Cyano and Lights

So I went to my LFS to pick up some RO/DI water which I've done twice this week because I've been siphoning out a cyanobacteria outbreak off my sand bed which of course lowers the water level. I ask the owner is there anything else I can do to get the outbreak under control and did know of anything else I could do to prevent it. He told me that that either my lighting was insuffiencent or that I have poor filtration.

I have a 29 gal tank. On that tank I have 4 x 24 watt T5HO, AquaC Remora Skimmer, 1 Koralia 1 Powerhead and a Fluval 305 Canister Filter (cleaned bi-weekly). He said that I have too much lighting for my tank and that could be the problem. I'm confused. I thought what I had would be considered moderate lighting for a aquarium that size??? For what I thought old lights could be a problem with cyano, but my lights are less than a month old.

I'm trying to battle this by doing 20% water changes every other day. Siphoning out any visiable signs on the substrate. Today I will be going to another LFS and beefing up the CUC. I hear red hermits and turbo snails can be helpful. I have none of either. I'm think about adding another powerhead, but I'm not sure if it's necessay. Should a filter of that size (260 gph) on my tank and the current powerhead (400 gph) be turning over enough water? Anything else I should be doing?

 

Well you're in luck!! I also have a 29G, and that is definitely NOT too much light!! I had an outbreak of cyano a ways back and the solution was more flow. If i were you I would throw in another koralia 1.

 

I would in this order.... Increase flow, raise pH and alkalinity, run some fresh carbon and make sure skimmer is up to snuff.
Few questions for you, what is your pH and alk? Your SG? What are your NO3 and PO4 levels and lastly what test kits do you use?

I can safely say it is not the lights or lack of CUC... Not many herbivores will eat cyano so buying them can many times be fruitless. The ones that will occasionally eat it prefer other algae so if they had a choice they will not eat the cyano. Dwarf blue leg crabs(C.Tricolor) are linked to eating it, but they are awfully small and most likely will not make a huge dent in the problem.

How often are you cleaning the Fluval? What type of media do you use in there?

Like ermano stated add more PHs, a Koralia one might not be enough, I would opt with 2-#3s or a few maybe three 2's. More flow is 99% better, unless you are doing some kind of dedicated Scolymia or other very fleshy LPS tank and need minimal flow.

Keep up on water quality and if able top off with kalk, that coupled with increased flow will erradicate your problem fairly quickly!

Good luck and happy reefing!

 

Thanks for the replies!

I'm using all API Test Kits. These were my results on Mon. 02/02/09)

pH = 8.2
NH3 & NO2 = 0
NO3 = 5-10 ppm (I see very little difference in the color on card. Kinda hard to tell)
SG = 1.025 (tested yesterday after water change, hydrometer)
PO4 = I don't have a test.
Alk = Will have to get back with later. I have a Alk test but have never used it. Will when I get home from work, I test.
Ca = 500 ppm

I usually clean the Fluval bi-weekly, but I have cleaned twice just this week alone. I have bio-rings in the top two trays. Denitrate in on one side of the middle tray and PhosZorb on the other side. On one side of the bottom tray I have Chemi-Pure. I know, I'm all chemicaled out

I have a few blue legged hermits and small snails (don't remember what kid they are) and they completely ingore the cyano.

 

I would get a refractometer and ditch the hydrometer. It could be off. Not that, that would cause cyano, but it's best in the long run for your tank. The floats that measure the SG will get encrusted with salt, lime and calcium and will affect your readings.
Be careful not to add too many chemical absorbers in your system, it can lead to a serious tank crash if they leach the stuff back into your tank.
Add A LOT more flow in your tank. I have my sump return at 400gph, and two Koralia 1's and a Seio 620, to give you an idea of my water turnover in my 20G tank. My fish love it too, they need the current to give them the exercize they need to stay healthy and strong. It also releases the CO2 in the water and helps keep dissolved oxygen for them to use.

 

deff. not enough flow, I have 2 K 1's and 2 K nano's in my 18 gallon, along with a Aqua Clear 50 HOB filter and an Aqua C Remora with MJ1200

 

Just purchased another K1. Opted out of the K2 because I'm a little concerned about how space it will take up. I may get one K nano.

 

A K2 will definitely take up a lot of room, even a 1 is pretty big. A nano should be only used for 10G tanks, they don't supply much flow at all, you don't feel it when you move 4" away from it at all. Hopefully the added K1 will help.

 

*UPDATE*

The bad news is: Since my original post I still have cyano.

The good news is: I think it's slowly backing off. I've been siphoning out the visible cyano off the sand, glass and what I can get off the rocks and changing out a few gallons of water in the process daily since the OP. I've also cut back feeding from once daily to once every three days. In addition I added a extra K1 powerhead to the other side of the tank. It appears that in certain areas of my sand the cyano is not growing back the next day while the remaining patches appear the be receeding. It's not gone and still is unsightly, but it looks better than it did 10+ days ago.

My new params from yesterday's test are:

pH = 8.4
NH3 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 0 <--- This is the shocker. I've never had undetectable nitrates. They've always hung around 10-20ppm so I'm not sure if it's because the cyano is feasting on it or this is a result of less feeding and daily partial water changes.
Ca = 500pm
Alk = 11dkH
PO4 = 0

The temptation to use a chemi-clean type product is strong, but I am trying to resist as long as improvement doesn't plateau.

 

I WIN!!!!

The cyano outbreak is about 95% dissipated. This stuff can be beat with patience. It look really bad at it's peak and I almost used chemical warfare. Thanks for the suggestion everyone who chimed in. My aquarium is now again pretty to look at.

I think the cause up my outbreak was a combination of over dosing of trace elements, phytoplankton, reef supplements and not enough flow. Most bottles say dose 5ml/50 gal. once a week. I was doing that, but the problem is that my tank is only 29 gal. I just figured, what's the extra supplements gonna hurt, plus I only had 5ml measuring spoons. I know have a measuring cup that has a mark for 2.5ml and I have been using that instead. Lessons learned.