Cyano killer?

[Thunderkat]

Ok, I have been doing some reading and I am wondering if this product (http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=KL5111) is safe to use or if anybody has used it. It claims to reduce PO4 levels which I am starting to think may still be high due to my copious cyano growth.

If I do that and the cyano dies off quickly then I think my nitrates would start to go up and I think it would be good to use this other item (http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=_A16) as well.

Would this harm my zoos, mushrooms, cleaner wrasse, macro algae (just recently added but cyano already starting up on it), or coralline algae (added with macro algae the rest is dead from my original live rock-got covered by macro algae)?

I am also considering getting rid of all my old live rock because I think the only thing left alive on it is cyano (the rocks are so covered with it they look like red blobs). I could then replace it with new live rock.

I have already implemented previous suggestions of getting a RO unit, doing 10% water changes every two weeks, increasing flow, manual extraction of the large chunks, activated carbon, protein skimmers are tweaked, and I added 9 more pounds of live rock.

I have removed my UV steralizer and placed it on my hospital tank to hopefully help my little clown (hospital tank is 5 gallons so its cleaning the water several times over quickly). I also can't put the steralizer back on my main tank due to now having mushrooms and zoos. I also can no longer keep the light to a minimum because the mushrooms, zoos, macroalgae, and coralline need it now.

I also did not use live sand as last time I used it I ended up with a swarm of poisonous bristle worms. I took one in to a pet shop in Hawaii and they told me that the kind I had were poisonous and to not let them touch my skin and fish would not eat them. I had to drain the water and fill the tank up with fresh water, it was sweet though when those things were finally gone.

Will a algae blenny eat cyano?
Has anybody used any of those two chemicals I linked?

[DeletedAccount]

I always use chemi-clean when an outbreak gets back, and then increase the water flow in the area. I have never seen the top linked product. I would be interested to hear if others have tried it.

[::pete::]

I was also interested in po4 minus as it is supposed to help your skimmer skim.

I agree with the others that the cyano is there due to something and that you have to find in order for it not to return. It will always be there deep in the sand and along the glass, but a quick (temporary) remedy is chemi clean or red slime remover. I have used both and like red slime better as it doesnt need the skimmer to be off.

[GaryP]

I have found that cyano outbreaks are usually the result of buildup of detritus. Increasing flow is a good solution to this problem.

Check with Richard at CB pets about the product that you mentioned. I believe they sell the same product or something similar. I had a discussion with him about it and he was very knowledgeable. The problem with a product suas as this, as I see it, is that its a quick fix and does not address the cause of the phosphates. I would suggest looking at other products or management methods to address phosphate buildup as part of an overall long term strategy.

[Thunderkat]

I have found that cyano outbreaks are usually the result of buildup of detritus. Increasing flow is a good solution to this problem.

Check with Richard at CB pets about the product that you mentioned. I believe they sell the same product or something similar. I had a discussion with him about it and he was very knowledgeable. The problem with a product suas as this, as I see it, is that its a quick fix and does not address the cause of the phosphates. I would suggest looking at other products or management methods to address phosphate buildup as part of an overall long term strategy.

I have (and utilize) an RO unit. One thing I can think of is limestone. I have two rocks in my tank that are limestone and I bought them because they had lots of tunnels in them for fish and critters to live/play in. Does limestone have phosphates?

The only other thing I can think of is recently I had tons of cyano die off and it looked like it was about to go away then I had an explosion of it. Maybe the dying stuff released their nutrients back into the water very quickly causing the explosion I have now.

I removed almost all of my fish, all I have left in my main tank is my cleaner wrasse (I can't get rid of that, how many people have cleaner wrasses that love flake food and brine shrimp) a few snails (6 small ones), and some new mushrooms and zoos.

Last time I checked I was at 78 degrees, 1.022 salinity, and pH 8.2.

I have a super whamodyne test kit with many different things on it coming in the mail (hopefully here today, I ordered it Monday) and yesterday I ordered 2 large bottles of the Reef Vita DNA.

[Thunderkat]

Ok, I looked up some stuff on limestone on the internet and I found it to be a little disturbing.

Limestone is the most abundant chemical sedimentary rock. It is composed mostly of mineral calcite (CaCO3). Although the chemical composition of limestone is similar in all environments, there are many different types because it can be produced in so many different environments. The most common limestone, though is formed in marine environments.

One sample analyzed also contained the following chemicals in PPM.

Antimony < 68
Arsenic 0.41-250
Beryllium < 1-10
Cadmium < 2
Chromium < 1-300
Cobalt 0.84-30
Lead < 1-200
Manganese 10-7,000
Mercury 0.01-0.1
Nickel < 1.5-100
Selenium < 200

I am not sure if I should drink anything other than RO or distilled water now. I found some reports on analasysis of limestone due to all the ground water that goes through limestone.

So the limestone may or may not be causing problems. Limestone seems to be a hot topic for analysis due to all the things it may have.

[jaded]

I doubt that any of the problems your having would be caused by limestone... GaryP mentioned in another post that its the essential building material of all LR... I've had limestone in my tanks for 15years without any problems at all.

post the finding when you get your test kit in. There might be clues there.

[alton]

I get it when I get lazy and don't change my R/O filters soon enough. I have used chemi-clean twice in two years in two tanks, works for me. Make sure you do tha water change after it clears up.

[GaryP]

Remember that our drinking water is held within a limestone reservoir. wi wouldn't worry to much about the metals in the limestone analysis. Just because they are there doesn't mean they are able to leach out. My main gripe with limestone is its lack of porosity. I'm not talking about the holes you are referring to, rather the lack of small pores that are essential for bacterial population. This forms the substrate for waste treatment in a reef system.

[Thunderkat]

Its phosphates that are causing the cyano to go crazy. Something I have been using to get fish to eat (like my cleaner wrasse) and algae to grow has tons of phosphates in it (worked beautifully for my fresh water tanks, guess its not good for saltwater). I just put in some macro algae and then I put in some of that stuff and sure enough the macro algae has started to grow like crazy. Thats also what caused my recent explosion of cyano after it nearly went away. Yup another 327 mg of phosphorus added last night, ingredients said it was in the form of Calcium Phosphates.

I will shut up now as I feel sofa king we Todd did.

[Sherri]

In my 100....I had a continuous prob with red slime...I used Chemi Clean - would take care of the prob temporarily...would always come back...only a temp solution. I always felt it was partly due to poor circulation & too much LR where circulation couldn't get thru, so detritus would build up. With this new 180, I made real sure that I had a good circulation flow & LR spaced so flow is good thru the rocks...

[Thunderkat]

Nitrate 0.0 mg/L

Nitrite 0.0 mg/L

Free Ammonia (NH3) 0.08 mg/L

Total Ammonia (NH4+) 0.09 mg/L

I just put in some new live rock, that should be the reason for the ammonia.

[GaryP]

Calcium phosphate is not soluble in water. Its a solid. It should precipitate out somewhere in the system.

[NaCl_H2O]

My experience has been that circullation is the key to keeping cyano under control. Also, cut back on the amount you are feeding for a few days and see if that helps?

[Thunderkat]

Well, the only fish in my tank for a while has been my cleaner wrasse, it doesn't eat enough to cause massive cyano blooms. Friday I added an algae blenny and a phosphate sponge.

Sunday night before I went to bed I noticed much of the cyano has started to become clear and break apart. The only bright red patches are under the edges of rocks now.