i have alot of cyano on the back wall of my tank and on a few of my snails. what options are available to me? i heard of something called chemi clean but what ae some long term solutions. i was thinking of getting a phosphate reactor. according to my lfs my phosphate levels are at 0.01 so why am i having these problems?

Dadonoflaw -

I've been there and it's very frustrating. There are so many possible causes for cyano, and it's very hard to eliminate. Here are some possible causes, and possible solutions. Usually it's not one of these causing the cyano, and usually you will need to try many of the solutions to help elimate it.

1. Low water flow.
SOLUTION: Increase water flow with additional power heads and/or a closed loop system. Try and make the flow as random as possible. Some people use wave makers or other devices to alternate between 2 or more powerheads. I prefer to have my powerheads on all the time, but make sure the output flows are aimed so they intersect. This creates a nice random current.

2. Old light bulbs.
SOLUTION: Sounds stupid, but I know for a fact that not changing your bulbs on a regular basis can cause, or help expedite, a cyano outbreak. So replace those bulbs if it's been a while.

3. Too much light.
SOLUTION: OK, before anyone has a cow, I know that very few, if any tanks suffer from too much light. What I mean is that while trying to combat the cyamo outbreak, cut back on your lighting times. Want to temporarily eliminate your cyano? Don't turn on the lights for several days. Of course, your corals won't be too happy. And unless you find the root cause of the cyano, it will come back.

4. Too much nutrients in the water.
SOLUTION: IMO, this is the place to start. I was guilty of overfeeding my fish. Heck, they looked so hungry everytime I approached the tank. I remember I used to feed my fish twice a day until they didn't look hungry. I now feed once a day, and only enough that they can consume in about a minute or so. They may not be as fat as they used to be, but they still look very healthy.

5. High phosphates.
SOLUTION: There are several products that can eliminate phosphates instantly. I have never used them, I'm concerned that there may be consequences. There are products that REDUCE phosphates, such a Rowaphos, a product I use. I truly believe that while these will not eliminate a high phosphate problem, they will help keep it in check.

And this one is going to earn me more than a few enemies:

6. Deep sand beds.
SOLUTION: OK - bring on the hate mail. I know here are loads of people who have deep sand beds and do not have cyano problems. I would wager a bet that these DSBs are properly maintained, with a good clean up crew to keep the top layer clean. I do think that an improperly maintained DSB can speed up a cyano outbreak. This happened in my 75. When I set up my 240, I went with a 1" sandbed. This sandbed is vacuum cleaned once a month when I do water changes. Knock on wood, it has never had any sign of cyano in over a year. I realize that these were 2 different tanks, and that this may not be a fair conclusion. But in my many years of keeping marine life, I have seen my share of cyano problems in friend's tanks, and even tanks in LFS. Most, but not all of these had DSBs. So I don't blame DSBs for causing cyano. But I think, like any other parameter of fish/reef keeping, they can expedite it if not properly maintained.

OTHER NOTES:
I have used Chemi Clean several times in the past. Yes it will kill your cyano. And if properly used will not kill any livestock, at least in my experince. But it will not solve your cyano problem, and the cyano will come back unless other measures are taken.

So my advice is this: Start with water changes. Big ones. Often. Siphon out or scoop out as much cyano as you can. Then start trying the other solutions listed above. Cut back on the feeding. Increase the water flow. Change those bulbs. Cut back on the lighting duration. Keep trying, and it should eventually go away.

Good luck, and I hope at least some of this is helpful.

yea these are some of the things i was thinking. my tank is pretty new so its not time to change them yet i dont think.i bought my lights in october. my photoperiod may be a bit long so i will cut that back especially the halides. i will syphon the detritus and cyano from my sump and back wall but not feeding is difficult because of the anthias i have. i usually feed smaller portions about 3 times a day as opposed to two larger portions i used to feed. i am thinking about getting a phosban reactor to aid me because right not i have two bags of activated carbon in 250 micron filter bags with the water from my overflow running through it

When i had cyano i used red slime remover. I used less then what the bottle says and i haven't had a problem since.

I have never tried red slime remover, but I'm glad it worked for you. All I would suggest, dadonoflaw, is to remove as much of the existing cyano manually BEFORE trying to treat it with chemicals.

I agree about the Anthias. They do need frequent feedings. I would just make them as small as possible.

You did not mention that you had cyano in your sump in your first post. This may be telling. Is it a sump/refugium or just a sump. I assume it's also a refugium, since you have cyano in it, which means it lighted. If this is the case, make sure the water flow is sufficient there as well. When I first added a refugium, I got cyano there as well. I went from 24 hour lighting to reverse lighting (the refugium is only lit when the main tank lights are off) and increase the water flow, and the cyano went away on its own.

I agree about the lights. If they were purchased NEW in October, this is probably not the problem.

Good luck and keep us informed.

I have a bit of a red slime problem as well and my tank is about a 3 months old. I understand it is ugly but I think I am going to see if it's just new tank syndrome. The one good thing about my algea is that when I pick up my rainford's goby tody he is going to be in heaven. Oh by the way everything except nitrates which is 10 is also 0 including phosphates. I feel your pain, although I have somehow managed to avoid cynao in my sump. Knock on wood.

i had them too.. and heres my solution.

1. bought the phosphoban powder and a small nylon bag (the one wt small holes)
2. put in some carbon and the powder into the bag
3. placed in the surface skimmer box of my AquaC.. put it in the returning compartment so that the skimmed water goes thru that bag..
4. do a water change.
5. red slime gone within a week

i dont have any anywhere in the tank except the back wall so i think it is a flow issue. i have 4800 gph all together but i suppose a closed loop is in order. anyway i bought a phosban reactor and put some carbon in it and did a water change. and my phosphate reads .25 though i suspect some of that is hidden in the various alga whether desireable or not. i will let you guys know thanks

If you have 4800 gph of flow in a 125, then total flow may not be the issue, as that works out to 38x.

Try some RowaPhos in your reactor - that's what I use and have zero phosphates.

Not to take away from your post, but I found salvation in my lawnmower blennie. I put him in the tank around 4pm and when I woke up this morning my hair algea was completly gone. That fish is amazing of course now I have to supply him with food.

Hair algae and cyano are 2 completely different beasts. If you have a lawnmower blenny that eats cyano - you have yourself quite a find!

lol I wish I did because I am in the same boat with the cyno. Well until the purchase of the blenny I had a bad hair algea problem, although that wasn't really the intent of the buy, at least I knew they ate hair algea but it was stated that the amount of consumption was not to impressive from many a hobbyist to owned one. Anyway I know where he is coming from with the cyno. I came home yesturday to find my tank starting to become covered in red cyno, now I to will have to come up with a plan of action.

thats why they invented the tooth brush, http://www.alexander-oberg.de/smileys/bud.gifto clean off cyno, some idiot put it in his mouth while wipeing his hands & bingo, thought of a cure for stinking breathhttp://www.alexander-oberg.de/smileys/brush.gif

Good one, Veriann!

dadonoflaw, how is your tank doing?

seems like a little less cyano on the wall. and i will be running my phosban until thursday to see how that goes and then ill do another water change. so ill get on hee thursdy and let u know

sweet. I dont want to buy the phosban filter, but I am going to try the phosban stuff you put in a bag and put into my pre-skimmer box, and see how that goes.

as far as i know i havnt met a fish/inverts that eats cyano, if any1 know of one, please let me know. hehe otherwise just use the phosban stuff =]

lol yup thats what I am going to have to do. It's not really on my glass it's in spots on my sand bed.