What temperature are you running the tank? Seems like they got wiped out pretty badly in the last bleaching event so curious to see what you've been sitting at.
Andrew's Red Sea Reefer 250
- Thread starter PizzaOven
- Start date
PizzaOven
Supporting Member
I think getting my vermetid snail population under control really helped my corals... I added about 25 bumblebee snails and started dosing coral snow with water changes (this was about 3 months ago). I also don't feed my corals anymore, since I think this was exacerbating the problem. I still see a few webs when I stir things up, but much less than before.
FTS:
New mille I added a few weeks ago:
Kermit the Frog Acro (gift from @t0mmy108 - thx buddy!):
Apparently, I like Gonis:
This forest fire digitata was almost dead at one point. It's making a solid comeback. Notice how it's encrusting vermetid shells. F yah!!
Cool Pavona a buddy gave to me (I'm trying to recruit him to BAR):
Another coral (Avatar Chalice) I swore was a goner. It used to be this entire 4" disc. New mouths are growing back:
Hoping I can keep things on an upward trend.
Happy Reefing!
-Andrew
FTS:
New mille I added a few weeks ago:
Kermit the Frog Acro (gift from @t0mmy108 - thx buddy!):
Apparently, I like Gonis:
This forest fire digitata was almost dead at one point. It's making a solid comeback. Notice how it's encrusting vermetid shells. F yah!!
Cool Pavona a buddy gave to me (I'm trying to recruit him to BAR):
Another coral (Avatar Chalice) I swore was a goner. It used to be this entire 4" disc. New mouths are growing back:
Hoping I can keep things on an upward trend.
Happy Reefing!
-Andrew
Looking great.
PizzaOven
Supporting Member
Took out a little bit of the sand. I'm finding I like the look of thinner sand beds. I'll probably keep siphoning out a little bit at a time until I'm left with 3/4" all around.
I've been dealing with cyano for the past few months. I have 2 MP40's for circulation, so I don't think its flow related... My nutrients aren't crazy high either (2.5ppm nitrate, 0.1ppm phosphate). It doesn't seem like it's harming anything, but I'd like to get rid of it.
Any advice? Should I go the chemiclean route?
I've been dealing with cyano for the past few months. I have 2 MP40's for circulation, so I don't think its flow related... My nutrients aren't crazy high either (2.5ppm nitrate, 0.1ppm phosphate). It doesn't seem like it's harming anything, but I'd like to get rid of it.
Any advice? Should I go the chemiclean route?
PizzaOven
Supporting Member
Vimeo link below. I guess we can't upload videos directly on this forum. I have my two MP40s set to Reef Crest mode at 30%.
I was dealing with cyano pretty bad until I heavily seeded my tank with pods from @Coral Hub (Nathan). Don't know if that's what did it but I haven't seen any cyano in a long time.Vimeo link below. I guess we can't upload videos directly on this forum. I have my two MP40s set to Reef Crest mode at 30%.
PizzaOven
Supporting Member
Pods can never hurt. I'll try adding some. Worst case I still have cyano but my wrasse gets a buffet... Was there a specific species you added?
I get big cyano blooms occasionally - some last longer than others. In my case it seems that feeding pellets really sets it off - when I feed only frozen and freeze dried mysis it tends to go away. Seems very cyclical though, I think the bloom gets big enough that it dies off because it consumed all of whatever it is that was causing it to grow out of control.
PizzaOven
Supporting Member
Maybe I should try switching from flakes to frozen misis.
Seasonal for me too, usually spring though. Going blackout for a couple days always helped. Usually sorts itself out in time. Conchs stirring up the sand help as well.
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
I believe it is flow and overfeeding. The cyano consumes nitrates, so your nitrate values could be understated.
Also, out-of-balance nutrients are often causing them—one of the two nitrate or phosphate is significantly higher than the other. So feeding good frozen food might get nitrate higher relative to phosphate and be in balance. I still believe in the 100:1 ratio but I know there are other ratios out there.
If none of this applies, most likely reason are too low iodine, fluoride, and/or bromine. However, you would only know if you did an ICP.
Also, out-of-balance nutrients are often causing them—one of the two nitrate or phosphate is significantly higher than the other. So feeding good frozen food might get nitrate higher relative to phosphate and be in balance. I still believe in the 100:1 ratio but I know there are other ratios out there.
If none of this applies, most likely reason are too low iodine, fluoride, and/or bromine. However, you would only know if you did an ICP.
tribbitt
Supporting Member
I feed TDO pellet almost exclusively, because clowns did not care for mysis at all. I have no visible cyano. I also have acceptable flow, but it's not like it's ripping fast. Not sure at all about the whole molar ratio thing, but historically for me it's been 2-300. Recently it's been closer to 100 as I've started broadcasting reef roids daily: 15ppm nitrate, 0.25ppm phosphate.
Personally I'd do a few extra water changes over the next few weeks and suck out as much of the cyano as possible each time
Personally I'd do a few extra water changes over the next few weeks and suck out as much of the cyano as possible each time
tribbitt
Supporting Member
Yeah, I watched the full talk a while ago. I actually tried to add a screen grab of the ratio for cyano, because Pizza’s tank has a closer ratio (38:1) to cyano’s supposed preferred ratio (5:1) than most tanks, but I guess it didn’t attach properly
However, even though I liked the talk very much, I don’t want to definitively accept it as true (or in this case suggest this as the cause of cyano) until I do some more research. Especially given that a lot of the examples, while compelling, were based on his and other peoples’ experiences - and I’m sure he left out much of the drier stuff
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PizzaOven
Supporting Member
Thanks for all the great feedback everyone!
Thanks, I haven't done an ICP test in a long time. I'll pick one up. I also considered that perhaps my nutrients are "locked up" in the cyano. My observation is that when I siphon out all of the cyano, it grows back very quickly, before I even feed the tank again! If this is really the case, shouldn't the cyano stop growing back since it has no more fuel? Similar thinking to @derek_SR 's point in his post:
I guess there is a delayed response between feeding and fish pooping, which I'm not considering. An interesting experiment would be to stop feeding for a couple of days, siphon out all of the cyano, and see if it grows back.
Thanks, I'll try increasing my water change schedule to 2x per week to see what happens.
This was a really interesting talk! Thanks for sharing the link. I'm bummed I missed it in person. My molar ratio is ~38 whereas my NO3/PO4 ratio is ~25. This tells me I should slightly bump up my NO3 or reduce PO4 to get closer to 50:1. Does anyone know where the Fauna Marin recommended NO3/PO4 ratio of 100 comes from?
Coral reefer
Past President
I find long photoperiod can help cyano grow. I would manually remove and do 3 day black out before chemiclean
If’s also slowly ramp up the mo40s a bit
If’s also slowly ramp up the mo40s a bit
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
Absolutely no chemiclean. This stuff should be banned.
PizzaOven
Supporting Member
I turned up the MP-40s a tad, removed as much cyano as I could, and covered the tank for a 3-day blackout. I'm hoping the combination of increased flow, reduced feeding, and 3 days of complete darkness will solve the problem. I turned off all dosers, except kalk to keep pH from dropping too low. I'll monitor Alk and adjust the kalk amount as needed to keep it from going too high.
Anyone ever connect a cannister filter to a gravel vacuum? This way I can vacuum as much as I want without worrying about draining too much water.
I covered the tank with contractors' paper and towels to prevent any ambient light from getting through.
I'll do a large water change once it's finished...
Anyone ever connect a cannister filter to a gravel vacuum? This way I can vacuum as much as I want without worrying about draining too much water.
I covered the tank with contractors' paper and towels to prevent any ambient light from getting through.
I'll do a large water change once it's finished...