KILL CYANO!?! week 5 and it's getting irratating

I am still battling what I was told is cyano algae but I don't even know for sure what it is. It is to the point now where I have to sweep the tank at least once a week because it comes back so quickly... changing water 30+ gal. a week (210 gal. system) and lost another fish last week. I use RO/DI water and the parameters are ammonia 0/nitrite 0/nitrate 0/phosphate 0 (JUST tested). I am seriously considering ripping the entire system apart and starting from scratch again. What are your thoughts on completely restarting the entire system? I am down to my last two clowns and they appear to be healthy so I would only start over if I lost these last two fish. I cannot even keep a cleanup crew alive anymore, I spent 50 bucks on hermits/snails and I only have 2 or 3 hermits alive now out of the whole crew. I just dosed the tank with AlgaeFix today and hope that works. Is it the lights? I just bought new lights about 1 1/2 months ago (Sunpaq 130W dual 6500k) my halides have been turned off since I got these lights because I cannot keep any coral alive. I did put a cheap light bought from lowes in my sump though.... turned off today and am leaving it off even though that will kill my cheato which I'm not really worried about because at this point I'm just sick of the entire system. Suggestions greatly appreciated!!

 

why are all your fish dying? cyano doesn't kill fish and crustaceans.

do you use RO/DI water?

you can always just use red slime remover or chemi-clean to just wipe it out, and do mad water changes afterwards.

but I personally think you have bigger problems maybe heavy metals that kill you inhabitants.

 

I use RO/DI water as I stated above with the parameters. Maybe it was just a weak clown I got because the other one is still alive. The thing that bothers me is the fact that all my snails died and just about all the hermits I bought as well. The snails did not look healthy from the moment I put them in the tank. They barely moved around and started dying off quickly.

 

what brand test kits do you use? do they have low range ability?

 

API test kits

 

I believe you maybe looking in the wrong place. Something in the tank is not right. what do you clean the tank glass with? is someone spraying some type of cleaner in/around your tank? how long has the tank been established? have you added anything to the tank lately? do you have a pump leaking electricity,oil in the tank? have you added a homemade sump lately that you didnt use an aquarium safe type silicone on? who is sticking their hands in the tank with some type of chemical on them? this is just a few things i can think of for you to look for.

 

Thanks for the tips yama. In response to all of those suggestions;
What do you clean the tank glass with?

Is someone spraying some type of cleaner in/around your tank?
I am the only one that is ever within reaching distance of the tank and I have been using the same glass cleaner/method since I started the tank 3 years ago.

How long has the tank been established?
3 years, I switched to a larger tank a year ago and turned my old 90 gal. DT into the sump that I use now.

Have you added anything to the tank lately?
Lights... switched from 420/460 actinics to 6500k daylight bulbs. Halides not in use since I got the new lights a little over a month ago.

Do you have a pump leaking electricity,oil in the tank?
Same equipment that has always been used

Have you added a homemade sump lately that you didnt use an aquarium safe type silicone on?
Negative, the sump is composed of manufactured aquariums.

Who is sticking their hands in the tank with some type of chemical on them?
I wear aqua gloves (the ones that go up to the shoulder) EVERY time I make contact with the water.

I am thinking it has to be something with the lights because I did not have any issues until I changed the bulbs to 6500k daylights and turned off my halides. I also added cheato and put a cheap light in the sump which could be the issue. I don't understand how the sump light could be a problem though because the algae is not growing anywhere in my sump, it is only in my DT on the sand/rock.

 

I personally would buy better test kits if you want accurate low readings.

and I would just use the low level antibiotics I recommended above to kill all the cyano easily.

then try to figure out weather you LFS just sucks or something is seriously wrong with your tank.

 

Week 5 and you are right on track although I myself would have waited a bit before adding fish. You should be having issues with algae right about now and sometimes Cryno. You left a couple of important parameters out, what is your salinity, PH and Alkalinity? Cryno is not affected by light as much as tank parameters and water quality, its a bacteria, not really an algae. They just call it cryno algae I guess for want of a better name.

And as stated before it isn't the cryno (if that is what it is) thats killing the fish. Second even if you start all over your most likely going to encounter the same issues next time. You have to figure out why and where the cryno is coming from. Most likely it is due to a lack of flow in the areas where it is the worst. Leaving the light on in your sump is not going to affect your tank and even if you leave it off for a week your Cheato should be just fine, a little lighter green but fine.

Snails and crustaceans require long periods of acclimation before being put into the tank, I have acclimated some snails I have received for up to 4 hours and still lost them. How long did you acclimate them when you put them into the tank?

there are nothing wrong with those test kits, I have used the same test kits and have had no issues with them. Are yours fairly new although I have some that are over 2 years old and give me the same results that the new ones do so thats most likely not it.

And last but not least I would not be using any kind of Algae Fix or any other slime remover's, I used one once and almost wiped out my entire tank. I personally do not believe in adding anything to the tank that it doesn't need especially Antibiotics which will also wipe out the beneficial bacteria that you need to keep the tank going. Using Chemi pure and additional flow is most likely your best bet in getting a hand on the Cryno.

 

I use the drip method. Specific Gravity is 1.019 (lower because I have been adding so my RO/DI water and do not always put salt in). The testers are the same ones I have been using ever since starting the tank 3 years ago and have never been an issue. I'm not sure if you misunderstood but this tank is not 5 weeks old... I have been dealing with this algae problem for 5 weeks now.