blah cyano

[wolfie]

My tank are starting to get cyano again.

my tank is a stander RR 75gl tank with a 20 gl sump with a mag 9.5 for return . I have a aqua life skimmer running wet + a magnum 350 running 24/7 (mag 9.5 for the cl and 2 maxi jet 1200 that are on when the T5 lights are on)

As for lighting I am using a orbit light that come with 2 T5 running like 12 hours and 2 150 running like 8 hours.

Life stock are
1 powderbrown tang about 3in-4 in
1 Scopes tang about 3in
1 foxface also about 3in
2 false clown( 1 are 2 in and the other are 1in)
3 goby
1 Six line wrasse


a whole lots of snails and some hermit crab
2 tiger tail cucumber( split last week) + 3 starfish

I feed them 1 ever other day and spot feed my LPS every Sat.

My T5 buld are new, but my MH are about 6 months now and my RO/DI are about a year( TDS ready are 1) and I do 10-20% WC weekly

The last time I had cyano I did WC every other day and it went a way in about a month.

I am thinking it could be any 1 of these 4 thing
1 MH lights need to be change out
2 RO/DI filter need to be change out
3 overstocking?
4 30+ dead snails since Feb meeting. ( 20 of which was dead a day after the meeting and I thought the crab could use it as feed and shelter) about 10 more die leater of which I got from saltwaterfish. I still have 30+ snails in the tank. ( please do not ask why I have so many snails)

The reason I am saying cyano 2.5 and wolfie .5 is that cyano are also bulding up in my sump which I was able to take out.


Any thought on how I could fix this cyano problem?
I can change the MH buld tonight and also already order new filter for the RO/DI unit

[JennM]

What are your water parameters? Particularly nitrate and phosphate.

You've got a lot of livestock but I don't think that's the issue per se.

That's a lot of dead snails in a short time though, that probably has something to do with it.

Jenn

[Geoff]

get rid of you magnum. if it ONLY has carbon in it than that is fine. if it has any other media in it than take it off line. this is helping to increase your nutrient levels in the tank.

are you able to siphon under all of your aquascaping? are you removing all detritus whenever you do a wather change? the longer the detritus is allowed to sit in the tank the more nutrients it is able to leach out into the sand bed. eventually the sand bed will get full and need to be replaced.

G~

[wolfie]

The magnum is not the problem. I am clearning it every 2 week and it have nothing inside but a filter. I am using it to clearn out junk that are flowing around my tank that was not able to get to my sump.

I sture up the sand as much as I can each time I do WC and even use a pump to blow out stuff that are in my rock.

Am I over stocking? if not then I think my ro/di filter need to be change

[flinster]

I had a cyano problem after I went on vacation and came back to 3 fish missing...two jawfish and a flasher wrasse(decomposed in the tank..I never found them). I had a cyano problem for several weeks. My phos and trates check out at less that 5 ppm, but no matter how often I sucked it out, it came back with a vengence. My theory is that the cyano thrives off of the dead fish(in your case, snails) before they really registered on the tests. Just stick with your water changes and you'll beat it. I did 30% weekly. Skimming wet also helps.

[skeety]

Originally Posted by JennM

What are your water parameters? Particularly nitrate and phosphate.

also Magnesium (and probably Ca and Alk to go with that).

Is the cyno localized? (in certain spots) or all over? Do you also have any Algae problems?

If you don't have any other algae problems...then 9 out of 10 times (IME) I've found Cyno to be related to a flow problem.

If it's not that, then it's usually Magnesium depletetion (and/or poor Alk levels).

If you DO have other Algae...then it's probably a PO4 (phosphate) or nitrate problem.

[ChilisREasy]

ive had cyanno for about 3 months now, my phosphates are normal & my nitrates too..no dead things in my tank.2 1200 maxi jets going.water changes 2 to 4 times a month. & clean the sand bed,.id love to know how to rid it without chemicals too.

[skeety]

Originally Posted by ChilisREasy

ive had cyanno for about 3 months now, my phosphates are normal & my nitrates too..no dead things in my tank.2 1200 maxi jets going.water changes 2 to 4 times a month. & clean the sand bed,.id love to know how to rid it without chemicals too.

Do u drip Kalk?

[reefermike1]

yea cyano can be a real pain. ive used chemiclean in the past with no ill effects. im not that familiar with your skimmer, but if its a venturi id reccomend getting a needlewheel. also the filter pads youre running in that magnum is probably some if not a majority of the problem imo, and if youre skimmer was working the way it should u shouldnt need the filter pads anyways.

[ChilisREasy]

Originally Posted by skeety

Do u drip Kalk?

no

[Geoff]

you need to change the cannister every week at least, better to do it daily. any trapped detritus in the filter will rot away within a matter of hours releasing the bound nutrients back into the water column. these nutrients will then be taken up by the sand bed or any algae.

G~