FeliciaLynn
Guest
Oh, and I know there's quite a bioload in the 10 gallon right now, so I just did a 25% water change yesterday but the cyano is even worse today. I'll do another water change in a couple days.
Felicia's 30 Gallon Seahorse Tank - Seahorses have arrived!!!
- Thread starter FeliciaLynn
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FeliciaLynn
Guest
I've got a video for you guys! Excuse the poor quality. My point and shoot was closer to me than my phone and unfortunately its an older point and shoot that takes really low quality video. This was right after I fed them. I was just so entertained by watching the nassarius snails crawl into their burrow and then get picked up and spit back out, just to fall in again. Also, I've decided to name the jawfish Bonnie and Clyde 
rygh
Guest
Well, really 3 things for Cynao:
1) Normal main source is feeding.
What exactly are you feeding? Too much?
The RODI is unlikely to be the cause, unless really old, and you have high phosphate water supply.
Note that new rocks and sand can slowly release phosphates as well. Uncommon though.
2) Water changes only are partially effective.
They work to dilute phosphate of course, but all depends on percentages.
Plus, Cyano can take in nutrients rapidly, before you do the next water change.
3) Flow matters.
It needs low flow regions to really grow well.
To solve it:
1) Reduce feeding if possible, and check ingredients.
2) Add GFO, to chemically eliminate it.
3) Check and adjust flow.
4) Stay on it. It takes time.
I have used Boyd Chemiclean in the past. It works well temporarily. No negative effect seen,
even on my sponges. (My sponges are hitch-hikers though, not fancy ornamentals)
But it only kills the Cyano. It does not fix the root of the problem.
In a few weeks, it will be back.
FYI: All that is easy to write, but not so easy to do.
I still have Cyano issues as well. Mostly from over feeding.
goldielocke76
Supporting Member
If it helps, Denzil put a GFO on his 10 gallon, now 20 gallon, and it took care of his cyano issues. Maybe it was lack of flow, because he doesn't feed much at all. And, he uses the BRS GFO calculator, so he only uses like maybe 1/4 media. Might be beneficial on the frag tank? That way you can keep a frag tank going, but not have so many issues? Just a thought.
FeliciaLynn
Guest
Thanks! All very good points. I am currently overfeeding (trying to make sure all the new fish are eating), so I would blame that except that before I put these new fish in there, I barely fed that tank at all and I still had awful cyano and hair algae issues. I'm partial to thinking its a flow issue, but I have a Koralia 425 in there and the AC50 does about 200 gph. So that's 625 gph in a 10 gallon. Theoretically that should be enough but it just doesn't seem like that much. I wonder if the eggcrate frag racks disperse the flow too much or something.
I've got Red Slime Remover on hand that I've used on my main display tank a few times after overfeeding caused some cyano. I always fix the cause first and then use the Red Slime Remover as a quick way to clear up the remaining cyano. I'm just hesitant to use it in the frag tank that is holding all these new sponges and gorgonians and the spiral wire coral. They're all things I've never used Red Slime Remover with before and I'm not sure how well they'll handle it.
I can go out and get some GFO. Can that just go in the AC50? I've never used GFO. I always run filter floss, ChemiPure Elite, and Purigen as my media.
FeliciaLynn
Guest
Well I had already decided to take the frag tank down when I decided to start this new build, because I don't want to maintain 3 tanks. 2 is definitely my limit before it seems like a job instead of a hobby. With 2 main tanks, I can put a magnetic frag rack into each and hold enough frags without needing the small frag tank.If it helps, Denzil put a GFO on his 10 gallon, now 20 gallon, and it took care of his cyano issues. Maybe it was lack of flow, because he doesn't feed much at all. And, he uses the BRS GFO calculator, so he only uses like maybe 1/4 media. Might be beneficial on the frag tank? That way you can keep a frag tank going, but not have so many issues? Just a thought.
So really, we don't need to cure the cyano issue long term. I just need it under control enough that its not getting on my gorgs and sponges until I can relocate them to the new tank. Its just so weird because I do most things in the frag tank the same way as the main tank, but the frag tank has crazy cyano and hair algae and the main tank has none.
rygh
Guest
Hmm. ChemiPure Elite contains Ferric Oxide.
So that should be helping.
But with those "all in one" type products, it is hard to say how much is in there.
Suggest putting some GFO in a small mesh bag, in a high flow area.
Should be safe. If worried, add a small amount, wait a few days, then add more.
Purigen only gets ammonia + nitrate.
Do you change your filter floss a lot?
If not, it could be part of the problem, not part of the solution.
FeliciaLynn
Guest
The ChemiPure elite is a brand new bag that I put in when I did the thorough scrub down of this tank last Tuesday. I would think it would be helping if it contains GFO. I wasn't planning to go to the LFS again for a while but I guess I may have to decide to make a trip for GFO. When you say put it in a high flow area, can it just got in the AC50? I change the filter floss when I do water changes, so like once a week. Maybe I should change it more frequently or just take it out completely?
rygh
Guest
I really have no idea on effectiveness of ChemiPure Elite. Not saying it is bad. Just never used it.
A brand new bag should be helping though, especially on a small aquarium like that.
Do you have any way of testing phosphates? If near Union City, I have a good tester you could borrow.
Should be fine in the AC50, assuming there is room.
Weekly filter floss changing should be ok. Lots of pros/cons on using floss in general. No real opinion either way.
FeliciaLynn
Guest
I've got an API Reef Master kit that includes a phosphate test. I just don't use it much because it doesn't seem that reliable and its hard to tell the colors apart. I'll try that this evening though and see if I can get an idea of phosphates.
Thank you for the offer of the tester! Unfortunately, Union City is about 40-45 minutes from me with traffic. I'll just try the one I have an see if I can get a decent reading. I'll let you guys know what I'm getting once I test.
Yeah, I know there are a lot of pros and cons to filter floss. I use it because I've never had an issue with it in the main tank and I like that it pulls the big particles of stuff out of the water. I may pull the filter floss out of the filter on the frag tank for a few days and see if that helps.
I think I'll hold off on GFO for now because its a long drive to the nearest LFS that carries it. Do any of you have experience with Seachem's Phosguard? I really like Purigen and I've heard good things about Phosguard, so I'm tempted to try that instead of GFO. I can use my Prime account to order it on Amazon and have it here in 2 days.
denzil
Guest
IME, ChemiPure Elite is really only good for maintaining already low levels of phosphate. I don't think it's capable of handling spikes in phosphate because I used to run it in an AC30 when it was on the 10g and it still wasn't keeping up. I went dark on my tank for three days straight (while still feeding normally twice a day) and it got rid of about 95% of my cyano in the tank and I quickly followed it up with removing the AC30 completely and adding a dual BRS reactor with GFO in the first chamber and LR in the second.
Recently I've been noticing some hair algae growing in one spot but I've only been doing 25% water changes like every other week and haven't really tested in over a month. I did a water change a couple days ago and made sure I vacuumed the majority of the detritus and will probably test the tank sometime this week.
Recently I've been noticing some hair algae growing in one spot but I've only been doing 25% water changes like every other week and haven't really tested in over a month. I did a water change a couple days ago and made sure I vacuumed the majority of the detritus and will probably test the tank sometime this week.
rygh
Guest
Phosguard is aluminum based, and has more spherical granules.
The spheres mean less compaction, so good if running in a bag instead of a reactor.
Aluminum is more aggressive at absorbing phosphate (supposedly ... I am not a chemist)
Being more aggressive is good/bad. Lowers levels faster, but that can shock sensitive corals.
Easily solved by starting slow and ramping up usage.
Some people worry about aluminum leaching, but studies seem to show that is not the case.
The spheres mean less compaction, so good if running in a bag instead of a reactor.
Aluminum is more aggressive at absorbing phosphate (supposedly ... I am not a chemist)
Being more aggressive is good/bad. Lowers levels faster, but that can shock sensitive corals.
Easily solved by starting slow and ramping up usage.
Some people worry about aluminum leaching, but studies seem to show that is not the case.
FeliciaLynn
Guest
Great information guys, thanks! I still just wish I knew where the phosphates were coming from in the first place (if that is in fact the cause). I've decided I'm probably making a trip down to Aquarium Concepts tomorrow because they ordered me a blue velvet nudibranch for the main tank (to eat flatworms), and it should come on their shipment tomorrow. They stock a ton of dry good so I'll either pick up some GFO or some Phosguard. I can also try going dark on the tank for a couple days. I'm getting frustrated because cyano is getting all over my gorgonians and my sponges.
goldielocke76
Supporting Member
Idk, at this point, because of the bioload and the feeding requirements, for the health and safety of your corals, you may be better off running a smaller (if there is such a thing) GFO reactor. Who knows, with how dirty the sea horses are, you may want to run one as a preventative on the pony tank regardless. In my experience, a huge part of phosphates come from feeding, and you mentioned that you'd be feeding twice a day. Maybe better to be preventative on the pony tank rather than corrective due to their sensitivity?
FeliciaLynn
Guest
I really would prefer not to run a reactor on the seahorse tank if I can manage. Its weird because I definitely overfeed the main tank that doesn't even have a skimmer with no real issues. I don't even bother to rinse the frozen food I put into the main tank and I know that introduces phosphates. The frag tank has just had this issue from the get go even before there were fish in it, so I feel like its something other than feeding. I'm not really sure. I'm just hoping the seahorse tank will be like the main tank and not have so many issues. I can always put some GFO or PhosGuard in the media rack of the seahorse tank if I start having problems. I built the media rack to have plenty of space in case I need to put in extra media. The seahorses are sensitive to high nitrates, but phosphates shouldn't bother them. I plan to do weekly water changes on that tank to make sure the nitrates never get too high and that should also help keep any phosphates in check.
My whole theory with tanks is to keep them as simple as possible and that has worked so amazingly well with the main tank. I honestly just think the frag tank doesn't have enough biological filtration and that that is probably the root cause of the problem in there. I hope to keep the seahorse tank pretty simple as well and not start adding reactors and such. It took a lot of convincing for me to cave and put a skimmer on it! haha
FeliciaLynn
Guest
I bought a used MP10 today. Its shipping out tomorrow and will be here in a couple days. It will look so much better in the seahorse tank than the bulky Koralia.
And another video for the jawfish fans. Here they are eating their dinner:
And another video for the jawfish fans. Here they are eating their dinner:
FeliciaLynn
Guest
Yep, it will be turned down really low.
It will actually work really well for seahorses because the flow is adjustable and I can get it just right. Also, it has a night mode where it goes down to 50% of the set power for like 10 hours at night. That will be great for giving the seahorses resting time but then the gorgs and corals will get higher flow during the day.
rygh
Guest
Those are some spoiled jawfish being carefully hand fed like that.
Look around for seahorses and flow rate. There are some newer articles
that say what you really want is regions of good flow, plus regions of low flow.
They can swim well, and like to, but really lack endurance and need to rest.
(No opinion if that is really true)
Look around for seahorses and flow rate. There are some newer articles
that say what you really want is regions of good flow, plus regions of low flow.
They can swim well, and like to, but really lack endurance and need to rest.
(No opinion if that is really true)