Cyano

meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Just got home from work, and I have patches of cyano in my 54G

I don;t get it....just got a new protein skimmer, just put chemi-pure elite in on Saturday and did a w/c

Nothing has changed

Here I go again.....I'm gonna clean some powerheads tonight and mix water for another w/c tomorrow sighhhhh
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
I just kill the lights and in a couple of days the cyano dies off.
I also balance my tanks out with macro algaes to consume nutrients.
FWIW cyano can fix nitrogen gas as its source of nitrogen. So when the tank becomes nitrate limited cyano can flourish. Killing the lights kills off the cyano and return nitrates for the corals and algae.
just my .02
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by beaslbob
http:///forum/post/3218044
I just kill the lights and in a couple of days the cyano dies off.
I also balance my tanks out with macro algaes to consume nutrients.
FWIW cyano can fix nitrogen gas as its source of nitrogen. So when the tank becomes nitrate limited cyano can flourish. Killing the lights kills off the cyano and return nitrates for the corals and algae.
just my .02
YOU KNOW WHAT....I just changed my bulbs too.....from the dual 6500 to the dual 10K
Could that be doing it%%......I think I also extended runtime for the whites

ALSO...If I turn lights off....could I still leave actinics on????
 
S

shrimpy brains

Guest
I'd say the increased intensity along with time could def. cause a bloom. Do you have coral in this tank? If so, maybe you could just scale back the lighting time, then increase it slowly.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Shrimpy Brains
http:///forum/post/3218058
I'd say the increased intensity along with time could def. cause a bloom. Do you have coral in this tank? If so, maybe you could just scale back the lighting time, then increase it slowly.
I feel like such an idiot for not thinking of that

I have corals, but nothing that would be hurt by lack of light....I'm doing a little cleaning right now, and I'm going to change the light timing tonight too
I'm also repositioning the PH's a little after I clean them....2 are done....1 to go :)
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
OK......Should I turn white lights off for 1-2 days, or just decrease the time they are on???
ALSO....On one wall I have what looks like cyano (color) but I do not think it is (actually pretty positive it is not) cause it will not wipe off.....It's even hard to scrub off....is this something to worry about???
 
garick

garick

Member
If you have ALOT of it. I think a queen Conch would eat it all. Though it would starve right after it ran out of cyno.
Depending on the shape its growing in, it could just be coraline algae which is fine.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Garick
http:///forum/post/3218078
If you have ALOT of it. I think a queen Conch would eat it all. Though it would starve right after it ran out of cyno.
Depending on the shape its growing in, it could just be coraline algae which is fine.
I'm guessing you are talking the stuff on the glass

the patches on the rocks is definitely cyano....sad to say I know what that looks like.....I siphoned what I could out, and will do a w/c tomorrow
 
garick

garick

Member
cyano will normally wipe right off glass, if its really hard and requires a scraper or razor its possibly coraline which is/can be red like cyano.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Personally I don't think the change in lighting triggered the outbreak. Old lighting will fuel and outbreak, not new lighting IMO.
What have you tested, phosphate, nitrate?
Have you tested your source water?
Have you maintained you RODI unit?
What type of filters are on this tank and have they been maintained?
The battle is the same, reduce nutrients, check feeding, siphon, check those things above.
Not a fan of the lighting thing but some people swear by it. I say get to the source of the problem.
The stuff on the glass sounds like coralline.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3218115
Personally I don't think the change in lighting triggered the outbreak. Old lighting will fuel and outbreak, not new lighting IMO.
What have you tested, phosphate, nitrate?
Have you tested your source water?
Have you maintained you RODI unit?
What type of filters are on this tank and have they been maintained?
The battle is the same, reduce nutrients, check feeding, siphon, check those things above.
Not a fan of the lighting thing but some people swear by it. I say get to the source of the problem.
The stuff on the glass sounds like coralline.
HEYYYY....The ro/di unit I just tested, and tds is reading 4
Trates are 0
phosphates, barely readable...so between 0 and the .25 mark
I have a cascade 700 which I just cleaned Saturday and added Chemipure-elite
I have the Octopus BH100SS skimmer (just got) K2, Maxijet 400, and another PH (can not remember name)
I have not changed anything else%%
 
beazalbob69

beazalbob69

Member
I too am having a cyano breakout right now. I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject and this is how I see it. Cyano uptakes phosphate and also some nitrate. If it takes up phosphate you usually wont get a reading from a test kit as it will all be locked up in the cyano. If it takes all the phosphate then the macro algae in the fuge wont be able to use it so turning the lights off in the display causing the cyano to die back would be helpful. My cyano dies back every night and comes back slowly during the day so it is definatly the lights helping it grow. I want my fuge to use the phosphate and nitrate not the display tank.
Yes solving the cause of the problem is also important. Lack of mantainance is my problem but just changing more water and less feeding is not going to fix the problem on its own.
 
fretfreak13

fretfreak13

Active Member
I have a rock COVERED in red coraline. My back wall gets covered in it too, but it's defiently not cyano. =) Hopefully that's whats on your wall.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Fretfreak13
http:///forum/post/3218133
I have a rock COVERED in red coraline. My back wall gets covered in it too, but it's defiently not cyano. =) Hopefully that's whats on your wall.
I'm guessing that it has to be since it won't come off
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3218125
HEYYYY....The ro/di unit I just tested, and tds is reading 4
Trates are 0
phosphates, barely readable...so between 0 and the .25 mark
This could in fact be part of the problem. I don't have a RODI unit but would think that a read of 4 TDS could be a reason to change out something. Hope someone else weighs in here with a better understanding of when to change filters.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Went reading up on RODI filters here is some information I found
"The RO membrane is really the workhorse of the system. It removes most of the TDS, some membranes to a greater extent than others. After the RO membrane, water will flow to your DI housing. When the DI output starts creeping up from 0 or 1 ppm to 3 ppm, 5 ppm, and higher, you know that your resin needs to be replaced. Sometimes people complain that their DI resin didn't last very long. Often the culprit is a malfunctioning RO membrane. This will exhaust the resin quicker then would otherwise have been the case. Sometimes the problem is poor quality resin."
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Thanks...I have new filters that I bought a long time ago (just in case) I had no idea how long they would last, and since I have to order everything I figured it would be better to have them on hand. Guess I'll be changing them out tonight :)
WOWWWW...I just looked it up, and I will have this ro/di unit a year next month.....It did good with the filters
 
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