Marine SAT Update

[soccer4life94]

I tired the Marine SAT, in fact I'm going on my third week of its use...which is Two bottles at $25 a piece. So far I havent seen any reduction in my cyno. I was willing to try this since I have been unable to find a cause for the cyno and it wasnt a chemical treatment. Contrary to their claims the tank didnt get any better. In fact, as of today the Cyno is only worse than before the treatments. I even had a friend come over and take a look at the tank and he cant see a reason for the cyno. I have great water movement, running 5 month old HQI's, I dont overfeed, running a EuroReef, topoff water with RODI. So Im really lost at this point. Can someone please give me some sign of hope here?:help: :help:

 

[jcsoccert]

What is in your tank? Maybe try cutting back on the time period your lights are on? How long do you leave them on? Do you have a skimmer?

 

[soccer4life94]

72g Bowfront Tank
30g Sump/Fuge
Chaeto
Running EuroReef Skimmer
90 lbs Live Fiji
Mag 9.5 return (fully open)
3 Maxi-jet 900's
2 150w DE HQI
DSB
1 Fire Shrimp
2 Emeralds
4 Astrea
8 Cerith
15-20 Nassarius
1 Fighting Conch
1 Yellow Tang
1 Sixline Wrasse
2 Perc Clowns
Various Corals
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrates almost right at 0
SG 1.024
Lighting stays on 8-10 hours. I have reduced this to even 4 hours and it didnt make any dent in the cyno
I do 5g water changes weekly. So any help would be great!

 

[sjohnston]

I used chemi-clean to rid the cyno, it is only a temp fix until you can figure out the source. It was only 13.00 and it was cleared up after the first treatment.

 

[soccer4life94]

Did yours ever come back? Ever find out the source?

 

[soccer4life94]

Well I went to the LFS and talked my problem over with this new guy. I explained my problem and all I have done to try to solve it. He didnt recommend me using any chemical solutions to solve it. For one he said my tank sounds to be a normal 6 month old tank. After telling him what i fed my tank. Formula I and II pellets, and Formula II frozen and sometimes flakes, he said that was my problem. He said those food have alot of extra things in them that was probably causing my problems. I was taking the frozen food and soaking it in tank water. He said that by doing that all the Phosphates and such that are in those frozen foods is being introduced into my tank. He said to let it thaw on its own then rinse it through brin net with rodi water. then put it into the tank. Stop feeding more then a couple pieces of pellets and stop the flakes all together. He seems to think that there lays my problem with cyno besides the whole new tank bloom. He said it cant be my flow since i have plenty, the lighting is new, im using RODI so it must be something with the way i am feeding. So I came home and credit carded the sand bed top layer and scopped it out. I blow the rocks and used a net to catch most of it and then i shut the lights off for the day. IF this theroy is true then over the next couple weeks i should see some improvement. This and he told me to stop my 5g weekly water changes and start 25g changes bi-weekly until my problem is resolved. Then if I want to go back to weekly then i could, but i needed more water change at one time when i have this type problem. So...now that i am out of breath and my fingers hurt from typing...whats everyones take on what this new guy tells me?
Kip? Bang? Thomas? 007?

 

[birdy]

Tell us more about your lights, What type, what spectrum, How old are the bulbs.
The last bit of cyano I had I traced directly to my lights. New bulbs and no more cyano.
But I do admit I have used chemi clean in the past and it has worked for me. But it was a last ditch effort.

 

[soccer4life94]

The lighting is PFO 150w de HQI 20k. They are approx 4-5 months old.

 

[dskidmore]

Sounds reasonable. You could confirm by testing for phosphates. I noted that wasn't on your list of water parameters. You can pinpoint the source if the water you defrost the food in has higher phosphate count than the tank water.

 

[soccer4life94]

Good thought, I guess that means I need to get a phosphate test kit huh?

 

[soccer4life94]

Alright, I swapped out about 27g of water out of the tank. I was thinking I would keep the lighting off for a few days to help rid the cyano. Would this be a good thing or a bad thing to do? Would it be damaging to my corals or just the water change be enough to kick start the removal of the cyano?

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by soccer4life94
After telling him what i fed my tank. Formula I and II pellets, and Formula II frozen and sometimes flakes, he said that was my problem. He said those food have alot of extra things in them that was probably causing my problems. I was taking the frozen food and soaking it in tank water. He said that by doing that all the Phosphates and such that are in those frozen foods is being introduced into my tank. He said to let it thaw on its own then rinse it through brin net with rodi water. then put it into the tank.
I would agree with that statment, phosphates come in many forms as preservitives and it could be just enough to set off the cycno.
I might also suggest that you look into making your own frozen food. Beth has a home made recipie for frozen food somewhere. It wouldn't hurt to try.
I also agree with the 25 gallon bi weekly water changes, that is about what I preform.
Thomas

 

[soccer4life94]

So that wouldnt be to much to do? 50g a month on a 72g with a 25-30g sump? Im keeping the tank covered except for 4 hours a day i switch the lights on at night. btw...by covered i mean the front and sides of the tank. I left the back portion of the canopy open so air and gas exchange can continue. I also cleaned the algae off the top of the overflow so more water can go through it.

 

[thomas712]

No I don't think that would be too much, if you like you can make it a 10 or 12 gallon weekly water change. I just prefer the 25 gallon about every two weeks on my 90.
I would give your rocks a good powerhead blow off in all the nooks and cranies as well then do the 25 gal water change. Then if you like go to the 10 gallon per week.
I would do this at least until you get the cyno under control then if you want to reduce the amount of water change you may do so.
Thomas

 

[soccer4life94]

ya, thats what he had said. He told me that in order to make any type dent in the water the water change would have to be done in a large swap out. on a side note. how long does it take for a coral to set itself? I got several corals from a friend and he told me to use super glue to stick it down, but almost every coral i used superglue on floated away within a couple hours. The frogspawn actually settled in a small hole in the rock...but how long until it seats itself. I tried blowing some cyano off with a turkey baster and almost blew the coral out of the hole...

 

[dskidmore]

Originally posted by soccer4life94
on a side note. how long does it take for a coral to set itself? I got several corals from a friend and he told me to use super glue to stick it down, but almost every coral i used superglue on floated away within a couple hours.
The thin super glues don't work very well at all, get a thick one, or even better a super glue gel.

 

[sergeant]

I am still fighting the cyanobacteria myself. Just an FYI, I added to my tank a Phosban reactor 150 and a week later I also added a skilter 250 filter/skimmer. I have notice the rock clearing up slowly. I also added caulerpa in the filter(10 gallon home made) to lower the nitrates as well. HTH.