Green Cyano and GHA outbreak

[reilly2524]

Alright so I have a 40 breeder with sump (50-60 total gallons). I had turf algae and because of that I used vibrant to take care of it. it took care of the turf but caused some green cyano. I stopped the vibrant a while ago but the cyano spread and a couple of weeks ago GHA showed up. I tried brushing the cyano and GHA off and then syphioning it out but now the sandbed is covered and the GHA has spread to more rock areas. I started GFO 2 weeks ago thinking there was some phosphate but didn't see any change. i have a skimmer that runs 24/7. lights are t5 led hybrid. t5s are on for 8 hours. leds are 2 kessil a160s that are on a 12 hour cycle. 3 hour ramp up 6 hours at 100% and then 3 hour ramp down. I also have a fuge with cheato but the cheato hasnt been growing super fast. bioload is 3 fish and mixed reef. i feed one cube of frozen food per day. CUC is hermits turbos astreas ceriths.
Parameters:
phosphate: undectactable using salifert
nitrate: less then 4
alk : 7.7 (a little low, i have corrected this)
Ca: 480
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0

Any ideas? this is getting frustrating.

 

[mcgyvr]

1 cube a day is way too much food for a 40G tank with 3 fish IMO..

How old is the tank?

IMO.. When you mess with tank chemistry with chemical products expect mother nature to fight back. cyano is the "ultimate warrior"... Just address it via water changes and siphoning out as much as you can and see how it goes..
8 hours of light is plenty too so I'd cut back the 12 hours to 8 and doing a 3 day lights out every couple weeks isn't a bad idea either..

Do that and in time it will pass..

 

[reilly2524]

1 cube a day is way too much food for a 40G tank with 3 fish IMO..

How old is the tank?

IMO.. When you mess with tank chemistry with chemical products expect mother nature to fight back. cyano is the "ultimate warrior"... Just address it via water changes and siphoning out as much as you can and see how it goes..
8 hours of light is plenty too so I'd cut back the 12 hours to 8 and doing a 3 day lights out every couple weeks isn't a bad idea either..

Do that and in time it will pass..

I'm worried about doing a black out because of the sps in the tank. also not worried about cutting the light cycle down i just don't want to because then ill have less viewing time with the tank haha. but some sacrifices may have to be made.

 

[reilly2524]

also what about the GHA? I'm not sure a blackout would have any affect on it.

 

[mcgyvr]

SPS corals will NOT be negatively effected at all by a 3 day blackout.. Nothing that nature doesn't replicate in a few stormy days...

Cutting back on feeding as well as water changes will also work on the GHA..
You are feeding too much..

How old is the tank?

 

[reilly2524]

SPS corals will NOT be negatively effected at all by a 3 day blackout.. Nothing that nature doesn't replicate in a few stormy days...

Cutting back on feeding as well as water changes will also work on the GHA..
You are feeding too much..

How old is the tank?

tank is 10 months

 

[mcgyvr]

tank is 10 months

yep tank is still "newish" and adapting..
cut back on the feeding..try lights out for 3 days every few weeks..
up water change schedule/amount..
See how it goes..

Fluconazole works wonders against GHA if you want a "quick fix"

 

[reilly2524]

yep tank is still "newish" and adapting..
cut back on the feeding..try lights out for 3 days every few weeks..
up water change schedule/amount..
See how it goes..

Fluconazole works wonders against GHA if you want a "quick fix"

Ok and we're think of the same size cubes right? The small ones that come in the pe misis frozen packs? Also would I be able to do a black out every 3 weeks and not shorten my light cycle?

 

[reilly2524]

Also it's fine to not wrap the tank in a cover during the blackout right? Also should I avoid adding fish during this time? ( I was planning on removing 2 fish that I currently have and adding 3-4) what should feeding be during the blackout?

 

[mcgyvr]

No need to wrap tank..
You can add fish if you want...
Fish will be fine without food for the 3 day period..

 

[reilly2524]

No need to wrap tank..
You can add fish if you want...
Fish will be fine without food for the 3 day period..

Well I started it yesterday and did a water change aswell so I could brush off and siphon away some of it. I already wrapped the tank so I'm just gonna leave it. ( there's some sunlight that can hit the tank during late afternoon) I'm also running the fuge light 24/7 during this. Is that a good idea?

 

[reilly2524]

Update

Update

So I've done 2 blackouts now (5-7 days inbetween) and Ive cut back on feeding. The GHA is significantly cut back and so is the cyano but there is still a lot. Just give it time or?

 

[Justintegra]

Just give it time or?

This. Very few good things happen fast in this hobby. One of the biggest mistakes myself and others make is trying to rush things.

Make a change, and give it a few weeks. Make a change, and give it a few weeks. Make a change and give it a few weeks.

I would recommend just keep calm and carry on right now. You found something that appears to be workings, so just let it work until you see it's no longer working.

 

[Floowid]

How are you topping off, and what is the quality of your top off water. I have had this problem in the past. Couldn't register phosphate or nitrate with a test, but changing filter cartridges and some new DI resin helped me. My guess was the cyano and hair algae or diatoms or whatever nuisance algae you have is aggressively consuming whatever nutrients come in the top off water before the fuge macro can take care of it.

 

[reilly2524]

How are you topping off, and what is the quality of your top off water. I have had this problem in the past. Couldn't register phosphate or nitrate with a test, but changing filter cartridges and some new DI resin helped me. My guess was the cyano and hair algae or diatoms or whatever nuisance algae you have is aggressively consuming whatever nutrients come in the top off water before the fuge macro can take care of it.

Top off is rod I water, 0tds.

 

[reilly2524]

Not having a good time. The cyano and GHA are coming back with a vengeance. Not sure what to do. I’m getting some phytoplankton so maybe that’ll do something but not very hopeful.

 

[Uncle99]

Not having a good time. The cyano and GHA are coming back with a vengeance. Not sure what to do. I’m getting some phytoplankton so maybe that’ll do something but not very hopeful.

Phytoplankton, doesn't that just make the problem worse.

Fluconazole will do your GHA.
Red slime remover will do your cyno.

Carbon dosing will lower both nitrate and phosphate, or GFO only to lower phosphate.

Not same time, short term fix until your tank matures more.

You state your phosphate is zero, but perhaps that's not true, maybe the GHA is eating up the phosphate before you can measure it......over feeding or feeding foods with phosphate is the number one contributor to phosphate levels.

I run phosphates at .03 tank is 24 months, no GHA or cyno for a year now...

 

[reilly2524]

Phytoplankton, doesn't that just make the problem worse.

Fluconazole will do your GHA.
Red slime remover will do your cyno.

Not same time, short term fix until your tank matures more.

they say that the phyto will out compete the other algae. right now I'm just kinda desperate for something.

 

[reilly2524]

ive cut back on feeding quite a bit. one cube every 2-3 days

 

[Uncle99]

Do you rinse the cube?
Or just melt it and drop it?
That would add phosphate.
Plus some foods are high in phosphates.

If that does not work fluconazole does.

.....I found at about 14 months, no more algae no more cyno, been that way for 10 months.

Just keep working at it, every day, your tank matures a bit more.