New Tank Cyano?

slugg3r

slugg3r

Member
I've had my tank up for about 5 months and am starting to have a good size cyano problem. Many things I have seen say this is a normal part of a new tank but I'm not totally sure. My levels just tested are:
ph: 8.4
salinity 35
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Calcium 420
Alk 3.0 meq/l
Phospate 0
I barely feed every other day, my corals are growing like crazy and I have almost zero algea (and what I do have is shrinking fast), just the cyano that is growing. I have increased my flow and it actually seems to be growing best in high flow :thinking: I recently tried cutting back on my lighting but that seems to be making it worse.
How long did this stage last for anyone? I'm worried about the cyano starting to smother some corals. I read somewhere else that there is a theory that when your tank is too low on nutrients the algea can't outcompete the cyano and it actually makes it worse. Could this be happening? The solution I saw for that was to feed more so I am a little nervous to try. I do have a fuge that is growing chaeto.
I don't think I am ready to try chemicals yet but want to know if this sounds normal for this time in the tank lifecycle or not.
Thanks
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Are you sure it is cyano and not diatoms? I had cyano once and found that if I tried to brush it off it would simply come back and spread. I had high flow and low levels and I still had it... I tried varying light schedules, replacing bulbs and buying a clean up crew that I thought would eat it (they didn't). I tried quarantining my rock and even scooped out all the substrate and quarantined it and left just a bare bottom tank. I had cyano start growing in there anyway!
The only thing that got rid of it for me was a bottle of "anti-red" (yes that's what it is called). There are several different brands out there but from what I've seen they are all natural and I did not see any problem using "anti-red" on my inverts. I doesd according to directions and then a few days later I dosed again to make sure. I siphoned out any dead algae and then I did a couple of water changes. It has not been back since.
One thing that can cause it is low SG. I had a bad hydrometer (old, salt accumulated on the floater). It turned out my SG was only 1.017. I replaced my hydrometer with a refractometer and I never had that problem again.
 
slugg3r

slugg3r

Member
I use a refractometer and recalibrated so I think my SG is fine.
It is definitely cyano, long, stringy, and red. I plan to wait at least another week to see if it gets better before considering chemicals. Just wondering how long these blooms seem to take to naturally go away.
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Have you tried physically removing it during a water change? How frequent do you perform water changes? How much?
From what I understand this is not algae at all it is bacteria and nothing will eat it. It is formed from poor water quality, high nutrients, and poor circulation.
 
slugg3r

slugg3r

Member
I change out 10% weekly with RO water. When doing that I siphon the cyano out as much as possible.
I don't think I have a nutrient problem because I have almost zero algea. If anything I am worried about not having enough.
 
rusting

rusting

Member
Originally Posted by SLUGG3R
I change out 10% weekly with RO water. When doing that I siphon the cyano out as much as possible.
I don't think I have a nutrient problem because I have almost zero algea. If anything I am worried about not having enough.
Try 20% water change and get more flow at the bottom.
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
I only know what I read thus far as my tank sits empty. What about daily small water changes with daily vaccuming. How fast is is growing?
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
I only know what I read thus far as my tank sits empty. What about daily small water changes with daily vaccuming. How fast is is growing? Do you have pictures?
 
amadent

amadent

Member
I had a similar problem. This site suggested leaving my lights off for three days. Did it any it (cyno) was gone and never returned. It's been about 3 months so far and all is good.
 
promisetbg

promisetbg

Active Member
Syphon it out and step up your water changes, it will pass. Bump up your alk a bit, it will help. The addition of a refugium would be the best solution.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Good advice so far... but back when I had cyano I did all of those things. In fact when I tore down my tank and took out the rocks covered in cyano, I siphoned them clean and then put them in quarentine for a month in the dark (I was desperate).
I stripped the tank of everything and left a glass bottom. I put in some fake coral temporarily so that the fish would at least have something to hide around. I cleaned out the refugium and the wet/dry. I sucked up every bit of dirt out of everywhere I could find...
And the cyano came back. It was growing literally in the direct flow of the powerheads all over the glass. I quit feeding, I lowered light, I raised SG and alk and I replaced every bulb I had. I almost gave up saltwater. Then I bought a bottle of "anti-red" and mixed it in there and the algae was gone overnight.
I put the rocks and the substrate back in and I dosed it again. I never saw any problems out of my snails, crabs, urchins or feather dusters. I gave it a few weeks and then I did another water change to remove any trace chemicals. I don't think there were any because my skimmer seemed to pick it out of the water in just a few hours. My skimmer cup quickly filled up with dark red foam and slime. I changed the tank's water anyway and it has never come back.
So if you try EVERYTHING and it fails... don't give up. Just throw in a bottle of anti-red (or some other brands, I haven't tried others though).
 
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