Cyano won't go away

[pyro]

I have a 30g reef with 2 X 96W PC lights over it. Down to about 6.5 hours a day. Replaced one bulb about 4-5 months ago and one 2 months ago.
I had a major algae outbreak of all kinds, bubble, beard, and cyano. I or the LFS was never able to read any PO4s or Ns at any time. I'm also running a PO4 reactor from Two Little Fishies (just replaced the media today as a check) just to make sure aswell as my 10g sump with macros that I pull out from time to time.
Flow wise I have my Rio 600 (I think) as a return pump, an emperor 400, a Maxi-Jet 1200 (I beleive), and now a Rio 90 (just added today). I also can't find any relation between flow and algae. So, I don't think it's the flow, but not sure.
I only feed every other day, lately not even that. Stopped using cyclop ez a while ago.
I do use myricle mud in my sump, and my tank has been setup for about a year and a half. I was wondering if that could be the source.
I'm really running out of ideas on how to fight this stuff back. It's starting to get on my polyps/candy corals and I don't know what to do about it. Any help would be greatly appreciated =)

 

[pyro]

Got a picture finally. The Rio 90 isn't in there yet, but it is in the back left pointing across the back.
Excuse the poor picture quality, was running out of batteries very quickly.

 

[team2jndd]

Get a chemical called 'slime remover' then just add it and turn off ur skimmer and you should be home free. They rip you off though its like 20 bucks for a tiny tube but its well worth it.

 

[pyro]

I'm really trying to avoid any chemical additives.
I don't run a skimmer on it either. Looked into it, but the cost is high and I've heard they mix poorly with the mud I use in my sump. Possible christmas present :thinking: ...
I've really been doing a lot of research around the boards, and I'm going to just leave my lights off for 2-3 days to try and get rid of it. I don't have any finiky corals in there, just some candy corals, green stars, and red mushrooms.
I also recently installed a set of DIY moonlights. Those wouldn't be at the heart of this by chance, would they? I doubt they'd put off enough light to do anything, but figured I'd make sure.
Thanks for the help =)

 

[hsanchez]

I had a really bad cyano in my 20g. I made some changes.....I feed every 3 days, cut the lights to 4 hrs a day, and nothing, then one day somebody on this board suggested switch my RO. I switched my RO from the grocery store to a LFS and in about a week it was completely gone.
good luck

 

[pyro]

I'll be honest, I don't do water changes. I keep a close eye on all my levels and just let the mud replenish the stuff and pull the macros for the N cycle. So far it's worked great and corals have grown like crazy and the worlds spun round.
I actually mixed up a thing of fresh saltwater to give it a go. It's not RO water, as I don't have access to reliable stuff really and due to prom/a concert/and band trip within the next month, really tight on the budget =/. But, I'm going to make sure to test it for NO3/PO4 before I use it, pretty sure it'll be at 0 though. I'm gonna keep a close eye on the corals (will be hard w/o the lights) and look for improvements just out of curiousity.
I'm gonna leave the lights off for the next 2-3 days and siphon out all the stuff I can get to aswell as change out about 2-3gal a day. I'll make sure to publish the results. Hopefully I can get it cleared up and once the budget comes back get it ready for some serious coral additions.
Thanks =)

 

[unleashed]

leaving your lights off is going to cause alot of your corals and such to die off ,so i dont recomend doing that.

 

[rednekreef]

unleashed is right...but unfortuanatly..that was the only way i got rid of the cyano. i left lights off for 5 days. added 2 more powerheads and reduced feeding. all cyano died, corals werent too badly injured. they came back in a pretty short period. all that happened was they bleached out a tad. and one of the heads on my candycane croaked. I didnt want to add any additives...so i went with this method. Its a choice you will have to make.

 

[team2jndd]

I just added some slime remover to my tank 10 minutes ago and I do it about every 6 months. I have about 30 different corals in my tank both sps and lps. I have never had a negative side effect.

 

[lion_crazz]

I agree, don't turn the lights off for 2 to 3 days.
Without knowing the parameters of the water going into the tank, it is hard to tell where the problem is coming from.

 

[pyro]

:notsure: .
Ok. I've thought about it for a while and I think I'll just really cut my lights back to about 3-4 hours a day and monitor the slime and see what happens.
Thanks for all the help, I'll keep it updated.

 

[reefreak29]

u really should do water changes 10 percent a week and try to suck the cyono out , your lights arent really that strong why cut back, and please dont treat it chemicaly you will kill your nitrifying bacteria as well good luck

 

[pyro]

Just got back from walmart. Grabbed a new plain soft toothbrush to get the stuff outta the sandbed and off the corals with. Also grabbed a nylon "grout scrubber" which is a lot firmer to get any off rocks that won't come off if I have issues.
Posted some pics of the stuff in the photo forum actually =P

 

[blitz99]

if i read correctly you are using PC's... i switched from PC to halides and hevent had a speck of cyano or hair algea in a year...
i know it's a costly upgrade but odds are you could get 75 bucks for your pc set up and a 175 watt halide set up would only cost 100 bucks or so... 25 dollars out of pocket and allows to keep anything you want in the tank..
just a thought.

 

[pyro]

I've thought about it before. I have a canopy on it that would make metal halide all but impossible. I had to add a beam from left to right and bolt my PC retrofits to it to get them in. And even at that they are rather close to the water for my liking. Also doesn't give me much room to reach around it w/o taking the canopy off or having somebody hold it for me. Really all a pain.
Really the 2 X 96W PC's are close enough to the water and it's a narrow enough tank as long as I watch placement, I could probably keep most SPS and some clams healthy, but really not looking to keep them anytime soon in this one. At most I'll put one acro at the very top of my tank, but even that's doubtful unless I find a good deal locally (they never get any SPS in around here anyways).
Going to PSU in a matter of months, so right now I'm not really shooting for the stars. Looking for a bunch of hardy softies and some LPS to look nice that my dad can take care of. I'll set up the real tank later on :thinking: ...
Went up and just blasted off a ton of junk with the turkey baster aswell as scrubbed most stuff with a soft bristled toothbrush. Seemed to have really helped. Accidently almost killed my wrasse when I pulled a rock out. I heard clicking when I took the rock out and was at first worried my thumb was gonna be split by a mantis shrimp or something, but it stopped so I stopped worrying and oculdn't find anything. After I put the rock in I looked in the bucket I was scrubbing over and found my 6-line laying on his side in a pile of gunk. Then it all fit together and I scrambled for the net. Seems like he'll be fine, pretty p/oed though, he swam right into his little cave thing and has been staring at me from it since.