Cyano Outbreak
- Thread starter jbanks
- Start date
gary faulkner
New member
jbanks
So I should stop MB7 and replace vodka with vinegar?
I have been using 80 proof vodka so I should use 8 times this amount of white vinegar?
Sorry for all the questions but I just bought about $500.00 worth of coral in two different shipments to start over on my 300 gal.
Would hate it if I loose any corals at this point. Had enough disappointments lately without that happening.
Can you hear the violins and see the tears? hehehe
Thanks a bunch for putting up with all the drama!!!
So I should stop MB7 and replace vodka with vinegar?
I have been using 80 proof vodka so I should use 8 times this amount of white vinegar?
Sorry for all the questions but I just bought about $500.00 worth of coral in two different shipments to start over on my 300 gal.
Would hate it if I loose any corals at this point. Had enough disappointments lately without that happening.
Can you hear the violins and see the tears? hehehe
Thanks a bunch for putting up with all the drama!!!
Hey Bro, this is what this forum is all about..... sharing experiences and helping one another.
I mixed 1 part vodka, the rest vinegar.. I actually use a 750ml Smirnoff bottle with the top drilled so that I can use my doser.. 1/4quarter of the bottle is filled with 80 proof vodka. The rest to the top is vinegar. I was dosing 4ml of vinegar a day. Now I dose 48ml a day of this concoction.. I was worried too, but a few weeks later and I have only seen positive results.. I've witnessed no visible signs of stress to my frags or colonies..
As for MB7, I didn't want to chance of dosing too much bacteria while using SB... I may start it back at some point to add a little diversity, but I'm in no rush.. I've noticed no brown diatom since stopping MB7.. I'm not implying that was the cause of it, but I could alwyas tell when I dosed too much.
All options are really up to you... Both were fairly safe experiments IMHO.. One thing that I would stress, is that I don't believe in miracle cures... I do believe that coupled with good husandry, there are some products and techniques that can definitely simplify your life in this hobby.
I mixed 1 part vodka, the rest vinegar.. I actually use a 750ml Smirnoff bottle with the top drilled so that I can use my doser.. 1/4quarter of the bottle is filled with 80 proof vodka. The rest to the top is vinegar. I was dosing 4ml of vinegar a day. Now I dose 48ml a day of this concoction.. I was worried too, but a few weeks later and I have only seen positive results.. I've witnessed no visible signs of stress to my frags or colonies..
As for MB7, I didn't want to chance of dosing too much bacteria while using SB... I may start it back at some point to add a little diversity, but I'm in no rush.. I've noticed no brown diatom since stopping MB7.. I'm not implying that was the cause of it, but I could alwyas tell when I dosed too much.
All options are really up to you... Both were fairly safe experiments IMHO.. One thing that I would stress, is that I don't believe in miracle cures... I do believe that coupled with good husandry, there are some products and techniques that can definitely simplify your life in this hobby.
Mine are crossed with ya!
gary faulkner
New member
I'm definitely not trying for a miracle either, just want to get my P04 down to .03 or there about, if you know what I mean.
Please help me clarify, 1/4 vodka 3/4 vinegar dosing 48ml. per day on a 180 gal.
And stop MB7 until I am through the inital stages with the SB?
Does this sound about right to you? Are we on the same page or am I way off base?
I really appreciate all the help.
Thanks
Gary
Please help me clarify, 1/4 vodka 3/4 vinegar dosing 48ml. per day on a 180 gal.
And stop MB7 until I am through the inital stages with the SB?
Does this sound about right to you? Are we on the same page or am I way off base?
I really appreciate all the help.
Thanks
Gary
pecan2phat
Active member
New lights in a well established system should not cause an outbreak of cyano.
Long Island Andy
Andy
ctmgardea
New member
I have had this system up and going since 10-03-09, I had to transfer everything LR, substrate, corals and fish from the same size set up with way less powerful equipment, that had been up for about a year.
here is a list of equipment in new tank
180g 72x24x24
lighting 2 x 40 Wat 420 n actinic
3 led = to 3 250 MH
2 x MP40's full power on lagoon, placed 1/4 down from surface.
1 korali #4, 1 korali #3 running behind rock work,
Rio HF 32 return pump,
Vortex in 180,
30g sump, with korali #3 in for flow
10g refuge with cheato reverse lighting.
warner marine phos reactor,
aqua euro calcium reactor with mag chips,
seachem nitrate reducing chips passive flow.
57 watt AQUA uv sterilizer
1/3 hp chiller my water has been testing in good shape since transfer.
I do have a good bio load
4 tang's
2 fire fish
3 clown's
3 wrasse's
1 diamond Gobi
1 royal grama
3 cardinal's
2 cleaner shrimp
about 4-5 hermits
1 turbo snail,
3-4 other small snails
I feed 1 sheet of sea weed and 2 cubes of mysis each day
if anyone has suggestions I am open to hear what you have to say...even if I am on the west coast.
here is a list of equipment in new tank
180g 72x24x24
lighting 2 x 40 Wat 420 n actinic
3 led = to 3 250 MH
2 x MP40's full power on lagoon, placed 1/4 down from surface.
1 korali #4, 1 korali #3 running behind rock work,
Rio HF 32 return pump,
Vortex in 180,
30g sump, with korali #3 in for flow
10g refuge with cheato reverse lighting.
warner marine phos reactor,
aqua euro calcium reactor with mag chips,
seachem nitrate reducing chips passive flow.
57 watt AQUA uv sterilizer
1/3 hp chiller my water has been testing in good shape since transfer.
I do have a good bio load
4 tang's
2 fire fish
3 clown's
3 wrasse's
1 diamond Gobi
1 royal grama
3 cardinal's
2 cleaner shrimp
about 4-5 hermits
1 turbo snail,
3-4 other small snails
I feed 1 sheet of sea weed and 2 cubes of mysis each day
if anyone has suggestions I am open to hear what you have to say...even if I am on the west coast.
pecan2phat
Active member
ctmgardea,
You have good flow going on in your tank. The Vortechs give you a nice undertow and the koralia help behind the rock work. In reality when you transferred everything over, you may not have went through any nitrogen cycles but just the disturbance alone of a transfer can get your biological parameters out of wack. (Some tanks go through this new tank syndrome for a good year or so, I would consider an established tank to be 2+ years running with good water parameters & low nutrient levels)
Don't put that much emphasis on the fish load, I have 3x the amount that you have also in a 180g & feed much more on a daily basis with no cyano. Po4 & No3 is another story though :lol:
I think that SB would definitely help your conditions, just remember to turn your UV off for 3 days after each dosing.
You have good flow going on in your tank. The Vortechs give you a nice undertow and the koralia help behind the rock work. In reality when you transferred everything over, you may not have went through any nitrogen cycles but just the disturbance alone of a transfer can get your biological parameters out of wack. (Some tanks go through this new tank syndrome for a good year or so, I would consider an established tank to be 2+ years running with good water parameters & low nutrient levels)
Don't put that much emphasis on the fish load, I have 3x the amount that you have also in a 180g & feed much more on a daily basis with no cyano. Po4 & No3 is another story though :lol:
I think that SB would definitely help your conditions, just remember to turn your UV off for 3 days after each dosing.
ctmgardea
New member
pecan2phat,
Thank you for your response, I noticed really only 2 spots in the tank that were building up with the cyano...both high on the rock work and now I see some on the mat of my green star polyps that get a ton of flow on them ...maybe too much flow, that's why I thought the lighting change maybe to blame. also I have seen some people talking about adding more clean up crew animals, what is your feeling on that to help? I know what you mean on the nitrate, I had a huge scare, my nitrates were testing in the 90-110 range for the longest time I was pulling my hair out till I had my LFS do a full work up only to find everything was great 0 on everything just had old test kit
Again thank you for your input.
Cheers!
Thank you for your response, I noticed really only 2 spots in the tank that were building up with the cyano...both high on the rock work and now I see some on the mat of my green star polyps that get a ton of flow on them ...maybe too much flow, that's why I thought the lighting change maybe to blame. also I have seen some people talking about adding more clean up crew animals, what is your feeling on that to help? I know what you mean on the nitrate, I had a huge scare, my nitrates were testing in the 90-110 range for the longest time I was pulling my hair out till I had my LFS do a full work up only to find everything was great 0 on everything just had old test kit
Again thank you for your input.
Cheers!
pecan2phat
Active member
ctmgardea,
Based on your livestock list, yes I think you can definitely hike up the cleanup crew by 4x to 6x the amount.
In my experience, sometimes if the cyano is just starting up in a spot or two, you can attempt to siphon it up/baste it off/toothbrush it off rocks and it doesn't always come back if your No3/Po4 is low & are using RO/DI makeup water with little silicates. But it can also be a prelude to a cyano bloom so dosing SB would be a better route. It doesn't do anything bad and is just the opposite where it will diversify your bacteria colonies & outcompete the cyano. Good flow actually is a deterent to cyano whereas hair algae likes good flow.
Based on your livestock list, yes I think you can definitely hike up the cleanup crew by 4x to 6x the amount.
In my experience, sometimes if the cyano is just starting up in a spot or two, you can attempt to siphon it up/baste it off/toothbrush it off rocks and it doesn't always come back if your No3/Po4 is low & are using RO/DI makeup water with little silicates. But it can also be a prelude to a cyano bloom so dosing SB would be a better route. It doesn't do anything bad and is just the opposite where it will diversify your bacteria colonies & outcompete the cyano. Good flow actually is a deterent to cyano whereas hair algae likes good flow.
ctmgardea
New member
Thanks pecan2phat
just basted it and noticed more spots...looks like a bloom!
did turn down lighting by 1/3.
considering I was only running 4 x 40 watt T12 bulbs before seeing more dusty brown algae on glass too.
may have to make a run to LFS tomorrow... wife will love that on valentine's day!
may stock up on cleanup crew and see if LFS's have SB.
any suggestions on clean up crew ?
just basted it and noticed more spots...looks like a bloom!
did turn down lighting by 1/3.considering I was only running 4 x 40 watt T12 bulbs before seeing more dusty brown algae on glass too.
may have to make a run to LFS tomorrow... wife will love that on valentine's day!
may stock up on cleanup crew and see if LFS's have SB.
any suggestions on clean up crew ?
gary faulkner
New member
Same page my friend on all counts
How long have you been dosing vodka?
Forth week on vodka. I dosed my second dose of SB last night and I think I might have goofed on this one. I was slowly dripping a gal. of kalk into the sump and thought it would be a good idea to just add the SB to the kalk and let it drip in at the same time. After dumping in the SB I thought, wouldn't the high ph kill all the bacteria in the SB.
Well I guess I can go to the chemistry forum and get an opinion on this one.
Thanks again
I assume you guys are siphoning this crap out of at least blowing it off to be caught by filtersocks? Or does it just dissappear? Dosed my second dose on brothers tank and it didn't smell? Dosed my own tank on wed and the bottle still smells! Wonder what happened to the first open bottle.
Re: Cyano Outbreak
Taz, I siphoned out what I could. I also blew some off. It slowly dissapeared from the areas that I could not reach. The next day after siphoning or blowing off, I could tell if it was working once I did not see it growing back. This stuff can come back quick as you've noticed.
As for the smell, I have NEVER not smelled this stuff! That I would be somewhat concerned about.
Taz, I siphoned out what I could. I also blew some off. It slowly dissapeared from the areas that I could not reach. The next day after siphoning or blowing off, I could tell if it was working once I did not see it growing back. This stuff can come back quick as you've noticed.
As for the smell, I have NEVER not smelled this stuff! That I would be somewhat concerned about.
ctmgardea
New member
so, the main idea here is that the SB bacteria, competes with the cyano? or that it breaks down the food source for the cyano faster then the cyano can use it? So my problem may be that I do not have my biological filtration up to snuff for the bio load in my tank? if this is true then using any bacteria boost will help? also is there a draw back or bad effects to using this product in a reef tank? I think I am going to order some just freaking out a little, thanks for any help on this!
