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losing battle?

wilfx

Non-member
I have been fighting cyano for a few weeks and it looks like I am losing. All my coral have either melted, rotted or completely closed up. I used the chemi clean stuff 3 doses so far, a water change, and no light. Don't know whats left to do.
 
Sorry to hear that Bob. I had it a while back but since I had a shallow 25 gallon tank I was easily able to suction it off. Constant removal and scrubbing the rocks and bi-weekly 20% water changes is what got me through it. Do you think your water source is the issue?


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Try testing your ro water maybe that's where it's coming from. Are you running carbon or your skimmer with the cup on( if so take it off let it do its thing). If your running carbon take it offline.
 
The water tested good. The only thing I have done differently is I put in an egg crate barricade between my killer clowns and the other fish.
 
Try this. Add some fresh gravel or sand to your tank. You can take some of the old stuff out if you want but add about 1/8 th of your volume fresh. Bacteria will rapidly colonize the new sand and will compete with the cyano for nutrients The chances of this working are better if you dose carbon or have biopellets. Also, make sure you use fresh carbon when you disturb your sandbed. If it's really dirty be prepared for waterchanges.
 
Algae scrubber keeps all pest algae from my display. It out competed the cyano in my display and it has t come back in 10 months. I also just took my skimmer offline because my water was too clean. It has been 3 weeks and I still test zero for no3 and po4 but my sps got there colors back
 
The egg crate could be feeding the cyano. When I had my cyano I did have egg crate in the sand and that's where all the cyano was located. Also the water will test good as the cyano will eat what ever it can.
 
How could egg crate possibly be contributing to a cyano bloom?
It's make of inert plastic. I could see how the white plastic might make it a good place to grow on but as a factor in producing the bloom seems unlikely to me
 
The one time I had the problem with cyano was when I had an egg crate in. I got rid of it and after suctioning and water changes it left. I got my egg crate from Home Depot.

All of the cyano was growing from the egg crate. I am not sure how it contributes but that was the first and only time I had it.

My guess is that is the culprit!!


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to answer the question of how the plastic could contribute , Take a look at Bio Pellets which are made up of polymers and similar material is used to make the egg crate I bet
 
I had more luck with Ultralife red slime remover than with Chemiclean.

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biopellets are PHA bio-degradable polymers (hydroxyalkanoates) Id tend to doubt that the polymer in eggcrate has such properties ...polymers yes but I don't think they are biodegradable. Maybe the eggcrate cutoff flow and that was a factor but you'd have to have had a flow weakness initially for the eggcrate to create a worsening condition

2nd for ultra life, siphoning, water change, nutrient balance, Flow


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biopellets are PHA bio-degradable polymers (hydroxyalkanoates) Id tend to doubt that the polymer in eggcrate has such properties ...polymers yes but I don't think they are biodegradable. Maybe the eggcrate cutoff flow and that was a factor but you'd have to have had a flow weakness initially for the eggcrate to create a worsening condition

This.
Eggcrate is styrene or acrylic. Biopellets are the stuff people are making those corn oil derived drinking cups.
 
There is a lot of threads out there that many people have had the same issues with egg crate. But i have found that it's only the white egg crate( the ones you can get from Home Depot or lowes) because I have gotten black egg crate from bulkreefsupply and it never caused any algae issues.
 
Are you sure it's cyano? I have a problem with a similar algae that I think is the cotton candy variety. Nothing kills it. It sticks to the frag rack and frag plugs. It doesn't siphon and is too slimy for tweezers. Sometimes I use hydrogen peroxide to clean the plugs, but it comes back. You can try Mexican turbo snails, but they don't seem to last for me. I don't think they like crawling around the egg crate.
 
I can confirm egg crate in white can cause algae issues. Happened to me in the past.
 
Just began having this issue, have a sea hare that doesnt seem to play with it much hes much more interested in my rocks. doing weekly 20% Changes, Running GFO, skimmer is going to town, Increased flow, Lights are going off for 3 days. It seems to be confined to the sand for now but i dont want it to move anywhere else. i was reading that GFO doesnt help and that is is an actual bacteria and doesnt feed on Phosphates like a typical algae. wondering how you have made out so far and what technique youve used.
 
You are confirming that white egg crate is causing algae issues in your tank? And not more likely to just grow on eggcrate?

perhaps algae is more likely to grow on white egg crate because
1. It's more reflective so there is potentially more light available.
2. The rough edges are good places for algae to snag and grow.
3. The design of egg crate is great to allow good water flow.
???

I'm not sure I'm ready to bite this one.
 
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