Is there anything else cyano likes?

i had this same prob in my current tank and my lfs suggested a sand sifting goby and i havnt seen it since i got one

 

Are you rinsing the mysis and cyclopseez in RODI water before feeding it?

 

Yep. I can't see anything I'm doing wrong in anything with this tank. I've been working my butt off with this thing.

 

Skimming through this again, one thing I noticed is you said you are running chemi-pure elite. I don't think you mentioned running separate GAC and GFO. The small pores of GAC tend to get gunked up in a few days to a week and should be rinsed or better, replaced weekly. The cyano can feed on organics, so, it could be because you are not keeping up with the GAC. I don't really like chemipure, because the GFO in it can last quite a bit longer than the GAC, assuming low phosphate levels. So, I tend to prefer to run them separately. Teh GAC really needs to be cleaned weekly though.

Also, did you try feeding more or dosing a nitrate source? As mentioned, environments that are too low in nitrate can sometimes promote cyano, so, just "cleaning" things more may not help. However, keeping reasonable nitrate levels and low organic levels is really what kills cyano. There could also be an accumulation of organics in the sand or rocks. And Phosphate, can even bind to the sand and rocks and can be slowly released right to the cyano.

 

I actually switched and started using GFO when this thread was started. I've been changing it out every couple of weeks. I'm also running some carbon and changing it out as well. I don't really know how to get my nitrates higher, I tried the solution mentioned earlier but nothing has helped as far as I can tell, maybe it just fed the cyano, or my chaeto is so smothered that it can't grow? After dosing yesterday, most of the slime is gone. Tomorrow I plan on checking for phosphates and doing a pretty large water change, and rinsing my chaeto in RO to get it as clean as possible.
If the slime is not completely gone, I might do one more treatment.
I guess I should think about running a phosphate sponge to try and soak up any that have binded to my rocks or sand? If I do test for phosphates, whats the best way to rid them of my system and keep them away because weekly maintenance hasn't helped me much.

 

Big tip on the slime remover. When you do your water change, do the "wet skim water change" technique. Basically, if your skimmer cup has a tube connection on it, hook up the tube, and run it to a 5 gal bucket. Then tune the skimmer to skim really wet (it will be foaming like crazy anyway) and drain off the volume of water you need for the WC. Make sure to contantly top off with the new saltwater (I just place the new saltwater in the ATO resevoir). I've found the skimmer returns to normal operation much quicker this way.

 

If cyano is growing, you have phosphate. So, you are not changing out the GFO enough for one. Also, you didn't say how often your changing out GAC. This is critical for cyano. Cyano can survive without phosphate, as it can live off of stores, but it can't grow without phosphate. So, if it's growing, you have extra phosphate. You don't need a test kit, it's there (also, no test kit is accurate enough anyways growth of nuisance algae, cyano, etc... is the best test kit for phosphate)...

People say to change out GFO monthly. And often, that is sufficient, but in cases where there is a lot of phosphate, such as is if it is leaching from rocks or sand, it can deplete GFO in a few days (or less!). The aluminum binders may bind phosphate more efficiently, so that could help. However, they can also leach phosphate back once exhausted. So, they need to be replaced vigilantly. Also, there are reports of them irritating certain corals and Randy Holmes-Farley saw this as well:
Chemistry And The Aquarium: Aluminum In The Reef Aquarium — Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

Adding nitrate, if the source is phosphate free won't feed cyano (feeding more food could, as this isn't phosphate free), but the macro could be limited from something else. Perhaps even removing the macro would eliminate the cyano. The macro could be dying due to a limitation of some nutrient and directly feeding the cyano via the die-off. This is common. Many tanks do not need macro algae. I haven't used any in years, sort of for that reason. I'm not there, so, its tough for me to guess what is missing, but cyano always goes away if organics and phosphate are low. So, for some reason, they aren't as low as you think.

 

Sacul - Thanks for those tips. How long would you normally wait before turning the skimmer back on?
M24, intersting thoughts about the chaeto helping the cyano along. I never thought of that. That is a possibility for sure, and in my world of no answers, it surely makes the most sense. I've been changing out the GFO within a months time.

 

I'm about 2 days past my treatment of red slime remover. Most of the slime has vanished. I actually did another treatment this morning (48 hours past) to just make sure this stuff is erradicated.
Now, with the slime no longer on my rocks, it probably released lots of phosphates back into my water column, right? I haven't preformed my water change yet. Then how come I'm testing 0 for phosphates? Technically, shouldn't I be reading some levels of PO4?

If the PO4 is binded to my rocks, then would I not be reading it during a water test? If PO4 is binded to my rocks, then I guess I have to boil them to get it out?

 

WARNING! the term "cooking rocks" does not have anything to do with actually cooking rocks.

Either way you may have phosphate levels too low to detect with a test kit but still enough to feed cyano. Personally I beleive lights off and GFO is the best cure for cyano as there is no need for a water change after the treatment.