Is there anything else cyano likes?

I use a similar type strainer with the mesh. What I have is only half if your device (ha).

 

Totally agree. And good point I know cyano has been shown to store PO4 quite efficiently. This I believe, is one reason that existing cyano often needs to be manually removed even after nutrient levels are low enough to inhibit *new* growth.

I'll have to take a look at David Karl's work an maybe start a thread once I've caught up on my reading a bit I have no doubt though, I know cyano can fix N. For example in Stal et al (2010) The Ecology of Nitrogen Fixation in Cyanobacterial Mats, it was claimed that, as far as the authors were aware, no cyanobacteria mats had been found not to fix nitrogen. It appears though that it isn't always clear if it is the cyano or other diazotrophs in the mats, although certainly I think often it is cyano. And I'm aware cyano can cycle nutrients and various end-products with bacteria within these mats, so, likely it's a mute point anyways.

Sounds reasonable to me.

Yes, I think "loosely" speaking that is probably true and seems to occur.

Interesting, I'd be really like to know more about this!

Most people think N is depleted before P. I guess hobbyists don't have accurate enough test methods, so likely no one knows for sure. However, this why the amino acid craze popped up for example. People think that their systems are becoming N limited due to carbon dosing. So adding aminos is intended to add N, but not P.

I think part of this is just due to the redfield ratio (used as a generalization). If your consuming 16N per 1P then N will appear to drop faster. However, really, it's dropping relative to each other, in a fixed ratio. If you have 16N and 1P one cycle of growth will drop both to 0.

People still seem to think it is more effective at removing N than P. I'm not certain of all of the reasons, but can speculate some.

For one, if the starting ratio is higher in P than N, possibly due to preservatives in the food for example, you would expect N to become limited first. However, foods come from what's in the tank, so, I'd think the ratio, short of additives would be similar to what is used.

Also, the ratio may vary substantially between organisms. I'm not sure what the dominant C:N and N : P ratios are in our systems. I would think they would be similar to the ocean. Of course, this only accounts for biomass, not metabolism. C for example, is used for metabolism as well, so, which will skew the ratio if you include this source. So, that may shed some light on why our tanks may be carbon limited, overall carbon usage is higher than what is found in foods. Likewise, perhaps carbon dosing is driving some facultative anaerobic bacteria, this would lead to an excess consumption of N, not necessarily included in a fixed biomass ratio.

 

You could try. You can ramp up slowly and see what happens. I would get a low range test kit though, such as a Salifert and try not to go over 5 ppm. Really less then 1ppm is idea, but tough to test at those levels. The other problem with adding N, is if you do have a significant amount of P, it could fuel other algae. So, go slow.

Also, how much GFO are you running? How often are you changing it out?
You don't have to increase N independently of a decrease in P. In other words, you can run GFO and dose N.

 

I always run Chemipure Elite (Has GFO in it). I changed it on 4\6. Still had the slime. It's had no effect on it.
I added GFO on 6\6. Again, it's had no effect on the slime so far.
The chamber I made in my sump for these bags of media is very efficient. I built a tray that sits between two baffles, the water has to pass the media, and it passes at a fairly sluggish rate. I know that a reactor is the best method, but this is a small tank.

 

Here's a link to my build thread if interested. I wish I knew how to change the title of the thread.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hobby/new-tank-some-filtration-questions-92417.html

 

Chemipure has a fixed ratio of carbon to GFO. Carbon can help too actually, as it binds organics very efficiently. However, GFO may help more in this case. If your corals aren't pale, you can probably run more.

Also there is a difference between survival and growth. It's easier to limit growth than kill off existing cyano. For example, due to the ability of cyano to store P, as mentioned previously. So, often you still need to manually remove it. If you manually remove it from an area and it doesn't come back there, then your nutrient reduction efforts are probably working even if the cyano isn't dying on it's own.

Also, think about the other methods mentioned. In 10 years of reefkeeping, I've never had cyano that wouldn't go away with the suggestions on that list. It can take diligence and patience though for sure. Also, the other things suggested in this thread, such as rinsing food are great ideas as well. Combine everything if you can. It won't just help with the cyano, it will help make your tank healthier overall.

Also, great looking tank BTW

 

GFO + manual removal is the way to go. If you add/increase GFO, then manually remove as much as you can every day, then with every day less and less should come back.

 

I puchased a turkey baster and have been blasting some of the rocks to try and find detritus. I've found some accumulations.
I've always been told to have as much rock as possible, that it was good for the tank and would provide more bacteria and better filtration.
what I'm learning, that more rock is not always good, and when there's too much stacked, it actually collects crap and pollutes the water.
So I think this is my plan of action.
I'm removing a few rocks from the display that are stacked in a corner and also removing all the rock from my sump. I know, in a perfect world, I could have all this rock and provide enough flow for the detritus to be blown out. But keep in mind, this is only a 29 gallon and I have 2 returns split off with a SQWD and a power head under one of my structures. I really don't have room for more power heads with this much rock, nor do I want more equipement with more wires creating more clutter.

I've been blowing the rocks with a turkey baster for the past few days and scrubed them with a tooth brush. so far it's improved greatly, my decision to remove rocks is to ease maintenance for me in the future.

 

I switched to Reef Crystals and my cyano issues actually improved, so I don't think that is the case. I was in your situation for a long time, but currently have not a cyano outbreak for months (knocking on wood). I used Chemiclean it it utterly annihilated the cyano, it is serious stuff.

If you choose to use Chemiclean, follow the instructions exactly, and make sure you aerate your tank very well. At the end of the Chemiclean cycle, you will have to do a 20% water change, which can be a real PITA, but it is totally worth it.

Good luck,

Jim

 

To update this thread. I removed the rocks from the sump and the rocks that were stacked in the back corner of the display tank. Over the past few days I've been basting with a turkey baster to clear out the junk and scrubbed the last bit of cyano. I've also cleaned out the sump and did a few 5 gallon water changes.
So far the cyano is showing no signs of returning. It actually turned a darker color, brownish, and stopped producing bubbles.
So I think I might have this battle licked.
Now hopefully with the changes I made of removing debris collecting rocks will prevent algae from coming back and ease my maintenance a little bit. Oh, and hopefully my chaeto starts growing again.