cyano

saltwaterpicaso

saltwaterpicaso

New member
i have done everything within my power to get rid of this pain in the arse stuff i have followed everyones directions and have even used chemiclean. it just keeps coming back. im convinced its the rock. if i take all the rock out and boil it outside will my tank cycle again when i put it back in. i am beyond desperate to get rid of this stuff. im conviced its the rock becouse i never had it untill i purchased poor rock from a lfs and its been here ever since. please help
 
Yes if you boil all your rock then your tank will cycle again due to all the beneficial bacteria being killed off. You've tried more flow? Did you do a blackout for a few days and siphon out all the dead algae? What about some Halloween hermits, they eat it. I got myself six of those guys. Cyano is a huge pain in the butt, but I think if you boil the rocks it will cause a lot of stress to your tank to re cycle and all that.
 
if it really IS the rock causing the Cyano (actually PO4 accumulated in the rock) how is BOILING THE ROCK going to help?

there is absolutely NO REASON to boil liverock

or bury it in the back yard

or throw it away

or give it to your ex for Valentine's Day :)
 
If you think it is phosphate in the rock, just run GFO until phosphates are no longer registering. Ultimately, you will leach it all back out again and at the same time you will have no phosphate in the water.
 
I had severe cyano problems as well and what has worked for me is to limit the bioload (reduce phosphates). Either feed less or take out fish. I ended up taking out fish and i only feed pellets w some nori while adding a few additional cleaner shrimp to eat the leftover food. Did a few back to back water changes and now the tank is doing much better. Still have some cyano but i can only see hints of it in the sand. Im thinking gradually ill be good to go.

I considered using chemiclean but i usually like to try "natural" methods first, and then use lfs recommended products as a last resort.
 
I run gfo. Ive tried no fish for 8 months. I only feed a small amount of pellet every other day. Ive tried skimming really wet and dry . Ive tried lights out for a week. Ive tried chemiclean. Ive replaced all rodi filter media. I have brand new led lighting. I change my filter sock every three days. Im really running out of options. When I started having the problem is when I bought 50 pounds of liverock from a lfs for $1 a pound it was just sitting in a tote of stale water. Hundreds of pounds of it. I dont know how long it was there for but I swear it has to be the rock. I thiught boiling the rock outside over a fire for a few hours then rinsing it in fresh water for a week or two would clean it out and start fresh like its new base rock. Idk im just sick of it.
 
saltwaterpicaso said:
I run gfo. Ive tried no fish for 8 months. I only feed a small amount of pellet every other day. Ive tried skimming really wet and dry . Ive tried lights out for a week. Ive tried chemiclean. Ive replaced all rodi filter media. I have brand new led lighting. I change my filter sock every three days. Im really running out of options. When I started having the problem is when I bought 50 pounds of liverock from a lfs for $1 a pound it was just sitting in a tote of stale water. Hundreds of pounds of it. I dont know how long it was there for but I swear it has to be the rock. I thiught boiling the rock outside over a fire for a few hours then rinsing it in fresh water for a week or two would clean it out and start fresh like its new base rock. Idk im just sick of it.
Click to expand...

It seems like it might be time to donate the rock to the rock garden. I have a spot in my back yard that is beginning to look like a beach from all the old sand and rock I have out there.
 
The sand is constanly sifted by my gobie and crabs. Im just lost. Its not a flow issue. Or an over feeding or a too much lighting or anything other than the rock. Im convinced. Isnt there a way too leach the rock outside of the tank to make it like new again.
 
Is it possible that the live rock's pores are very clogged? Would a muratic acid bath clean out the pores?
 
we have a couple of great threads in the URS Forum on reducing PO4 in liverock. People from the national forum come here to read them.

Use search. Find the threads about COOKING LIVEROCK- IT REALLY DOES WORK and BEYOND COOKING LIVEROCK
It's not the lights and it's not water flow. It could be detritus accumulated in your sandbed but it sure does sound like your LR is leaching PO4 as well.
 
I even stire up the sand bed evey now and then. About once a month a shake the rock out as well. I think in going to try the beyond cooking attempt. I really have nothing to lose
 
Im going to give this an attemp. The only thing is what do I do with the rock that has coral attached to it. It will still have cyano on it.
 
The acid bath would be the most drastic measure to fully strip the rock. After doing this, you won't have to dip, clean and let it sit in the dark.

No more worrying about the rock causing your issue.
 
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