Defintaly got some questions!

[fishman1234]

So I did a whole bunch of water tests since the cyano in my tank grows like there is no tomarrow. Im thinking that oh my PO4s are gonna be high. THinking around a .35 or something. To my surprise though it is at a .05 and i ran the test 4 times to make sure it was right! The test was done with a hanna checker so it is a good test. Salinity is at 1.026, Calcium 550, Mg 1480, Amonia 0, nitrates and nitrites 0, alk 10dkh, pH 8.3. My live rock that i have was dry rock and I do know that they leech PO4 but with such a low lvl of PO4 showing up in the tank, why is there so much Cyano?????:hmm4: I am puzzled please help!:headwally: I am running gfo, carbon and protien skimmer. Tank is 6 months old!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Cyano uses what you're testing for so readings taken of water are low.

Nuisance algae and Cyanobacteria are great indicators.

I sold my Hanna.

 

[cardiffgiant]

What you're going through sounds normal for the age of the tank. I've had it pop up like that throughout the first year of a tank setup. If I recall correctly, a long time ago TMZ or Gary posted some great information about how cyano is somewhat self sustaining when it runs out of food. I'd maintain good flow, keep up on the water changes, siphon it out when you can, and try not to overfeed.

 

[fishman1234]

Got it. Sounds good!

 

[marcor12]

I'm in the same boat as you are fish....my tank is only 3 months old...I pull enough out to knit a red sweater....lol

 

[Foody]

I put Chemi Pure Elite in my filter at the beginning of November and by mid December I was cyano free. FYI

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I put Chemi Pure Elite in my filter at the beginning of November and by mid December I was cyano free. FYI

Same as gfo and carbon he's already running

 

[Randrew215]

I started my tank with dry rock from BRS in May and still get some cyano on the rock and diatomaceous looking coating on sandbed after a few days, and my parameters are also stable. I'm not going to sweat it until I hit a year. I use an old toothbrush to remove any cyano from the rock before a water change each week and have been seeing less and less. I run GFO and rox carbon also. So, it looks like I'm in good company.

 

[lilman024]

I had a bad outbreak of cyano 7 months ago and I used a product called chemiclean and within 2 days it was all gone. haven't had any cyano since I did that

 

[tent boy]

If keeping a top notch sps tank was easy, we would all have one. Just have to keep doing the "right " things and in time this too will pass. If anyone says keeping a saltwater tank is easy, they are either a LFS salesperson or a liar. The difficulty in keeping a great set up keeps most of us in the hobby. Stay the course, the enjoyment is right around the corner.

 

[tmz]

I like the hanah for testing it. I test inorganic phosphate levels with one daily and have for several years. .

Dry rock can leach back loosely bound PO4 species for months ( H2 or H3 PO4 for example ; actually very little of the inorganic phosphate in our tanks is PO4 per se; most of it is protonated, ie has some H+ on a binding site or two or three, thus lessening it's ability to bind : but we call it all PO4).

I always pre cure dry rock ,test for PO4 and use lanthamum chloride in the curing water as necessary. Same process for live rock that may have been exposed to high PO4 levels..
The cyanobacteria we usually see in our tanks only needs CO2, light and a source of phosphorous.
It can in many cases make it's own fixed nitrogen. So ,persistent phosphorus control is a key. Often it will scavenge the phosphorous it needs from surfaces or decaying matter before it gets into the water column . Thus , it may test low but be higher at the source.
I'd probably shoot for .03ppm or less with the hanah raeding and keep it there for as long as necessary.
Along the way ,I'd siphon out cyano regularly and remove detritus accumulations.

 

[fishman1234]

Got it thanks a lot guys.