Chemiclean with Sharks and Rays

FishyMel

New member
I'm having horrible cyano issues in my shark and ray tank my parameters are the following:
Nitrates-5
Nitrite-0
Ammonia-0
Phosphate-.20
Kh- was only about 7 the other day! but now it is at 10.
Ph- was 7.7 but now 8.2
Specific Gravity- 1.025
I also I have good flow.

My parameters aren't bad, thats why it stumps me why I am having such bad cyano. So the question is has anyone tried chemi clean with their sharks and rays and did it have any bad after effects? I am concerned because it kills cyano bacteria, it is essentially an antibiotic and if it kills cyano is killing essential elasmobranch intestinal fauna?

Btw, do you like my new avatar?:D
 
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Is the cyano all over only in certain spots? Where did it start...how did it spread?

I don't know about the chemiclean product but I would try to ID the source first eliminate that then do something or you may end up with the same problem all over again.
 
Personally - I wouldn't suggest using Chemiclean. Attempting to kill of the cyano bacteria could lead to some major problems.

Such as a complete crash of your tank's denitrification process.

A better solution would be to add more clean up crew - snails, crabs, and shrimps.
 
I don't recommend using chemiclean. It would only be a temporary fix, and could cause other problems. Get a bigger, better skimmer and do larger more frequent water changes. Make sure your lights are not old. Older bulbs that shift color spectrum can contribute to it. A good skimmer and larger more frequent water changes is the best method.
 
Im using 250 watt metal halide for my lighting. How would a bigger skimmer help if I already have pretty good parameters?
 
Cyano is generally caused by a build-up of organics in the water column. Cyano can also feed off of excess organics in the sand bed. I am not aware of a test for organics. Skimmers will remove organics, but sharks produce so much waste that more frequent and larger water changes are the best way to keep organics low. You should also siphon out mat-like growths of cyano, as larger colonies can become independent of bulk water nutrients. You are going to have a hard time with both sharks and high wattage light, as the combination of waste products and strong lights is a perfect environment for cyano. It would be easier to keep sharks in a fish only, where low wattage light is used. Siphon out the mats of cyano and do more frequent and larger water changes. Also make sure your light bulbs are not too old as the shift in spectrum in old lights can favor cyano.
 
I would stay away from Chemiclean.

A phosphate reactor might help.

But I agree, that is way too much light for a fo/fowlr tank.
 
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Best ways to reduce organics is heavy skimming and lots of carbon. Also reducing the phosphates as low as possible will help. Combine that with some manual removal of the cyano and you should get it under control without the need for chemicals that might not agree with your elasmobranchs.
 
My RO/DI unit is only taking out 85% of my waste. Do you think this could be a large contributing factor? I am aware sharks and rays put out large amounts of waste, namely pure ammonia but my shark is only 8 inches and I only feed her 2 krill or something else in an equivalent amount every 2 or 3 days. Which is almost nothing. My ray is a new acquire but he is only 3.5 inches and I've had the the problem prior to his arrival. I don't know where the carbons would be coming from unless it is my RO/DI unit. What about phosphates at .25? Should I bring that down too?
 
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When did you last replace the filters in your RO/DI? Do you have a TDS meter handy? Anytime I had problems with phosphates it came from my source water that I was adding. I also agree with using good carbon.
 
My tds meter's batteries are dead but the last time I checked I was only eliminating 85%. It might be worse now. I haven't changed the membranes in 2-3 years. I have some handy. Do you think I should change them and then do another massive water change?



Btw, I have high output lighting for the corals in the tank.
 
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