Just a bit of cyano...

[kennyv]

Hello All......

I have a small problem that I need a bit of help with......

I have a farily new 90G setup (3 Months). 7 small fish (all doing well).100lbs. tufa base.10lbs live rock from Oceans. .026. 78F etc. All the water params are good, for a new tank anyway. But I still have a bit a cyano/red hair algi problem...My turbo snails seem to do a GREAT job of it on the rocks and glass, but on the crushed coral sand they seem to stay away.....So, what I was looking for is a bit of imput on a clean-up crew for the sand that will eat the cyano....

Any thoughts......

....When I say its a small problem I mean its small...6in diameter on the sand...


Thanks


Ken

[Bob I]

I have an idea :idea: , don't worry about it. It is a function of all new tanks, but it will go away. I think I read that Fighting Conches eat it, but is it worth your while...... :question:

[AJ_77]

Scarlet Reef hermits do an amazing job of keeping the sand clean as well, IME.

[EmilyB]

If it's only in a small area, you might try increasing the flow to that part of the tank. I've heard of using peroxide on a small patch. I've done it without harm.

[richtg]

The two most valuable assets to a succesful reefer, IMO, are patience and perserverence. Keep up with your water changes and you will eventually strike a balance. Keep in mind that lighting, nitrates, phosphates (including food and source water), and water flow are major players in the algae battle. I had a big problem with it when I started out, and one day (figuratively speaking) it was no longer a problem. I still get diatom algae buildup on my glass, but it feeds a lot of my reef every time I scrape with my magnets. I have also found that an active sand bed, once established, will pretty much maintain itself. I have learned a lot about that subject from Dr. Ron Shimek on reefcentral.com. I think that bio-diversity is valuable as well, but if you are just going to keep fish, learn more about the things I mentioned in the third sentence. Good luck, Rich.

[kennyv]

Hello Richtg and everyone...
Thanks for the advice. I have two larger marine hermit crabs as well. I thought I read somewher that different species will fight and often kill one-another? So I think that the Scarlet Reef hermits idea will not work, unless someone knows different...I did increase flow to that area, but with no success. 2 days ago I moved the flow back to the orgional position to see if it makes any diference...Richtg mentioned bio-diversity, will adding a few more fish help or will the extra bio-load work against me....Like Bob_I said, don't worry about, I will do that also. I'm just a bit freaked because my first attempt at a marine tank became a cyano DISASTER!!! I don't want to go through that again....


Thanks all.....

[Invigor]

join the "i've been attacked by cyano" club :P

happens to a majority of the people.

If you're losing sleep over this, you might consider this:
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/catalog/product.xml?product_id=27799;category_id=2811

Works fabulous.

[kennyv]

Works GREAT you say!!!!.......Does Big All on heartage drive keep it in stock???


Thnaks again........

[kennyv]

Oops....Sorry, looks like you are from Regina......hehehehehehe





Kennyv

[richtg]

Sorry, what I meant by bio-diversity was not to add more fish. That would compound the problem to some extent. I was referring to a clean-up crew including different types of crabs, snails, maybe a nudibranch or two, urchins...the list goes on and on. I would not, however, lose any sleep over your current situation. It is, as many would agree, a natural phase that you will patiently wait out, right? Don't give up. Don't be compelled to go out and spend lots of money to fight the problem either. Do you intend to eventually build a reef in your tank? If so, I would look into a ro/di setup. Ever since I got mine (Aquasafe Systems $160 shipped with TDS meter) my algae problem went away. I think that excess phosphates from the food that I was adding as well as the tap water was enough to sustain an algae paradise. Has anyone out there had much luck with phosphate sponge? That might be a low cost supplement to get you through the next few months. Rich.

[Quinn]

I was referring to a clean-up crew including different types of crabs, snails, maybe a nudibranch or two, urchins...the list goes on and on.

I advise against this. I don't think any crustacean, echinoderm or gastropod (aside from perhaps a few species of conch, Strombus spp.) has been shown to eat cyano, and I know none of the ones I had in my tank did. Nudibranchs are a bad choice for any tank (except perhaps in the case of Tridachia crispata or Berghia verrucicornis which eat hair algae and Aiptasia spp. anemones, respectively). Therefore I am of the opinion that this is a waste of money, effort and in some cases animal life. More importantly, I feel it is more important to look for solutions to problems in a tank, rather than just their symptoms.

And of course, as noted, cyano and many other common algael/bacterial pests are part of the natural maturation process of the tank and will likely diminish in time, and aren't worth worrying too much about unless they are beginning to affect the health of your other livestock.

[richtg]

Ken indicated that his algae problem was not limited to cyano, and my suggestions for building up a clean-up crew were on the pretext of his possible intention to start building a reef. I agree, and stated that money need not be spent to get through this phase. As far as not offering any solutions to problems, but only symptoms, I care not to comment as I'm only offering my advice.

[Delphinus]

... Not really a Calgary club discussion but more of a general reefkeeping. Thus I am moving it to the main forum.

[pocilipora]

There is alot of debate on weather or not to use Tufa rock in reef aquariums. This is just one thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=399437&highlight=tufa

[Ken]

Hi Kennyv, I had a client's aquarium many years ago with red tufa rock in it , the kind they sell at LFS for freshwater tanks and had an algae proble for many years that never seem to go away, despite many different ways to control it. I saw his tank, and saw that everything he did was right so I suggest he get rid of the red tufa rocks and put in live fiji rocks instead. A few months later his tank never had the algae back ever again. If you have only six inches of cyno, then I would simply siphon it out and follow the many good guideline of suggestions from our fellow aquarist. Regards Ken

[Quinn]

By red tufa I'm assuming you mean lava rock, which is high in various metals that aren't desirable in marine aquariums. Reportedly white tufa, free of contaminating metals (ie. free of bands of colour) is reef-safe. I haven't used it myself, however.

[kennyv]

The Tufa rock I have is sand colored. Its not lava rock...I did a bunch of reasearch prior to buying it and deternined it would be safe. I know my setup is not ideal for a reef tank. I hope in a few months it will stabilize and be an attractive marine fish tank....


Kennyv

[StirCrazy]

The Tufa rock I have is sand colored. Its not lava rock...I did a bunch of reasearch prior to buying it and deternined it would be safe. I know my setup is not ideal for a reef tank. I hope in a few months it will stabilize and be an attractive marine fish tank....


Kennyv

tuffa rock is not volcanic at all but the stuff you got contains high concentrations of minerals and such which can leach into the tank. weather it would cause cyno or not but it won't help. for what its worth I wouldent even use white tuffa in a tank.

Steve

[kennyv]

Steve, Have you seen it used before? What happened??





Ken

[StirCrazy]

Steve, Have you seen it used before? What happened??





Ken

not personally but I have not heard of any long term success stories with it and I have heard several problematic algae stories.

Steve

[kennyv]

Ok, Thanks Steve........I'm the type of guy who likes a challange. And I'm cheep too.......hehehehehe




Ken