Battling Cyano... Chemiclean?

[i3oosted]

OK, I purchased some corals and fish awhile back and once they got into the tank, Cyano started going crazy so I'm in the midst of an all out war for my tank.

I only feed once a day and then add a sheet of nori for my yellow tang.

Things I have done:
I changed my RO/DI filters, they are going on about 8 months old
I have started using Phospure media and cuttable pads
I've upped my water changes
Added a decent CUC, and they have taken care of the cyano on my rocks
I have under construction right now, a 20g sump/refugium to better control water quality as I want to start keeping more coral.

I bought a product called Chemiclean that I plan to use, I have done the lights out for a few days and it works, but eventually comes back.

It's ravaging my sand bed, not so much my rocks. I plan to either get a brittle star or a dragon goby to keep sand bed clean of waste feeding the bacteria.




Has anyone used Chemiclean before? I've heard horror stories but most come from not following directions. It says to add some sort of oxygenation to the tank as the chemical will use it up.

I was just going to pull my cup from my skimmer and add my maxijet 600 with air bubbles. Sound good?

[allan]

I pulled my cup off of my skimmer to allow for the gas exchange.

dose appropriately, and keep in mind your rock/sand displacement as far as calculating your water volumn.

I am now a believer in the chemiclean. I had the nasty green cyano, wiped it out in two days. I've dealt with cyano before, and nothing would seem to get rid of it. I did the lights out, and I've done major rock rework, i blasted the rock... But the chemiclean was a simple measure that gave me the result I wanted.

Dragon goby will drop sand everywhere. Some will drop the sand low, some high... I've got a medium goby myself. I deal with the sand being dropped. My sand bed is white. That makes it worth while. A brittle star will hide and show you only it's arms as it looks for food.

[jrossjr79]

Another option you could think of is some horseshoe crabs, it has helped with the Cyano problem I have had. Just be careful, once they get to big they can cause havoc in a reef tank.

[1seahorse]

Some people may not agree with with me, but it has always worked for me ...

48-72 hr blackout. It will shrink colonies and pick them off , scoop the sand it's attached too. do not tear it up or let it free float in tank, that's how it gets on coral and live rock. This worked for me after getting an outbreak from a coral frag that was infected.

[350gt]

Chemiclean works....

I did one treatment and upped my water changes...... Nothing since, its been about a year.

[350gt]

Diamond gobies are awesome for stirring up the sand bed...

[Bill S]

Chemiclean works. But, cyano is a symptom.

[bugj51]

i've used h2o2 with success. 1ml per10 gal

[Texreefer]

Chemiclean works. But, cyano is a symptom.
So true,,, and it depends on how patient you are. weeks ago i had a forest of hair algae and my rocks and sand bed were blanketed with cyano....steady regular care and maintenance and now you couldn't find a spec of algae with a magnifying glass in my tank.. something to think about

[BlueKoran91]

So true,,, and it depends on how patient you are. weeks ago i had a forest of hair algae and my rocks and sand bed were blanketed with cyano....steady regular care and maintenance and now you couldn't find a spec of algae with a magnifying glass in my tank.. something to think about

How did you get rid of the hair algae? I have a small outbreak :/ I've been pulling it out and I'm running phosban...but it keeps coming back


🐠Manda🐟

[FireWater]

Most cyano and hair algae problems are there and run rampant because of underlying problems. Mainly it's a build up of phosphates and/or nitrates due to a myriad of things. Mainly the water is not exchanging or gettin rid of the phos/nit. This can be due to too little or too infrequent of water changes, over feeding, using less than pristine water for water changes, too little flow, too little light or wrong spectrum,and so on.

The first step is to figure out what is causing the issue. Chemiclean is fine to use as a treatment. Like Mike said, patience when dealing with it is key. It won't go away over night. I had a bad outbreak in my sand bed and it was combatted by changing the flow in the tank, upping the % of water each change, and stirring/siphoning my sand bed. I purposely run a shallow sand bed just so I can disturb it with no ill effect. Bill is spot on with his statement as well.

[1seahorse]

Most cyano and hair algae problems are there and run rampant because of underlying problems. Mainly it's a build up of phosphates and/or nitrates due to a myriad of things. Mainly the water is not exchanging or gettin rid of the phos/nit. This can be due to too little or too infrequent of water changes, over feeding, using less than pristine water for water changes, too little flow, too little light or wrong spectrum,and so on.

The first step is to figure out what is causing the issue. Chemiclean is fine to use as a treatment. Like Mike said, patience when dealing with it is key. It won't go away over night. I had a bad outbreak in my sand bed and it was combatted by changing the flow in the tank, upping the % of water each change, and stirring/siphoning my sand bed. I purposely run a shallow sand bed just so I can disturb it with no ill effect. Bill is spot on with his statement as well.

+1

[Texreefer]

Steady regular care and maintenance.. is all i needed.. took a couple months though. most people aren't that patient

[i3oosted]

Steady regular care and maintenance.. is all i needed.. took a couple months though. most people aren't that patient
Sometimes patients isn't the reason, expensive corals can quickly die from suffocating cyano.

[coralreefexplore]

I also had an outbreak but decided not to treat it with chemiclean. I didn't turn off or turn down my lights. Just kept cleaning and regular water changes and about 2 months later its all gone.

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[ramsey]

Most cyano and hair algae problems are there and run rampant because of underlying problems. Mainly it's a build up of phosphates and/or nitrates due to a myriad of things. Mainly the water is not exchanging or gettin rid of the phos/nit. This can be due to too little or too infrequent of water changes, over feeding, using less than pristine water for water changes, too little flow, too little light or wrong spectrum,and so on.

The first step is to figure out what is causing the issue. Chemiclean is fine to use as a treatment. Like Mike said, patience when dealing with it is key. It won't go away over night. I had a bad outbreak in my sand bed and it was combatted by changing the flow in the tank, upping the % of water each change, and stirring/siphoning my sand bed. I purposely run a shallow sand bed just so I can disturb it with no ill effect. Bill is spot on with his statement as well.

Great advice John. My experience has lead me to believe that a very shallow sandbed that you lightly vacuum and keep stirred is the way to go. With my 38g, I overdid the sand and ended up with about 2". I've been slowly removing some when I do water changes and now that it's at about an inch or less, it's looking much better. When I do water changes, I'll pick a section to vacuum. I also have ceriths and nassarius snails to keep the sand stirred.

In my 185 I'm going to get at least one, if not a few, sand stirring gobies. I battled cyano In that tank ( before I decided to rebuild) and it can be a real test of patience and very discouraging. In retrospect, I think a lot of my issues stemmed from too much sand and "old/used" live rock that had phosphates bound up in it.

Another thing I've noticed (could be coincidence) but cyano LOVES dying Xenia. I've had corals die, but melting Xenia also comes with a big cyano outbreak. On a side note, melting Xenia is my new speed metal band's name. JK

[rickrutland]

Where would you get chemiclean?

[coralreefexplore]

Tx tropical petco

CoralReefExplore

[clayton]

I've used chemi-clean In the past and it worked awesomely In my 75. Cleared it up and kept it clear. Strongly reccomend it. Just make sure to follow the directions on the back.

[i3oosted]

I've done a bit more research and I'm at a crossroads. I know that Chemiclean is some sort of algicide and it does work but takes out a portion of your good bacteria also.

I also have access to Dr. Tims Refresh/Waste Away combo which is all natural and works by introducing a competing good bacteria that will out compete the cyano bacteria eventually, but it takes longer, couple weeks to a month for cyano to be gone. The good thing is that if you keep dosing a small amount of Waste away a month, it keeps that good bacteria level up to par and the cyano will not return.

Why does everything have to be so confusing?

[350gt]

Where would you get chemiclean?


Almost any shop carries it........ Ive seen it at Texas tropical but bought mine at Elegant Reef.

[350gt]

I've done a bit more research and I'm at a crossroads. I know that Chemiclean is some sort of algicide and it does work but takes out a portion of your good bacteria also.

I also have access to Dr. Tims Refresh/Waste Away combo which is all natural and works by introducing a competing good bacteria that will out compete the cyano bacteria eventually, but it takes longer, couple weeks to a month for cyano to be gone. The good thing is that if you keep dosing a small amount of Waste away a month, it keeps that good bacteria level up to par and the cyano will not return.

Why does everything have to be so confusing?



A few have used the DR Tims with good results.

I can honestly say that the chemiclean wiped out my problem and it hasnt returned...

[i3oosted]

A few have used the DR Tims with good results.

I can honestly say that the chemiclean wiped out my problem and it hasnt returned...
Have you changed any habits that may have caused the cyano after the treatment?

I never had any clean up crew besides a few hermits so I think my sand bed was a nutrient time bomb waiting to go off and whenever I put a new coral in there that had to have some cyano on it, it blew up!

[The_wolfeman]

What are your tank specs? And what kind of skimmer are you running? It sound like you are running HOB filtration. What do you have for water movement?


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[FireWater]

Have you changed any habits that may have caused the cyano after the treatment?

I never had any clean up crew besides a few hermits so I think my sand bed was a nutrient time bomb waiting to go off and whenever I put a new coral in there that had to have some cyano on it, it blew up!


There are so many variables that can lead to cyano and other issues. Most of them I have learned first hand unfortunately. Like Aaron asked, what are some of your tank parameters?

[350gt]

Have you changed any habits that may have caused the cyano after the treatment?

I never had any clean up crew besides a few hermits so I think my sand bed was a nutrient time bomb waiting to go off and whenever I put a new coral in there that had to have some cyano on it, it blew up!

Sorry i missed this.......

Yes i bumped up water changes...... Problems started when i tried to lower the amount of water being changed...

Like all other treatments, this is just a quick fix..... You will still need to find the problem.......