what is the cause of cyano?

ok so heres the deal i have cyano on the sand bad. its creeping up a rock and i realy would like it gone. i have only two fish (clownfish) and feed small protions of flake almost every day. i have a penguin 350 filter working as a fuge. i have 4 mangroves and chaeto and gracilaria. my water params are not perfect but thats because i use RO water from the store and cant get any better water than that. some questions:

will getting two power heads help me at all?

can i use red slime remover? is this reef safe?

it seems to have popped up after i added a dersea clam. could this have affected it?

what did i do wrong?

thanks and i am emberrased that im almost a year into saltwater tanks and i have this problem.

 

Every time an angel gets it's wings, a fish tank get cyano.;D

 

Pretty much, you will always have it. Lots of flow keeps it at bay, but even that doesn't work all the time.

Adjusting feeding and lighting schedule could help, but seem you are already doing that.

Good luck.

 

i just got my first patches of cyano and my tank is 7 months old i use ro/di from lfs, minimal feedings parameters are all 0 plenty of flow, and still have it, ive got a sudden burst of GHA as well, it sure is ugly and annoying but i guess like jonjon said we willl always have it

 

Almost forgot..... Changes in light spectrums. How old are your bulbs?

 

Embarassed about having Cyano? That's like being embarassed because you've got a grey hair. Dye it and move on

Seriously, I haven't had a tank that doesn't get cyano. My current tank doesn't have any in the main, but I've got it in the fuge.

Is your protein skimmer working well? How is the flow in the tank? When did you change your bulbs last (have you changed them yet?)

You can use Red Slime remover to give it a bump out of your tank then address what you think the issue may be (bulbs, flow, skimmer). You can also just siphon what you've got out of the tank.

 

Yup my tank is going on a year, and I just noticed some cyno patches last night.

 

I got mine early on and my LFS said to check my pH and get it up to 8.2. I just try to keep my alkalinity above 3.5 to 4. Worked for me but still had some around. I added more flow and that seemed to do the trick for me. I am pounding on wood right hopefully to prevent jinxing myself.;D

 

i need new bulbs, a protein skimmer, and pumps. that is why im embarressed mainly. i bought the things i wanted instead of the things i need. and now im paying. all i can do is start with the cheaper stuff (pumps) and work my way up to the protein skimmer.