3reefers i need some help

ok so my 29g for some reason got attacked by cyano?( is that how you spell it?)

well i dont even know how that happened, my tank is about 8 months old now... i did changed my water though.. i was just using a regular water filter before and i had no problems.. then my mom bought this big filter that passes the water through UV light and some other stuff.. i thought this would be an even better inprovement but some how it isnt?

so question is.. what can i get to take my cyano away? im also seeing some type of algae growing all over, not really the problem as is not spreading much, just on the powerheads.

i dont really have a CUC and i was considering getting one for it... what do you guys think?

i wouldnt really mind the seano, as it looks pretty good bright red and it is only on the rocks but im afraid it would pread to places i dont want.

 

I'm pretty sure it's Cyano, unless you meant our fellow 3reefer.;D


Nearly nothing eats cyano; the cause is nitrates and phosphates accumulated in areas with too little flow. You need to get more flow on your rocks, and take care of a nutrient issue.

 

you better watch your back
Seano hermano!

attacking other peoples tanks shame on you.

 

You stated you do not have a clean up crew. Not having a clean up crew will mean you are having a hard time breaking down nutrients into the end product - nitrogen gas. This contributes to things like cyano.

Indirectly, a CuC is essential in keeping your tank free of nuisance algae - including cyano.

Other things that also play a role - you talked about your new filter a little, what is your water source? Are you using RO/DI or tap with this new filter?

What is your flow like? Cyano generally does better in low flow...

 

i have a hang in filter which provides a lot of flow, but i also have a power head on the tank. im not sure on strenght though but i think is good flow..

ive always used tap with no problems, I changed from a simple filter to a more complex filter that uses 3 methods including UV lights..
i think now it is a better time to start getting a real CUC..
i only have like 10 snails in there.

 

list the type of power head, I'm sure someone here will know its output (or try google).

Might be time to adjust the tap water statement. I'm not one of those folks that swear against it, but you have to let it speak for itself. Your tap can change day-to-day; success yesterday doesn't have much to do with today... I used it for quite a while, but have since moved on to RO/DI and would advise you start looking into it. (maybe it's what you just got, I don't know of the UV filter you speak...)

 

I think your culprit is the tap water. I fought cyano for about 2 months and have successfully beat it naturally by controlling the nutrients that it feeds off of. Here are the steps I took to get rid of it. My tank is a 55g reef:

- use RO/DI water only
- began rinsing frozen food in RO/DI water
- cut back feeding to every other day
- upped my WC from 5g to 10g per week
- lowered Phosphates to below 0 by running Chemi Pure Elite in my reactor
- siphoned and picked out any cyano I could every day
- thinned out my fish to lower bio-load
- replace any old bulbs
- thoroughly cleaned my skimmer and koralias of any gunk
- upgraded my circulation & adjusted flow in the tank (no dead areas)
- slowly cut my light cycle back from 10hrs to 7hrs

beating cyano naturally will help you become a better SW keeper IMO by helping you care better for your tank.

BTW a hang-on filter can become a nitrate factory and that + the tap is probably your issue. If you have a good amount of quality LR + a skimmer + good circulation (at least 10x the tank capacity PH's I have a 55g tank and I have 1500gph of circulation), there is no need for a filter.

Also, although it's very tempting to dose your tank with Chemi Clean and other cures, in a lot of cases, the cyano will just come back again until you find the source of what it's feeding off of.

best of luck

 

im sure it is not my tap water as i have used it for a long time and it has never given me any problems at all.
But now that i remember i havent checked my hang in filter in 2 months, i think it is time to change the filter media ( OOOPS)... that can definitely be the source..
i do not have a skimmer as i cant afford one. especially since im in the process of going to college thats why im using the crappy hang in.:

 

not having a skimmer will def delay the eradication of the cyano, a skimmer will pull a lot of the excess nutrients out that the cyano is feeding on. Def save up for one, I think a skimmer is essential in any SW tank.

tap water, as a few mentioned, is inconsistent. I used tap water for my FOWLR originally, I thought to myself that all the negatives about it were baloney. I was like "my tank's fine, no problem". However, over a period of time, all the phosphates and negatives contained in it saturated my tank, the sand, my rock. It took a while to get my PO4 down because of my initial tap water use. Even though something may seem ok, the consensus of using RO/DI water is a smart one. Things can accumulate over time and you'll have algae outbreaks, cyano, all that annoying stuff. Using RO/DI will help you not worry about these disasters down the line.

 

What's this about? lol.