Diatoms & Cyano Outbreak

[Picassoclown]

Hey everyone. My 215 gallon tank is 5 months old post cycle and I am dealing with a cyano and diatom outbreak. I've had them come and go, but not like this. It has been 3 weeks now.

Livestock:

2 Clowns
RG
Orange shoulder
3 neon gobies
3 masked gobies
Helfrichi

Torches, hammers, scoly, trumpets, indophyllia, zoa's, sea fans, crocea clam, bowerbanki, frogspawn, octospawn, goni's
bubble coral, black widow anemone (which is not happy at all right now, but was doing superb prior to this outbreak)

Tank parameters:

PH: 8.2
Salinity: 1.025
Alk: 9.5
Calcium: 450
Mag: 1350
Ammonia and nitrite: 0
Nitrate: Detectable, but less than 3ppm

I am currently brushing the rock work and manually removing as much of it from the tank as possible. I have stopped doing water changes as I have noticed that this does nothing and it makes it worse since I have such low nutrients. I replace filter socks 2 times a week and clean it all off the glass everyday. It's amazing to watch this stuff grow right back within a few hours. I have also added in many rounds of copepods and amphipods, which don't seem to be working. I have a large CUC order coming, but don't think it will make much difference.

Current plan of attack: I am starting to dose nitrate at 3ppm per day, until I get it around 10ppm. My phosphates, luckily, always seem to be around 1, so I am not dosing any as of now. I am hoping that higher nutrients will help eradicate this issue. I am not one for a chemical treatment and rather have the tank do it's own magic. Is there anything else I can try to do like add carbon, or a hang on UV sterilizer? Feedback would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Lavey29]

Phosphate 1 or .1? That's a lot of cyano. Increase flow to that area. Cut lights to 6 hours with blue and uv only no whites. Get parameters correct. Manual siphon weekly. Ugly stages will happen during your first year at different stages.

 

[Picassoclown]

Phosphate 1 or .1? That's a lot of cyano. Increase flow to that area. Cut lights to 6 hours with blue and uv only no whites. Get parameters correct. Manual siphon weekly. Ugly stages will happen during your first year at different stages.

Hi Lavey. Sorry, they're are at 0.1, not 1. I will fix lighting now. When I do manual siphoning with the python, it sucks out a lot of sand, but it comes back also. As far as the flow, I have 2 MP40's and a vectra m2 return pump, I had to dial back the power of the 40's because it was blowing sand all over the place. I can try to switch to gyre mode maybe? Any settings that you think would be helpful? What level of nitrate would you recommend?

 

[CoralsAddiction]

I have dealt with this issue. I spent 7-8 months waiting for the tank to do its magic and it never came. Unfortunately I lost a couple corals and a clam while waiting. Then I watched a BRS TV video on Cyano and Dino. It was quite practical and insightful.
What helped was using one round of chemiclean and changing filter socks out every 3 days while trying to resolve the issue. Below are photos from 3 weeks ago and today. I wish you best of luck.

 

[Picassoclown]

@Lavey29 Forgot to ask, doesn't blue light aid in algae growth?

 

[Lavey29]

Hi Lavey. Sorry, they're are at 0.1, not 1. I will fix lighting now. When I do manual siphoning with the python, it sucks out a lot of sand, but it comes back also. As far as the flow, I have 2 MP40's and a vectra m2 return pump, I had to dial back the power of the 40's because it was blowing sand all over the place. I can try to switch to gyre mode maybe? Any settings that you think would be helpful? What level of nitrate would you recommend?

For corals you want nitrates at 10 and phosphate. 05 to .1 I run my MP40s in lagoon mode at 40% during the day. If flow is not helping the sandbed then manual removal is required. There is also a thread that @SunnyX started for dosing calcium carbonate with MB7 once a week to give crystal clear water and get rid of cyano. I use it once a week, works great.

 

[Lavey29]

@Lavey29 Forgot to ask, doesn't blue light aid in algae growth?

Theoretically any light does but for tanks, white light seems to aid algae the most from what I understand.

 

[Picassoclown]

Here is my light schedule now. Yup, I have wayyyyy to much light in here. I will post another screenshot when I am done.

 

[Picassoclown]

I have dealt with this issue. I spent 7-8 months waiting for the tank to do its magic and it never came. Unfortunately I lost a couple corals and a clam while waiting. Then I watched a BRS TV video on Cyano and Dino. It was quite practical and insightful.
What helped was using one round of chemiclean and changing filter socks out every 3 days while trying to resolve the issue. Below are photos from 3 weeks ago and today. I wish you best of luck.

Thanks for the feedback. Would you mind sharing that video, please?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey everyone. My 215 gallon tank is 5 months old post cycle and I am dealing with a cyano and diatom outbreak. I've had them come and go, but not like this. It has been 3 weeks now.

Livestock:

2 Clowns
RG
Orange shoulder
3 neon gobies
3 masked gobies
Helfrichi

Torches, hammers, scoly, trumpets, indophyllia, zoa's, sea fans, crocea clam, bowerbanki, frogspawn, octospawn, goni's
bubble coral, black widow anemone (which is not happy at all right now, but was doing superb prior to this outbreak)

Tank parameters:

PH: 8.2
Salinity: 1.025
Alk: 9.5
Calcium: 450
Mag: 1350
Ammonia and nitrite: 0
Nitrate: Detectable, but less than 3ppm

I am currently brushing the rock work and manually removing as much of it from the tank as possible. I have stopped doing water changes as I have noticed that this does nothing and it makes it worse since I have such low nutrients. I replace filter socks 2 times a week and clean it all off the glass everyday. It's amazing to watch this stuff grow right back within a few hours. I have also added in many rounds of copepods and amphipods, which don't seem to be working. I have a large CUC order coming, but don't think it will make much difference.

Current plan of attack: I am starting to dose nitrate at 3ppm per day, until I get it around 10ppm. My phosphates, luckily, always seem to be around 1, so I am not dosing any as of now. I am hoping that higher nutrients will help eradicate this issue. I am not one for a chemical treatment and rather have the tank do it's own magic. Is there anything else I can try to do like add carbon, or a hang on UV sterilizer? Feedback would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Its cyano. Even with a 5 month tank, cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high in which you may have a false reading.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days as they favor light. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Thanks for the feedback. Would you mind sharing that video, please?

Sure

 

[CoralsAddiction]

And I know exactly how it it feels to spend an hour or more cleaning your tank (glass, sand, etc) just for it to get dirty and ugly again soon thereafter. It’s no fun but I’m confident you will figure it out.

 

[Picassoclown]

Its cyano. Even with a 5 month tank, cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high in which you may have a false reading.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days as they favor light. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

Thank you for the in-depth feedback Vette, always appreciated.

 

[Picassoclown]

Sure

Thank you very much!

 

[Picassoclown]

@vetteguy53081 This is my new light schedule. Wha do you think about the spectrums & power?

 

[Picassoclown]

For corals you want nitrates at 10 and phosphate. 05 to .1 I run my MP40s in lagoon mode at 40% during the day. If flow is not helping the sandbed then manual removal is required. There is also a thread that @SunnyX started for dosing calcium carbonate with MB7 once a week to give crystal clear water and get rid of cyano. I use it once a week, works great.

Would you mind sharing that thread lavey? Thank you in advance.

 

[vetteguy53081]

@vetteguy53081 This is my new light schedule. Wha do you think about the spectrums & power?

Im good with this

 

[Picassoclown]

@vetteguy53081 I totally forgot to mention that I am dosing MB7 at 2ml a day in a 215 gallon system (protein skimmer shut off for 4 hours after dosing) and I'm still getting bacterial blooms. Should I go down to 1ml? Is that even going to do anything at such a small dose?