 1.024, ph 7.9, amonia 0, nitrite 0,nitrate 0.5, phosphate 0 the flow in the tank is good 3 power heads and a 800gph return the power heads im not sure of the gph. the tank is 150 tall. now i no i need all new bulbs ive been chating with some people on here. my question is can my bulbs be the only reason for this outbreak i have 2 175 watt mh 2 96 watt pc's and 2 t-5 ho they are possibly a year and a half old maybe older. i have a reef octopus skimmer which fills up weekly.i have noticed where the light doesnt hit there is no cyano example the entire inner layer of where the rock sits on the sand so the rock shades that area and its perfectley clean any thoughts appreciated i also have a ro di unit for making water

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ppanthrah75 http:///forum/thread/384370/cyano-getting-bad#post_3366730
i just checked checked my water salinity 1.024, ph 7.9, amonia 0, nitrite 0,nitrate 0.5, phosphate 0 the flow in the tank is good 3 power heads and a 800gph return the power heads im not sure of the gph. the tank is 150 tall. now i no i need all new bulbs ive been chating with some people on here. my question is can my bulbs be the only reason for this outbreak i have 2 175 watt mh 2 96 watt pc's and 2 t-5 ho they are possibly a year and a half old maybe older. i have a reef octopus skimmer which fills up weekly.i have noticed where the light doesnt hit there is no cyano example the entire inner layer of where the rock sits on the sand so the rock shades that area and its perfectley clean any thoughts appreciated i also have a ro di unit for making water
Old bulbs could be playing a roll but from my undestanding is that cyano usually means high phosphates or tds. How old is your phosphate test kit? Check the tds on your r/o unit. When was the last time you changed those filters? Are you running carbon? If so, you may want to take it out for a while untill the problem starts clearing up.

 

[ppanthrah75]

the phosphate test kit is a month old i just came from my lfs and bought all new bulbs they needed to b changed anyway and picked up a tds meter it should a 10 on the display from my ro water. filters on ro unit r old and i just put a carbon bag in my return chamber a week ago

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ppanthrah75 http:///forum/thread/384370/cyano-getting-bad#post_3366746
the phosphate test kit is a month old i just came from my lfs and bought all new bulbs they needed to b changed anyway and picked up a tds meter it should a 10 on the display from my ro water. filters on ro unit r old and i just put a carbon bag in my return chamber a week ago
Well if your phosphate kit is reading zero I'm not sure how much I trust it. Maybe your lfs will test your water for you just to see if they get something different, sometimes those kits sit on the shelf a while. Carbon leaches phosphate so that's why I recommend removing it for a bit. Sounds like tds is getting a little high (not off the charts high) but it should be lower. Time for new filters.

 

[ppanthrah75]

would calurpa in my fuge have anything to do with the cyano?

 

[flower]

About your question on calurpa, no, and it is a good thing because it feeds on phosphates and lowers it naturally. You do have to trim it and harvest it"
Whenever you have cyano..you will get a negitive phosphate reading. The cyano feeds on it and it is in the tank if you have cyano.
Low water flow, over feeding, phosphates and/or using tap water contribute to it.
Do lots of water changes, remove the cyano as much as possible with a turkey baster (mark it fish only)
Be very careful to not overfeed and make sure all areas of the tank are geting plenty of water current. Nothing should be settling in a certain area.
Old RO filters will mean your are using tap water...you have to keep those filters up to date to be useful
ONLY after you have figured out and fixed the problem...you should not need it, however if you do decide to use RedX or Red slime remover...follow the instrucions to the letter. It sucks the air out of the tank and turn off your skimmer, it will go nuts during treatment. Someone on here recently wiped out the entire tank with red slime remover. I don't recommend you use it. I attach this note for the deaf ears that won't listen.

 

[ppanthrah75]

thanx for the advice i dont want to use the chemicals justs frustrating why this is happening ive put another power head on and im looking at the sand bed and theres movement im in the process of making new water so ill do a water change and pull off as much as i can ive just purchased all new bulbs any suggestion on how long they should be own for or if i should leave them off for a couple days? and about 3 weeks ago i draind my refugium and the calerpa was in the open air for an hour or so and i noiticed later that some of it died off and the little grapes were floating around and they were clearish do i mess it up u think?

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ppanthrah75 http:///forum/thread/384370/cyano-getting-bad#post_3366791
thanx for the advice i dont want to use the chemicals justs frustrating why this is happening ive put another power head on and im looking at the sand bed and theres movement im in the process of making new water so ill do a water change and pull off as much as i can ive just purchased all new bulbs any suggestion on how long they should be own for or if i should leave them off for a couple days? and about 3 weeks ago i draind my refugium and the calerpa was in the open air for an hour or so and i noiticed later that some of it died off and the little grapes were floating around and they were clearish do i mess it up u think?

Just clear off any dead stuff. You don't want it to go sexual..so if it looks fuzzy remove it.
Get a stick and attach a thin ribbon of plastic to it...move it around the tank and see what kind of flow you have. If the string goes limp it's a dead spot, adjust your power heads or add another.
Water changes are your best defense. Make sure your RO is up to snuff with good filters. Why in the world would you drain a refugium? All the good critters you must of lost..AAHHH All you should ever have to do is remove the overgrowth of macoagae. Add a small CUC of snails to clean algae from the rocks and glass.
Old bulbs usually cause hair algae problems, not cyano, so does tap water. Be very mindful to not overfeed fish or corals. My MH lights are on 12 hours and off 12 hours..but I have an urchin that needs lots of algae to live.

 

[ppanthrah75]

i had to add a baffle to the refigium cause it was a bad setup when i bought it no choice unfortunately im loving the new bulbs i bought the t 5 are red wave nice coloration with the coralin good idea with the stick and ribbon i feed my fish every 2 days lately to cut down and i was running my halides and pc's 10 hrs wasnt eaven running my t-5's so im makin water now tomorrow will get new filters cause my tds meter is reading 10 ppm from my rodi

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ppanthrah75 http:///forum/thread/384370/cyano-getting-bad#post_3366746
the phosphate test kit is a month old i just came from my lfs and bought all new bulbs they needed to b changed anyway and picked up a tds meter it should a 10 on the display from my ro water. filters on ro unit r old and i just put a carbon bag in my return chamber a week ago
This could be why it's getting worse all of a sudden. When you do use carbon, make sure you rinse it good.