Gilliroo Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I haven't been checking in here much the last couple of months, partly because my tank has been rather depressing lately. Kendra and I have been having issues with both of our tanks, which makes me suspicious. We've both had cyano. We're using RO/DI water with a chloramine prefilter and Kent salt. Ammonia and nitrites have been measuring zero, and nitrates have been low. Ph 8.0-8.2. Phosphates low or undetectable. I haven't been testing for anything else- my bioload is pretty low and I have no SPS. None of my corals except for the zoas look happy, and I've lost a candy cane, a couple of Acans, and even a couple of heads on my branching frogspawn. These are all things I've had for a while, and they previously seemed really hardy. A few months ago, I also lost a couple of fish to ich, but I think that's a separate issue. The ones that survived haven't shown any signs for a few months now. Besides that, a firefish got vorteched, another firefish and a clown goby just disappeared without a sign (probably went down the overflow), and my carpenter's fairy wrasse also went MIA. The tank is tightly covered except for about a 2 inch gap at the back, so I guess we may have had some jumpers with really good aim? Sigh. Anyway, the whole thing is just kind of depressing. Obviously, something is wrong, but I don't know what it is. I don't think I've changed anything in terms of tank maintenance. We had a lot of success with the nano tanks in the past, and those should be a lot harder, I would think. Oh, and the tank has been running since August or September, I think. There's lots of coralline algae. Filtration should be more than adequate, as I'm moving a fair amount of water through the sump, but have a separate loop feeding the refugium slowly. I'm running 8 T5s, and have been cutting back on the light cycle to control the cyano. Not dosing with anything, just doing frequent small water changes. Oh, and Kendra's SPS Solana, which has been running for many months longer than my 90G, is having cyano problems too. It's always been really clean in the past. Bioload very low in there, too. Bah! Any ideas? Thanks for reading my novella! Gillian 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 How old are the lights? I had the same issue and replaced my bulbs and it went away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliroo Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 I think mine are from December, but that's a good thought. Gillian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevman Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Im sure you have but just yesterday I had a temp spike to 84 degrees. My Heater got stuck when I was moving some things around in my sump and I think I bumpt it. Anyways I thought TEMP!!! It pisses off all LPS and some sps depending on where in the tank they are( high /Low). Anyways My Two Cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I hate giving advice as I am so new but... when was the last time your filters in your RO system were changed? Just a thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevman Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I hate giving advice as I am so new but... when was the last time your filters in your RO system were changed? Just a thought I forgot to mention that too!!! Maybe a big factor with the Cyano Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefer Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Obviously, something is amiss...in these instances IMHO, it is important to recheck ALL parameters, assume test kits are wrong or have gone bad and reevaluate...ph, salinity, nitrates, phosphates, temperature, ALKALINITY, all should be rechecked...did something die in the tank? heater broken? sounds silly but make a checklist and go through EVERY one...you will find the issue. DrMerle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliroo Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 No temp spikes, and the filters in the RO system are new. We changed them when we started having problems. Possible that one of the fish that "jumped" died in the tank and we couldn't find it, I suppose. I'm quite sure that nothing died in Kendra's tank, since she only has 3 fish in it. We have been doing extra water changes, just in case. As for tests, yes, it's possible that one or more of them are bad. We do have multiple tests from different companies, though, and I've tried at least a couple of them. Perhaps I'll take a water sample to a LFS, just to be sure. Thanks for the ideas. Keep them coming! Gillian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.R Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Are you sure its Cyano? You can do some things such as cut back on feeding, pull out any dead stuff if you see it in there like snails, cut back on lighting, increase your flow. Also if you manually remove cyano from your tank I would use a baster and turn off your pumps and try like heck not to move the cyano around too much so it doesnt spread too much. All else fails and if you get beyond your limit with patience, there is a midication you can use. I would try the above first before you go that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wegotjs Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I got cyno last week when I had to put a old bulb in because one of mine broke. GET RED SLIME REMOVER it works.Even with the old bulb still in there it cleaned up the cyno in 2 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Would it be possible for you to post a couple pics, so we know for sure what it is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Great to see you posting Gillian. Honestly Gillian I think part of the problem was the water quality did change in the Portland water supply with the addition of the chloramines and just in general as so many people were having the same problem all at the same time. I didn't think it was a lighting issue because all of my tanks developed cyano even the ones with brand new bulbs. We upgraded to a better ro/di unit with the choramine filter and that helped cut down on new cyano but did nothing for the old cyano. I would be careful about treating with the cyano treatment preparations in a young tank like yours because they are antibiotics and will not only kill the cyanobacteria but also kill some of the good bacteria you worked so hard to make as part of your bioload which is why the directions always say start up your skimmer and do a water change after the treatment to filter out all the bacteria you have killed. The seahare I bought from Nick actually did a great job of cleaning up all the old cyanobacteria which helped us get rid of the buildup and then having the new ro/di system seemed to help with the problem recurring. I would suggest doing all that you have control over: 1. Try treating the cyanobacteria to get rid of it (keeping the tank dark lights off for 3 days, sea hare, slime algae killer preparation used carefully) before this try to figure out the cause or it will just come back. Like coralreefer said you have to approach it in a multiprong way: 1. Only pure RO/DI (0 tds) for ALL top offs/water changes 2. avoid overfeeding ( I know difficult to do) I like my fish fat and happy too! (laugh) Maybe cut back to every other day feeding until the problem is improved. 3. light - stay on top of your bulb replacements. I believe your tank gets some direct sunlight so try shielding those areas until the problem is resolved 4. Consider weekly water changes >10% per week 5. Skim the hell out of your tank. 6. Try to control the phosphates by using a phosban reactor. We use the BRS GFO and remember to change the media often. Good luck Giills and don't give up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Hey, this is Cyano month! After Valentines, every year. You don't have to complain! Now the serious post... What suggested until now is the way to go. I would add that if you don't like the idea of using red slime remover, you can just add some kalk. It usually helps. But first find out where your system is leaking po4. Testing for it with tests kits is not gonna help you. To be sure about your level of p04 you should test with a good low range colorimeter. Assume you have some level of po4, because your cyano (which are always present in your tank) is growing more than you want. What food do you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliroo Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Thanks guys! I've been increasing the frequency of my water changes, shortening the light cycle, and feeding every other day. I feed Isaac's pellets and some nori. I haven't fed any frozen foods for a few weeks because I was afraid that might be adding phosphates. One thing I've noticed is that my aragonite sand came with some shells and shell pieces mixed in. Over time, these have been working their way to the surface as the sand settles around them. I keep sifting them out where I can because I prefer plain, smooth sand, but I notice that the cyano seems to be concentrated in the areas where these shell pieces settle. Could they be leaching phosphates? Thanks! Gillian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I don't think so, but you could grab some and let them soak in RO water. Test for PO4 after a couple of hours and see if they released some. As for food I don't see any problem there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Could be the type of sand. Finer sand compresses and make anaerobic pockets where cyano thrives. I had that problem in the old tank with the fine sand that I hated. Some more sand sifters may help such as nassarius! You wanna make another road trip to Garrett's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliroo Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Yes! More CUC never hurts, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Could be the type of sand. Finer sand compresses and make anaerobic pockets where cyano thrives. I had that problem in the old tank with the fine sand that I hated. Some more sand sifters may help such as nassarius! You wanna make another road trip to Garrett's? Yah Kim get a road trip going for Saturday to Garrett's so I can meet a bunch of people. Would be nice to have a face to the Avatar. ROAD TRIP, ROAD TRIP!(rock2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Yes! More CUC never hurts' date=' right? [/quote'] Would love to see you Gills! It's been a while and yes a CUC never hurts unless it happens to be a huge emerald crab that pulls your frags under the rock! Yah Kim get a road trip going for Saturday to Garrett's so I can meet a bunch of people. Would be nice to have a face to the Avatar. ROAD TRIP' date=' ROAD TRIP!(rock2)[/quote'] Would love to meet you too John. Beth has to work so may not be able to make it work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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