sen5241b February 23, 2015 Author Share February 23, 2015 I just recently got over a very bad case of cyano that killed my green birds nest too. I used Chemiclean's red slime remover and didn't have to cut back on the lights or feeding. I found stirring the sand and using the Chemiclean got rid of all of it. I recommend using the liquid form instead of the powder since it is easier to measure out. Just finished another 3 day blackout followed by 50% water change and the red curse is already coming back. I come back to my original question: what could be the source of the 'trates? (I did not try sitrring the sand at least not a whole lot.) I think I will try liquid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S February 24, 2015 Share February 24, 2015 and you're running the lights minimal after the w/c? and not feeding daily? what water are you using? not tap right? is it ro/di? are your filters good? di good? if distilled, could it be the water as the source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b February 24, 2015 Author Share February 24, 2015 (edited) and you're running the lights minimal after the w/c? and not feeding daily? what water are you using? not tap right? is it ro/di? are your filters good? di good? if distilled, could it be the water as the source? Using distilled water and I checked it and TDS was 1. Yes, I calibrated my TDS meter. After I poured water in reservoir it was 29. Maybe something is in reservoir even though I cleaned it out. Lights are on 8 hours. I can reduce light but that doesn't get rid of 'trates. Edited February 24, 2015 by sen5241b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S February 24, 2015 Share February 24, 2015 read this: http://netclub.athiel.com/cyano/cyanos2.htm maybe it's your water source/reservoir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 February 24, 2015 Share February 24, 2015 Patience will be your friend in this one. If you have natural light reaching the tank, cut the lights for a couple of weeks. Do a few smaller water changes. Remove manually what you can but don't worry about every tiny bit (you will never remove it all, even if you don't see it). You are aiming for changing the biological balance so that the cyano isn't dominant. It is no different than any other time something has undoubtedly popped up in your tank and it eventually went away once things leveled out. I admit I haven't paid attention to what you care routine is so I can't comment there. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob A February 25, 2015 Share February 25, 2015 (edited) Last summer I was battling it and then I went on vacation for a week, leaving my niece in charge of the tank. When I got home all the cyano was gone. I had left out pre-measured dry food in tiny Tupperware containers for her to feed them. Normally I give them sheets of algae and mysis or brine each day in addition to the dry stuff. So the only difference for that week was the lack of algae sheets, lack of frozen stuff and possibly less dry food because I probably feed more when I just do it by hand (I don't normally measure it). No idea if that could have made that much difference. A few months later it started coming back and I still have some. Edited February 25, 2015 by Rob A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b February 25, 2015 Author Share February 25, 2015 Patience will be your friend in this one. If you have natural light reaching the tank, cut the lights for a couple of weeks. Do a few smaller water changes. Remove manually what you can but don't worry about every tiny bit (you will never remove it all, even if you don't see it). You are aiming for changing the biological balance so that the cyano isn't dominant. It is no different than any other time something has undoubtedly popped up in your tank and it eventually went away once things leveled out. I admit I haven't paid attention to what you care routine is so I can't comment there. Good luck! Last summer I was battling it and then I went on vacation for a week, leaving my niece in charge of the tank. When I got home all the cyano was gone. I had left out pre-measured dry food in tiny Tupperware containers for her to feed them. Normally I give them sheets of algae and mysis or brine each day in addition to the dry stuff. So the only difference for that week was the lack of algae sheets, lack of frozen stuff and possibly less dry food because I probably feed more when I just do it by hand (I don't normally measure it). No idea if that could have made that much difference. A few months later it started coming back and I still have some. I am practically starving my fish to death. I think smaller "water changes" are not going to help with 'trate removal. Five 10% changes is not nearly as effective as one 50% change. I cleaned my reservoir out but I am going to clean it again and soak the reservoir pump with something. vinegar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 25, 2015 Share February 25, 2015 I don't see it here, and maybe tapatalk skipped it, it does that, what are your phosphates at. Why do you keep referencing your "trates?" Remember the adage "nothing good happens fast" and then tag on "in this hobby." You already mentioned your tank was over fed. Your rock is porous, it will hold onto the good, and the bad. I'm not saying don't investigate every angle (like maybe your top off res,) but don't expect instant results, and try not to do a million of things at once, so you can pin point what works. Jmo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b March 1, 2015 Author Share March 1, 2015 Cleaned water reservoir out AGAIN (soaked everythig in vinegar and scrubbed), replaced intake hose (had stuff growing in it) and now the water in there is reading less than 5 TDS. The tank is looking much better. I'm pretty sure this was the source. New tank maintenance check: TDS of reservior water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT March 1, 2015 Share March 1, 2015 What's your resivoir made of...some Plastic can retain and in turn leach out all sorts of stuff...I've seen people have big issues with this in rubbermades ...best way to check is to take some 0 tds water...throw it in there and test every 2 hours...reading keeps going up then definately leaching Also seen live rock leach for months aster coming out an old dirty tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b March 1, 2015 Author Share March 1, 2015 What's your resivoir made of...some Plastic can retain and in turn leach out all sorts of stuff...I've seen people have big issues with this in rubbermades ...best way to check is to take some 0 tds water...throw it in there and test every 2 hours...reading keeps going up then definately leaching Also seen live rock leach for months aster coming out an old dirty tank I will definitely look at that but the intake hose suctioned tank water back down into the reservoir. I drilled a little hole near the end of the hose to prevent suctioning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanolong March 12, 2015 Share March 12, 2015 Were you able to solve the problem? I recently traveled to Charlotte for business and set my tank so that it was auto on light and ATO, but somehow my timer got unplug and the tank was without lights for 5 days. Anyways, everything was fine and the tank is the cleanest it has ever looked. Not the best strategy but just thought it was worth a mention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 March 12, 2015 Share March 12, 2015 Were you able to solve the problem? I recently traveled to Charlotte for business and set my tank so that it was auto on light and ATO, but somehow my timer got unplug and the tank was without lights for 5 days. Anyways, everything was fine and the tank is the cleanest it has ever looked. Not the best strategy but just thought it was worth a mention. I got in the habit of leaving the lights off during short trips (a week or less) because it always seems to benefit - not sure. It started because I was trying to minimize any fire hazard while we were out of town. I have always found that it is the single best way to keep cyano in check over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braden March 12, 2015 Share March 12, 2015 I read somewhere that the actual cyano is buried in the sand and the red slime on the surface is its byproduct so vacuuming up the slime itself up would accomplish nothing.This is bogus. Cyanobacteria are bacteria; and while they might have cellular appendages like cilia or flagella (not even sure about the latter), the complexity and extent of their macrostructure will be very limited. They are photosynthetic bacteria and they need light to grow; they won't be buried anywhere they can't get light. The red that you see is the chlorophyll inside the bacteria; not some byproduct. Vacuuming it up, of course, is no guarantee you'll get every last trace. In fact, you should abandon any hope of removing every last trace of it. Vacuuming it up accomplishes removal from your system of the nutrients contained within the bacteria (and within the detritus that the bacteria are growing on). The problem that ultimately needs solving is an excess of nutrients. Note that such excess might not necessarily pervade the system, but be localized to the surfaces where the bacteria are growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanoli March 12, 2015 Share March 12, 2015 I used Chemi-Clean about a month ago and haven't had a return. It also switch RODI filters (new unit) at the time, which may have something to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b March 12, 2015 Author Share March 12, 2015 It was definitelly impure water in the reservoir. I cleaned it out twice and the TDS came down to zero. Then there was some residual phosphates left but now it is definitely clearing up.. The water became impure becuase tank water was siphoing back down the outake tube into the resrvoir. I drilled a small hole near the end of the outake tube and problem solved. Add to maintenance list: CHECK TDS IN RESERVOIR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b March 12, 2015 Author Share March 12, 2015 Also I added a second HOB with floss and carbon and stirred the sand alot. There was a ton of very fine, gray detritus in the sand. It looked like gray talcum powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walnuts24 March 14, 2015 Share March 14, 2015 Definitely use the Red Slime Remover. Just be sure to keep an airstone in the tank or the sump while you dose it. Start out at the minimum dose recommended. Remove as much cyano as you can manually by vacuum and hand. Also increase the flow in the tank. Also, TDS is probably the cause. IME it was the container for my ATO that was leaching the TDS. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b March 14, 2015 Author Share March 14, 2015 Definitely use the Red Slime Remover. Just be sure to keep an airstone in the tank or the sump while you dose it. Start out at the minimum dose recommended. Remove as much cyano as you can manually by vacuum and hand. Also increase the flow in the tank. Also, TDS is probably the cause. IME it was the container for my ATO that was leaching the TDS. Hope this helps. Leaching what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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