Next step in cyano battle

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14807411#post14807411 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by austin93
The deeper you go into the sand, the most "crap" you will release.

precisely what you'd want to do in this case: release and remove (export). there's no reason to remove and replace the entire sandbed.(There's no reason to toss out any sand as it's reusable.) If you simply remove all the sandbed and replace it without learning how to correct the problem you'll experience the same problem again.

 

[gdavis17]

Thanks again for all of the great comments. It seems like the general consensus is to:

1 - Remove about 1/3 to 1/2 of my sand during about a 20% water change

2 - buy a phosban reactor and use it with GFO

3 - continue to perform a 20% water change every week

How does this sound? Can anyone recommend a good affordable phosban reactor (my sump space is very limited). I was leaning towards this one

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...ct_Code=TLF-PHOSREC&Category_Code=phosreactor

 

[gdavis17]

Should I use GFO, Rowaphos, or something else. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks alot.

I also am going to get a emerald crab. I have heard they help control the phosphate levels and I also have a little bubble algae. Does all of these steps sound like a good plan of attack?

 

[Jmatt567]

I have just about eliminated cyano from my tank. I battled it for about 4 months. At one point it had just about taken over my tank. For me I had started my tank with tap water treated with a conditioner. I quickly bought a RODI unit when I started to have problems. What kind of water are you using? I started doing small water changes (3-5%) daily, sucking out as much cyano as I could with each one. I also bought the dual reactor from BRS and started running carbon and GFO at the same time to lower my nutrients. I still have a crappy skimmer and have eliminated cyano without upgrading that. My sand bed is about 2-3". I did not remove any of it (except a small portion that I could not avoid in vacuuming cyano off of my sand bed). Being persistent with this method has worked well for me and I hope I am done with this battle. Hope this works for you. It can be very frustrating I know. Be persistent and you will win.

-Matt

 

[Jmatt567]

One more thing. In my battle I tried reducing my photo period and did a 3 day blackout at two different times. Neither of these things worked well for me. It died back a bit with each of these things but returned quickly when I brought the lights back up. Also other things in my tank suffered just as much as the cyano from the reduced light. This wasn't the solution for me.

 

[Jmatt567]

I have been using the BRS pellet GFO. I have been happy with it so far. The reactor is easy to use too. I am sure that any of them will work fine though.

-Matt

 

[gdavis17]

thanks for the comments Jmatt567. I always use 0 tds water I get from my lfs. They have reputable water and it gives me a reason to see what they have in stock. I've also tried the blackout method and didn't see any benefits. Thinking about it more, I'm not going to remove that much of my sandbed, just the parts with the cyano growing on it. I think I'm going to try a weekly 20% water change and a phosban reactor with GFO.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I'd research sandbeds some more.
A (denitrifying) deep sand bed requires sugar size sand of 4" or greater in depth. At 3" a sandbed is still considered a shallow sandbed and it might possibly be the most challenging type of sandbed to maintain as organics hidden in it can continue to be a source of fuel for cyano. Even worse, the presence of high levels of phosphates can inhibit calcification in scleractinian (stony reef building) corals.