My tank is a year old come Christmas and everything has been running smooth for the first 10 months... Come november cyano apears and i think its because i have left my protein skimmer off for a few weeks. I turn it back on and the problem continues to worsen.. I do no over feed, I have 2 fish, run protein skimmer now 24/7 and do weekly 10% water changes. The only thing that i could think of is that i added pvc pipe to help the protein skimmer stay up because sometimes the suctions cups fail.... Any advise
Another Cyano thread....
- Thread starter Vgyoung
- Start date
Crusinjimbo
New member
How large is the tank and more info on setup and water test results, especially PO4 and NO3, would get you more accurate information to help correct your situation. Good luck!
I am actually going through the exact same thing. Based on my research, it appears that a lot of times the live rock can absorb and eventually start leaching phosphates (which is why the cyano doesn't appear until months down the road). In my case, I have changed to a wet skim, decreased the feeding, and decreased the photo period. Like you, nothing had changed and I have always tested 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates.
Steph_funny
New member
I too am having this issue...so...what is working for someone? Do I need to lessen the time the light is on? My tank is 29 gal biocube...since May . 2 clowns 1 gobe 1 blenny and some snails and tube snails? Can't seem to keep crabs ...had a shrimp for a while ...then he died...had an angel potter....he lost color after a while...then died...I don't over feed (anymore) and do the water changes regularly...so...what's wrong?
Yellow Eyes
Member
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2454334&highlight=cyano
I had a pretty decent cyano outbreak, and I followed the advice in the post above. Basically 3 days lights out, once a month for 3 months. After the first month, it seemed like the cyano came back with a vengeance, however, I just completed the second month of blackout about 2 weeks ago, and there is hardly any cyano left. I will be doing the third blackout around new years, and hopefully that will finish it off.
I had a pretty decent cyano outbreak, and I followed the advice in the post above. Basically 3 days lights out, once a month for 3 months. After the first month, it seemed like the cyano came back with a vengeance, however, I just completed the second month of blackout about 2 weeks ago, and there is hardly any cyano left. I will be doing the third blackout around new years, and hopefully that will finish it off.
GilliganReef
Member
Battling CYANO. Step 1 go buy a GFO reactor start getting your phosphate down. It might show up as zero on your test kits. Trust me your kits are wrong. You have about .1-.25 in phos or even higher.
Step 2 siphons as much as you can weekly into your filter sock before water changes.
Step 3 do 25% water changes weekly until you start getting close to zero in phos. This process will take you a couple months to win. In the end you will be happy. The 3 days lights out is a Band-Aid not a cure. To win this battle you have to control your nutrients. I am month 6 into my battle and already my tank is look better. Every day I notice the cyano slowly disappearing in my tank. Been running my GFO for little over 2 mos. I started out with GHA and tons of Cyano. All my GHA is gone now.
Step 2 siphons as much as you can weekly into your filter sock before water changes.
Step 3 do 25% water changes weekly until you start getting close to zero in phos. This process will take you a couple months to win. In the end you will be happy. The 3 days lights out is a Band-Aid not a cure. To win this battle you have to control your nutrients. I am month 6 into my battle and already my tank is look better. Every day I notice the cyano slowly disappearing in my tank. Been running my GFO for little over 2 mos. I started out with GHA and tons of Cyano. All my GHA is gone now.
While I don't disagree that Cyano uses Phosphates, it also feeds on Nitrates and DOCs. I have ran GFO and Chem-Pure Elite from day one (tank is now over a year old). I have never tested any recordable nitrates or phosphates. (I check phosphate test kits buy added .5 ml of water from thawed mysis shrimp to 4.5 ml of aquarium water). Nothing has changed....no new fish...feeding habits remain constant.
Clownfish Chris
New member
I would have to agree with this. If you have cyano, or any other algae, you have nutrients. The reason you are testing 0 is two fold. The tests are inaccurate and the algae is consuming the nutrients.
My 29gal has had the same issue recently. I am running Phosban and carbon. I am slowly winning the battle.
No change in the photo period for me.
m0nkie
Well-known member
I agree theres nutrients, however, cyano can survives on extreme low nutrients.
I am on my 2nd month battling cyano. My tank is 11 month old.
What helps me:
- reduce feeding
- reduce light on period
- skim wet
- weekly water change and stir up all the cyano. I try to manually remove them first before the wc.
- increase flow. Lots of flow. No dead spots. I had 2 wp40 before. Now i use the Gyre.
3 days lights out work great. You need to do this for 3-4 months. Once a month. It helps remove that huge purple cyano carpet. Then you can do all the above
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