cyano

[tmz]

GFO will abate the PO4 leaching over time but it may take a lot of pricey gfo and a long time. Using a sturdy gfo, like the denser HC gfo from BRS and regenerating it can cut the costs significantly.
Another option if it's leaching phosphate that's the issue that won't kill the rock short of the bleach bath and acid bath is lanthanum chloride.
Easy to use in a curing bin since there is no need to filter precipitant; it can be rinsed off when the curing is done. Just place the rock in new salt water with near 0 PO4 , wait a couple of days to a week and measure PO4. If none is leaching, then it's not PO4 from the rock that's causing th issue. If it's leaching add some lanthanum chloride to keep the water PO4 low until no leaching is observed for a week without the lanthanum.
Many are using lanthanum in aquariums as well but care needs to be taken to filter it properly and dose it slowly.

Thing is , I don't know where that $1 per pound lfs rock has been and what it was exposed to. Toxic free metals ,like copper may be a concern. The bleach and acid bath method take care of it all.Bleach destroys the organics ; the acid dissolves away teh top layer ofrock and everything it's holding there.

Boiling it won't do any of that.

 

[S2minute]

Have you tried using a power head to blow out the rock? You'll be surprised at how much Detritus builds up in the rock crevices each day. I do that to my rock every time i preform maint. Go slow with the power head. You'll find yourself upon a hidden crevice with a blizzard of the stuff inside. Good luck!.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Just place the rock in new salt water with near 0 PO4 , wait a couple of days to a week and measure PO4. If none is leaching, then it's not PO4 from the rock that's causing th issue.

I would do this first. Assuming you have a reliable and accurate way to measure PO4, take a small clean piece of the suspect rock and put it in a bucket of clean new saltwater. Measure PO4 to get a baseline. Measure PO4 a week later. You'll know for sure if the rock is leeching PO4, vs potentially "wasting" the effort of sterilizing it.

You might want to have some degree of water movement and light on the experimental bucket to replicate tank conditions, otherwise dieoff from poor conditions could skew the results of the experiment.

For the record, I would never actually boil rock taken out of an aquarium. There's no reason to (you can achieve the same end result via other methods) and it's potentially risky to your health. Not to mention it would be really awkward to boil enough water for 100 lbs of rock...

 

[SeanT]

I am not around much any more.
I'm still in the game but just more as a private hobby.
I've found a true zen with my tank.

Listen to Gary.
He is one smart guy with a ton of experience.

Sean

 

[Foody]

After 6 months of pulling my hair out over the stuff I placed Chemi Pure Elite in my filter and within 4 weeks it was 90% gone. 2 weeks later it was gone gone. That was 3+ months ago and still none. I realize Chemi Pure is nothing more than carbon and gfo but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

ive been running gfo for a while no and nothing touched it. i ended up taking all of the rock out except what had coral on it. the cyano went away within a week. i have the rock cooking in muratic acid right now and you wouldnt beleive the stuff that is coming out of it. will post pics in a few days

 

[Willistein]

Good deal. It's tough to reverse years of accumulation without taking drastic measures...

 

[parkavenuereef]

Here is a 100% worked for me with heavy cyno bloom on both rock and substrate.... Remove as much sand ( substrate as possible ) and clean off rock as much as possible... Heavy water changes and the key to all of this is " Lights OUT " ! No lights for days... Your coral and fish will be fine.. feed as normal just no lights... The issue is what is in the water table.. If you run filter socks, you will probably see them turn red after a day.. Thats from all the cyno floating in the water... I did one day on two off for about a month and let me tell you, totally gone, clean, fresh, and rock is back to having coraline growing on it.. Good luck, I went crazy for over a year.. After one month... gone!

Also, Sand is a great media for absorption... It will absorb anything... So if you have the $$, add a bag of live sad, leave it in for a week, suck it out and replace.. I did this 3 times... seems to have done the trick.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

i have a 3 inch sand bed with a goby to clean it. i was thinking of removing the sand but i really like the way it looks

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

cooking the rock so far this is what is coming off it

 

[fishman1234]

Sea foam?

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

no its muratic acid bath lol

 

[parkavenuereef]

i have a 3 inch sand bed with a goby to clean it. i was thinking of removing the sand but i really like the way it looks

you have gone this far, remove the sand bed and put in fresh new Live sand... You will be upset with yourself if you leave it in... Believe me!

 

[tmz]

I don't know if that sand is old or clogged. if so, replacing it is a good idea. You can have sand and no cyano,btw. I do. Controlling PoO4 and detritus accumulations is key for me. I don't favor light deprivation for a number of reasons either( stress to all photosynthetic organisms, cyano die off and toxins, quick temporary fix short of addressing the source of the problem.et alia)but many use it.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

The sand is about a year old. And I have crabs and a goby to clean it so I really dont think its the sand. Sometimes I stir it up by hand.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

The sand is about a year old. And I have crabs and a goby to clean it so I really dont think its the sand. Sometimes I stir it up by hand.

We all battle cyanobacteria constantly. It's not something that "goes away to never come back". If you mis-manage nutrient export it will come back. Crabs and Gobies are good for moving sand around but without it's removal, detritus they stir up in the sandbed won't get removed from the filtration system AND Goby poop / crab poop becomes part of the problem (ie: fuel for Cyano) which speeds up the re-appearance of Cyanobacteria.
In my opinion too many people jump to rock cooking and acid baths nowadays to get rid of Cyano, which is really a waste management / export issue. Even if you replace an entire old sandbed and all the rock is given an acid bath, without proper waste export happening Cyano is bound to reappear- it's just a matter of time.

Cyanobacteria indicates a waste management issue.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

i dont see how waste management issue can be happening i have proper flow. i change the water weekly and the filter sock. i have a good skimmer and a good feeding and light schedule. i never see any detritus on the sand or the rock i fan the rock off with every water change. i ran my tank with no fish for over 6 months couse of a ich out break and the cyano was still present with no feeding and no fish. gfo is changed monthly. i really dont know what else i could have done to keep it away. the only reason i got it in the first place is it came on a rock and was introduced by accident. ive learned allot from this site but eveyones help hasnt helped except for the cooking of the rock and removal of the rock so far. i really dont know what else i could do

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

if I had a fishless reef aquarium that wasn't getting fed and I couldn't beat Cyano outbreak MAYBE I'd consider "cooking" the rock. MAYBE I'd give it an acid bath.

My point is without proper waste management Cyano/red slime will come back. It's not something that accidentally gets introduced.

The bad news: there are things worse than Cyano/ red slime: Bryposis, Derbesia, Cladophora etc. etc.

The good news: ALL are limited by manipulation of PO4 and other "nutrients".

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

can you suggest what else i can do for po4 managment and detritus controll. i am upgrading to a bigger sump so i can grow a ton cheato. anything else would really help out.