Why wont it just go away!

[Bedroomgangsta]

No matter what I do, It always comes back. The only two options I have left are chaeto and gfo in my reactor. Suggestions?

 

[Bedroomgangsta]

Since adding more flow, my condy's tentacles are swirling as you can see in the picture above. I am pretty sure I am ****ing it off.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Definitley run some GFO and adding chaeto will help.

 

[Korrine]

Definitley run some GFO and adding chaeto will help.

I would also do both.

 

[Bedroomgangsta]

Persay my rock has been soaking up Po4 and Nitrates for a long amount of time with FOWLR tanks and now its just beginning to break out because the rocks have been transferred again and again and now that their in my reef perhaps they consistantly leach PO4 into the tank? If that were the case, would GFO and Chaeto cure the problem, or patch it like a band-aid?

 

[njudson]

How old is the tank? Time might take care of this. I was having cyano trouble and it went away when I started using Prodibio.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Over time it should stop. Are you using RO/DI water?

 

[ReeferBill]

Cyano!

Cyano!

Chemicleans Red Slime Remover ! Has worked for me....:wildone:

 

[Bedroomgangsta]

Yes I am using RO/DI, Tried Chemiclean and 3 days lights out, Worked for about 2 weeks and now its back again. Tank is 5-6 Months old. I have tried everything but GFO and Chaeto. Does anyone have an overgrowth of Chaeto by chance?

 

[BigGimp77]

I had cyano in my old tank for about a month. It wouldn't go away no matter home many water changes and sucking it off the rocks/substrate I did.

I finally ended up changed my bulbs and a couple weeks later it was gone.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Bulbs and water movement are important. Try 3 days no light and siphon as much cyno u can out. Everything fails chemi clean works with no skimmer on but would use half the dose recommended. That stuff is harsh and can crash ur tank.

 

[Korrine]

Persay my rock has been soaking up Po4 and Nitrates for a long amount of time with FOWLR tanks and now its just beginning to break out because the rocks have been transferred again and again and now that their in my reef perhaps they consistantly leach PO4 into the tank? If that were the case, would GFO and Chaeto cure the problem, or patch it like a band-aid?

If this is the case, it's not a band aid patch. Eventually your rock will quit leaching.

How old are your bulbs?

 

[Bedroomgangsta]

my bulbs are maybe 4 months old. 4x54W T5HO that came with my fixture. Its a cheap-o fixture but does the trick....perhaps my bulbs are bad?! seriously? I have a 55DT so about 22" of depth to my tank, and I only keep softies and 2 heads of hammer, and my condy.

 

[Korrine]

hmmm 4 months isn't old. I was asking because I had someone show me when a newer tank had cyano he changed the bulbs that were from the older fixture and the cyano died off. That's the only thing he did. These were 400 mh over a 210g, though.

 

[BigGimp77]

If the bulbs aren't properly cooled then they can start to go bad quicker. My bulbs were only 6 months old when I changed them out and it fixed my cyano problem.

 

[Bedroomgangsta]

Well maybe thats it, I did skimp out on the fixture just because it was only 100$ for a 216W quad T5 48". However I only run my 10K's for 6-7 hours a day and the actinics like 10. I will definitely be getting some ATI bulbs here within a few months so I can gain some more Par because my hammer just doesnt look as happy as it could, and I want a more blue hue as well. I also have issues with flow, two Koralia 4's and the power of my mag 7 return is like way overkill, if you look at my Condy in the picture it is literally thinking to itself that it is probably going to die from too much flow. I dont know what to do, Ive asked about this dang Cyano on three seperate occasions, and everyone says increase flow as one of the main solutions but I can turn my tank into a damn whirlpool and it WILL NOT go away! I mean i should post a damn video of how much flow there is, my MAG7 is almost on full boar and my water turn around has to be like 400x!

 

[gweston]

Not sure if one thing or a combination of things worked for me.. but I did this:

-Chaeto & gfo
-Used a mix of rodi and kalkwasser for topoffs. This helps raise ph levels, plus helped precipitate phosphate. For kalkwasser, 1 gallon water = 2 tsp kalk powder + 15ml vinegar. Mix vinegar and kalk first to dissolve. Then add ~1 to 1.25 gallons of water. A little kalkwasser goes a long way. Drip slowly.
-Maintain PH 8.3-8.4 range (you don't want higher than 8.4!). The theory goes that certain nuisance algae grow slower in this ph range. Not all of them. Just some. Most algae grow at a fast rate if you are in the ballpark of 8.0-8.2 ph.
-Clean skimmer. Change/clean cup every ~2 days.
-Control feedings. I started effectively point feeding my fish, and didn't broadcast the corals things such as cyclopse all that much. This knocked down the nutrient levels a great deal.
-Important: siphon. siphon. siphon. Yeah its a PIA. But I frequently siphoned any algae out of the system. If it appeared. I'd siphon it.

Slowly but surely I got the upper hand.

 

[Bedroomgangsta]

Well thank you guys a lot for the input, we'll keep trying to knock this out little by little and see if I cant get some improvement. GFO and Chaeto are my first and then from there I will continue down the line. Speaking of which does anyone know how long chaeto will hold up being shipped? My LFS doesnt stock any and I need some So im wondering how long it holds up and if anyone has some!? Much appreciated for the input again!

 

[zigzag1]

JMO but, I wouldn't want to run a reef again, with fish to feed, without GFO. I highly suggest it. Reefkeeping was much harder many, many years ago prior to its availability, popularity, and use - IMO. Nutrient export of phosphates were always difficult, and frequently dealt with using sizable, frequent water changes. We all love water changes, right? GFO is a very nice hammer to have in the tool box. GL!