Cyanobacteria

marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
I just really want to get a good dependable filtration system in place. My algae scrubber has been a real pain to get working so far.
Currently I have:
1. Skimmer (half the size it should be)
2. Carbon/GFO reactor
3. 40 lbs of live rock in sump
4. Cheato in sump (lit 24/7)
Algae scrubber has been taken out of commission. Its been 2 months with no growth on it. I think the GFO/Cheato out perform it. Howvever I have the grow light and air wand focused on a filter sock, which is growing some algae.
The display has not a trace of algae. Maybe the cyano is preventing it from growing. I'm loosing snails left a right. I had a ton of them in there and now I can only count maybe 5-10. I will have to restock and supplement food for them.
I may be placing a HOB Filter on my 40 gallon sump. I have some powerheads in there to stir up the debris. Now I just need something to pull the debris out.
Nitrates are down quite a bit since cheato was added. I don't get any positive reading from API tests, but my Seneye monitoring is showing about 8 ppm, when it use to be 15-20 ppm.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
No algae in the display could very well be why you're starting to lose all of your snails. Wondering if the gfo may be acting as a bit of a double edged sword at this stage of the game. How old is the tank?
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/372061/cyanobacteria/40#post_3527824
No algae in the display could very well be why you're starting to lose all of your snails. Wondering if the gfo may be acting as a bit of a double edged sword at this stage of the game. How old is the tank?
This new tank is 8 months old. 40 lbs of the rock was established for a year in another tank. The other 100 lbs were dry rock.
I was thinking of placing my scrubber back and and filling my dual reactor with carbon in both chambers to see if the GFO is overkill. I was thinking the same thing once I Placed my cheato in the tank.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarvelFan http:///t/372061/cyanobacteria/40#post_3527827
This new tank is 8 months old. 40 lbs of the rock was established for a year in another tank. The other 100 lbs were dry rock.
I was thinking of placing my scrubber back and and filling my dual reactor with carbon in both chambers to see if the GFO is overkill. I was thinking the same thing once I Placed my cheato in the tank.
Perhaps it's worth considering just focusing on one or thee other - chaeto or the scrubber. And either reduce the amount of GFO or maybe even nix it for a while. Problem with limiting the nutrients to the cyano is limiting the phosphates that are nutrient for algae and algae eaters as well.
The idea is to make your refugium area or scrubber thee ultimate heavenly place for algae or cyano to thrive. Consider your lighting for growing it just as important as lighting for growing corals in the display. It doesn't have to be expensive, just needs to be able to get the job done. Perhaps you could try that and stick with running only the blue leds in the display for a while. Just a thought.
What were you running on your scrubber if I may ask?
 
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