Black algae??

[McPuff]

Yes, the foam is certainly a reason to cease skimming. I see what you did though. When I ran mine I left the skimmer running but cut the airflow to the skimmer and removed the collection cup. The effect would have been the same minus the foam. I have reason to believe that aerating the skimmer make the chemiclean less effective. If you try it again, cut the air feed to the skimmer. It won't affect the oxygen levels in your tank appreciably... at least, not nearly enough to adversely affect the organisms.

 

[karimwassef]

Hmmm. I don't know. My skimmer injects a gallon of fresh air a minute. It's a dual penductor high pressure injection system.

Also- the annihilation of the cyano was absolute... It couldn't be better.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Winner Winner - Chicken Dinner!

 

[azjohnny]

I have used CC before and I run my skimmer so the gate valve is completely open, some foam does gather in the skimmer but its mostly to inject O2 in the water per the instructions of CC. Boyd reports the O2 helps to oxidize trapped sludge and sediment

Karim

How much CC did you dose for the treatment?

 

[karimwassef]

I followed the instructions for 700gallons. It was a very small amount like a teaspoon or so?

In fact, I was shocked that such a small amount of material could have such a massive effect.

That said, it was excellent. The bubbles were very good and the results were exceptionally good.

 

[azjohnny]

I find Cyno to be very interesting, IMO its an algae/bacterial hybrid thats photosynthetic

After talking with fellow reefers and respected LFS owners in my area I do believe its a bacterial imbalance leaning to the side of too much bacteria for the organic load, when carbon dosing it is common to get Cyno and you are increasing bacteria with that

You can have great water parameters and still get it. A LFS in my area doses CC from time to time as they start to get Cyno. They say increasing water flow helps, but I don't think it matters

"Performing a 3 day blackout on your tank gets rid of it" It gets rid of most of it but I think the spores still remain and it can come back at a later time

 

[karimwassef]

I don't carbon dose at all. With the size of my skimmer, I wouldn't expect bacteria to get to epidemic levels, but I guess that maybe it favors some strains more than others and cyano doesn't get pulled into the skimmer export.

 

[karimwassef]

I think cyano also fixes atmospheric nitrogen directly, so it tends to do better where the competing algae don't have easy access to nitrogen-based nutrients (nitrates)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria#Nitrogen_fixation

this is why those regions where the N compounds are off-balance from P, the cyano can take over. I have a GFO, but I think the N removal mechanisms are more powerful.

Neither N or P are measurable on my kits - and given the amount I feed, that is nearly incredible and means that the combined mass of living organisms are able to fix the nutrients as fast as I put them in...

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/78FE1D57-7636-453B-9A19-54A08E9158BF_zpskkw5fsqx.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/78FE1D57-7636-453B-9A19-54A08E9158BF_zpskkw5fsqx.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 78FE1D57-7636-453B-9A19-54A08E9158BF_zpskkw5fsqx.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/BE7FC0D9-0A2D-4BB3-87DC-0EAAEE174222_zpsujujxcft.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/BE7FC0D9-0A2D-4BB3-87DC-0EAAEE174222_zpsujujxcft.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo BE7FC0D9-0A2D-4BB3-87DC-0EAAEE174222_zpsujujxcft.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/B22BE473-52DC-44D7-95C2-D0931B479970_zpshahlp90j.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/B22BE473-52DC-44D7-95C2-D0931B479970_zpshahlp90j.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo B22BE473-52DC-44D7-95C2-D0931B479970_zpshahlp90j.jpg"/></a>

 

[McPuff]

I think cyano also fixes atmospheric nitrogen directly, so it tends to do better where the competing algae don't have easy access to nitrogen-based nutrients (nitrates)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria#Nitrogen_fixation

this is why those regions where the N compounds are off-balance from P, the cyano can take over. I have a GFO, but I think the N removal mechanisms are more powerful.

Neither N or P are measurable on my kits - and given the amount I feed, that is nearly incredible and means that the combined mass of living organisms are able to fix the nutrients as fast as I put them in...

That mass doesn't count as it's still mostly water!! :0)

 

[karimwassef]

The algae? No. I squeezed it out before weighing.

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/44EA9889-C40C-4885-A4CA-C382A51E4A6C_zps7ah9p2s2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/44EA9889-C40C-4885-A4CA-C382A51E4A6C_zps7ah9p2s2.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 44EA9889-C40C-4885-A4CA-C382A51E4A6C_zps7ah9p2s2.jpg"/></a>

Not perfect, but putting it on a napkin, it wouldn't make it wet. That's my measure, anyway.

 

[McPuff]

I'm just joking with you. That's a lot of algae... over a pound!

 

[karimwassef]

Yes. Makes me wonder how my tank would fare without my skimmer and ATS. I extract a pound of solid waste from my skimmer and a pound of algae from my ATS. That's not counting the liquid skimmer waste and secondary ATSs' export.

And I perform bi-weekly (every two weeks) 100gal water changes - trying to automate and reduce to monthly.

The food budget is also getting intense. Four shrimp a day every day is NOT cheap. I need to get access to cheaper sources of raw seafood.

 

[azjohnny]

I perform bi-weekly (every two weeks) 100gal water changes - trying to automate and reduce to monthly.

You could automate and divide your 100 gals every 14 days to a daily 7 gals. I know Spectrapure has such a system. All you would have to do is make sure the fresh salt water container had water

 

[karimwassef]

That's the problem. I can make the DIY with valves, etc...

But I need another 100 gal container.

 

[karimwassef]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C2Y1y5RxDnE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[karimwassef]

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/E92A6D7C-9CAF-40D9-AB39-C6A0097493FD_zpsfqebcgm6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/E92A6D7C-9CAF-40D9-AB39-C6A0097493FD_zpsfqebcgm6.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo E92A6D7C-9CAF-40D9-AB39-C6A0097493FD_zpsfqebcgm6.jpg"/></a>

 

[karimwassef]

doing it again - caught a video this time

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H6G1ctheRFo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>