Cyano

[Tazmaniancowboy]

I am not sure exactly what I have going on in my tank I am suspicious to it being Diatoms. I had a few patches on a couple pieces of live rock. then it moved to the sandbed and occasionally to the glass. It is very stringy and plush like a carpet, dark brown in color.

2 Hours later

2 hrs after that it is even more intense. and then it lightens over night

Would Diatoms act like this?

Many questions and things going through my head right now. More thoughts, questions and pics later.

Help me ID and get rid of this carpet, Shag is out!

Taz

 

[radiata]

Re: Diatoms?

Looks to me like cyano. I don't think diatoms form mats, just thin yellowish films.

 

[dnov99]

Re: Diatoms?

+1 on the cyano

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

Re: Diatoms?

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Cyano was my first thought as I had it in my past setup and defeated it. It looked totally different from this, Unless I battled something different back then. Isn't cyano more of a film...almost see through and reddish in color, occasionally with gas bubbles in it?
You can not see in my pics how hairy this stuff is, I'll try to get a better pic. Could this be dinos?


Taz

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

Re: Diatoms?

2 more pics

Very hairy and very thick

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

Re: Diatoms?

OK, interesting find for me tonight. Looked in the tank after 4 of my 8 t5's went out for the night and within a half hr to 45 mins this stuff was barely visible on the sand and a lot less on that piece of branch rock. I also noticed some tiny bubbles in it. I do not know why I never noticed this before, but my wife commented on it also. Going to keep those 4 bulbs off tomorrow out of curiosity and then I have to come up with an attack plan with new bulbs on the list.

 

[dnov99]

Re: Diatoms?

Have you changed anything in your day to day routine or dosing something new?? There are defintiely some nutrients in there causing this stuff to form. What are your phos, nitrates, etc.

 

[Phyl]

Re: Diatoms?

Definitely cyano. If the bulbs are reaching their life expectancy change them first. Dinos have floating "strings" that look like snot. That looks like cyano to me. I've seen it clumpy like that. Need a cuke? I think I have an extra one, if I can find him. I spawned a third and don't need three!

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

Re: Diatoms?

Have you changed anything in your day to day routine or dosing something new?? There are definitely some nutrients in there causing this stuff to form. What are your phos, nitrates, etc.

I have not changed anything for this to happen as far as dosing,feeding or lighting. The only thing I did was change the aquascaping the week after MACNA but I did have a slight trace of it for about three months prior that never grew any bigger. Between researching and all of the help from you guys that replied to convince me it was cyano, I have been thinking back and there are so many variables that could be leading to this extreme outbreak.

I lost track of my bulbs age but do know they are near the end of useful life expectancy or done. I will be changing them as soon as we do the bulb buy. In the mean time I have switched to Bulk Reef Supply products thanks to seeing PhilG's in action.I'm now using 2 dual media reactors with the proper amount of carbon and High capacity gfo in each. Thanks to Boomer I realized I was using way too little media in the TLF phosban reactors. The other thing that happened was that I was having RODI problems. My Di was getting used up in 55 gallons of water all of a sudden. After communicating with Air Water Ice they say I may have gotten a bad batch and are sending me some new. My TDS was reading 0-3ppm so I used it thinking that 3ppm in 55 gallons going into a 400g system shouldn't hurt, but I may have been wrong. This also has me thinking if it was bad DI, what was wrong and did it introduce something into the water? If the new DI cartridge doesn't work, I'll have to get the well tested because something will be seriously wrong!

Taz

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

Re: Diatoms?

Forgot to report that I kept 4 of 8 bulbs off all day yesterday to see what happens. There was no noticeable difference.

Today I bought some salt and made 0tds water with the last of the questionable DI media( needed water badly) and added about 10 gallons of salt water around 2:30. Coincidentally the cyano was not as thick by around dinner time ??? Does salinity or ph have any effect on this stuff?

I'm hoping to syphon out the crap tomorrow or wed and do my water change. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope this curbs it until I can get lights.

I noticed it getting mighty close to some corals. Will it smother or harm coral?

Phyl If you want to get rid of that cuke let me know. I was going to buy a few from the invert buy.

Taz

 

[Hawkeye]

Re: Diatoms?

that is one heck of a massive clam - diatom/cyano aside the tank is a beauty.

How about re-positioning the powerheads lower so that they hit the bottom more? Not sure if you can do that with yours or if it is awkward given their location.

I have diatoms (brown) and it's mainly because of my over-feeding. I use conches on the sandbed to help out. My sea cuke must be tenured as it doesn't want to do any work any isn't getting evicted anytime soon since it sandwiched itself inside my overflow. : I am toying with my multi-controller to better figure out the sweet spot between sand storm vs detritus cleaner.

 

[JRWOHLER]

I would break out the old turkey baster too ... you can blow the stuff loose and then remove it. Temp IMHO has something to do with it too, maybe higher temp creates lower O2 or something.

I agree with Hawk...cyano aside the tank looks super nice.

 

[Dave]

My tiger sand conch (Strombus Sp.) took care of my cyano, and does a great cleanup job in the tank.

Something to consider, if you do not have one.

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

Hawkeye, thanks for the compliment. That clam actually looks small in the pic. It was only 3" when I purchased it around 6 years ago from Flying Fish Express Before Drs Foster and Smith took over. It was my first attempt at a clam. Had it on the sandbed under 2 150 halides with 2 110 vhos Never dosed anything but Mrs Wages pickling lime and never fed. It is now a little deeper on the sandbed under 8 54w t5's. It is so big that I actually considered getting rid of it

The 2 vortechs you saw in the pic actually had to be turned down a little because they were churning the entire sandbed including undermining the back of the rock. I have not seen a dead spot in the tank since I saw Jake Adams' flow workshop at MACNA. After the workshop I told him my setup and he talked me into 2 vortechs and advised me not to install them where ecotech was recommending. Keep them both high and on one side of the tank flowing the length of the tank. I then explained to him that I have 3 feet front to back and asked his thoughts, he said try it, he never advises it because most people do not have that much front to back. I tried it the length of the tank first and then on the back wall being that the tank is visible all three sides and I really like the flow.

JR, I do have plans to break out the turkey baster. I actually siphon with it also. I attach it to the end of some tubing and run it out into the yard. It works great, I don't lose too much water too fast and it has a great suction. When all is done, I refill the sump and I have just completed a waterchange while exporting the nasties! I also bought a couple of 50 micron filter socks to use in the sump while this is going on. This is by far the worst I have ever seen hence the reason I wasn't sure what it was but I AM GOING TO BEAT THIS! ;D I really do believe that temp plays a part of the problem also. It seems like change of season hits my family's tanks within a week or two of each other and then goes away. Originally thought it was coincidental, but it has happened far too many times to be a coincidence.


Keep an eye out for a thread in Tale of the tank. It will be a condensed version through memory. I have been digging up pics and uploading to get ready to start a thread. Hopefully by the end of the thread I will have a CLEAN tank to photo and post!

Taz

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

My tiger sand conch (Strombus Sp.) took care of my cyano, and does a great cleanup job in the tank.

Something to consider, if you do not have one.

Thanks for the suggestion Dave, I do have or did? have three conchs in there and they moved through the sand a lot, but didn't seem to do anything. I'm sure all of my clean up crew is just as frustrated as I am trying to keep the tank clean. LOL I do not know the species, but I did get them from a group buy. That is one of the problems I see with buying inverts all over the place. I either don't know or forget the exact species.

Taz

 

[Dave]

You can see pics of most of the common conch's available, including the tiger sand conch.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/cat/infoL3/24199/category.web

 

[Phyl]

The 2 vortechs you saw in the pic actually had to be turned down a little because they were churning the entire sandbed including undermining the back of the rock.

Did this happen before the cyano outbreak? If so then you just identified the source of your cyano outbreak. Your sandbed stirring released nutrients that now need to get out of the water column. A HUGE (50%) water change would be next on MY list to drop that nutrient level back down. But that's just me and I've been known to do more than that in a pinch!

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

The 2 vortechs you saw in the pic actually had to be turned down a little because they were churning the entire sandbed including undermining the back of the rock.

Did this happen before the cyano outbreak? If so then you just identified the source of your cyano outbreak. Your sandbed stirring released nutrients that now need to get out of the water column. A HUGE (50%) water change would be next on MY list to drop that nutrient level back down. But that's just me and I've been known to do more than that in a pinch!

Good catch Phyl, That may be why it has come on so strong. I did have traces for about 2 months prior that may have been fueled by the sand stir. Oh so many variables...LOL

 

[NJ_ychung1]

was there any history of vodka dosing....? opinions...

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

was there any history of vodka dosing....? opinions...

No vodka dosing or any similar practices