Red cyno and brown ditoms

pisces 12 · 05/11/2019, 11:59 PM

Im at a lost my set up as follows 350gal saltwater reef total volume sg 1.026,ph 8.0,phos 0.00 nitrates 10ppm,cal 450,alk 9ppm,mag 1500ppm silicate 0,TDS 0 salt mix reg io 30 gal water changes a month use carbon gfo rowa phos 12 fish mixed reef corals all is good for a month and then bam red cyno on just the sand and only one side of the tank and the other side brown ditoms lots of cuc lights are reefbreeders 9in above the water line on for 9 hrs ramping up nand down dose 2part plus kallwasser refugim 30gal on reverse cycle what am i doing wrong also as far as power heads 3 at 3500gal hr plus the main pump reeflow hammerhead 4600gals hr

jrill · 05/12/2019, 12:57 AM

Been battling same for two weeks just started chemiclean treatment

mrtint · 05/12/2019, 10:37 AM

Almost always a flow issue. Dead spot. How long has tank been set up?

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bertoni · 05/12/2019, 12:52 PM

I might consider some form of carbon dosing, like vodka or vinegar, or a bio-pellet reactor. Better skimming sometimes helps. Has the skimmer been cleaned and tuned lately?

pisces 12 · 05/12/2019, 03:05 PM

Skimmer is a dual becket MRC and it gets cleand 2-3 times a week could the reg IO salt mix be a problem plenty of water flow 3 powers + my return pump reeflow hammerhead 4600gals hr ill try the bio fuel i have from brightwell aqutics and see in a few days so far its only on the sand in front of the tank , 2 reefbreeders V2+ 9in from the top of the water on 9hrs , ramp up and down thanks

bertoni · 05/12/2019, 03:06 PM

IO salt is fine. I suspect that the problem is a bit too much food, but that's always hard to judge.

mcgyvr · 05/12/2019, 03:11 PM

How old is the tank?
Have you tried not running gfo/phosphate binders and see how the levels are?

pisces 12 · 05/12/2019, 03:41 PM

Without gfo my phos starts to go up do you think it can be the carbon Marine Land 6 cups in a aquamaxx reactor change out every month gfo gets change when phos goes up to 0.04 about every 6 weeks i feed seaweed two half sheets and at night 2 cubes myscis 3/4 in rinsed and every other day a little fish eggs the tank is 8months old but the rock is real waltsmith live rock purchased back in early 2000 the rock and coral are find its just the sand in front of the tank sand is Caribbean sea sand

bertoni · 05/12/2019, 04:31 PM

That carbon is fine. It shouldn't cause algae problems.

pisces 12 · 05/12/2019, 04:45 PM

Im thinking can it be reef chilli or poly Lab reef roids ??? Ifeed once a week

bertoni · 05/12/2019, 08:00 PM

I might try spacing the food out a bit. That might help. The carbon dosing might solve the problem, though.

pisces 12 · 05/12/2019, 08:26 PM

I'll try it thanks will keep u posted

mcgyvr · 05/13/2019, 10:02 AM

IMO you likely aren't doing anything wrong..
You may be overfeeding some (not sure how many/how big your fish are)..
At only 8 months old one should basically expect this issues as the tank is still "maturing"..

I agree to try to reduce feeding.. There is little to no need for "coral foods" in any tank and its certainly not something I'd recommend for a new"ish" tank like yours..

Dale_M · 05/13/2019, 08:14 PM

I read an interesting article explaining that your phosphate tests could be inaccurate because there are no phosphates in the water column.
They are locked up in the algae itself.
Here's a link to the article...
http://saltwateraquariumadvice.com/2...tes-came-from/

mrtint · 05/13/2019, 08:27 PM

I hit the same wall at 8-14 months on my tank. Can’t say I did anything specific to solve it other putting flow to the point sand was getting moved around. That doesn’t really stop it either. One day..... all was good.
I have carbon doses (redsea
N03 P04x) since day one. Just know if you run carbon your not suppose to run a GFO

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05/11/2019, 11:59 PM	#1
pisces 12 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: mineola , L ,I N.Y Posts: 94	Red cyno and brown ditoms Im at a lost my set up as follows 350gal saltwater reef total volume sg 1.026,ph 8.0,phos 0.00 nitrates 10ppm,cal 450,alk 9ppm,mag 1500ppm silicate 0,TDS 0 salt mix reg io 30 gal water changes a month use carbon gfo rowa phos 12 fish mixed reef corals all is good for a month and then bam red cyno on just the sand and only one side of the tank and the other side brown ditoms lots of cuc lights are reefbreeders 9in above the water line on for 9 hrs ramping up nand down dose 2part plus kallwasser refugim 30gal on reverse cycle what am i doing wrong also as far as power heads 3 at 3500gal hr plus the main pump reeflow hammerhead 4600gals hr Last edited by pisces 12; 05/12/2019 at 12:28 AM.

05/12/2019, 12:52 PM	#4
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	I might consider some form of carbon dosing, like vodka or vinegar, or a bio-pellet reactor. Better skimming sometimes helps. Has the skimmer been cleaned and tuned lately? __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

05/12/2019, 03:05 PM	#5
pisces 12 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: mineola , L ,I N.Y Posts: 94	Red cyno and brown ditoms Skimmer is a dual becket MRC and it gets cleand 2-3 times a week could the reg IO salt mix be a problem plenty of water flow 3 powers + my return pump reeflow hammerhead 4600gals hr ill try the bio fuel i have from brightwell aqutics and see in a few days so far its only on the sand in front of the tank , 2 reefbreeders V2+ 9in from the top of the water on 9hrs , ramp up and down thanks

05/12/2019, 03:06 PM	#6
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	IO salt is fine. I suspect that the problem is a bit too much food, but that's always hard to judge. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

05/12/2019, 03:11 PM	#7
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	How old is the tank? Have you tried not running gfo/phosphate binders and see how the levels are? __________________ Who me?

05/12/2019, 12:57 AM	#2
jrill Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 54	Been battling same for two weeks just started chemiclean treatment

05/12/2019, 10:37 AM	#3
mrtint Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vista (San Diego county) Posts: 201	Almost always a flow issue. Dead spot. How long has tank been set up? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

05/12/2019, 03:41 PM	#8
pisces 12 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: mineola , L ,I N.Y Posts: 94	Without gfo my phos starts to go up do you think it can be the carbon Marine Land 6 cups in a aquamaxx reactor change out every month gfo gets change when phos goes up to 0.04 about every 6 weeks i feed seaweed two half sheets and at night 2 cubes myscis 3/4 in rinsed and every other day a little fish eggs the tank is 8months old but the rock is real waltsmith live rock purchased back in early 2000 the rock and coral are find its just the sand in front of the tank sand is Caribbean sea sand Last edited by pisces 12; 05/12/2019 at 03:46 PM.

05/12/2019, 04:31 PM	#9
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	That carbon is fine. It shouldn't cause algae problems. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

05/12/2019, 04:45 PM	#10
pisces 12 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: mineola , L ,I N.Y Posts: 94	Im thinking can it be reef chilli or poly Lab reef roids ??? Ifeed once a week

05/12/2019, 08:00 PM	#11
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	I might try spacing the food out a bit. That might help. The carbon dosing might solve the problem, though. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

05/12/2019, 08:26 PM	#12
pisces 12 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: mineola , L ,I N.Y Posts: 94	I'll try it thanks will keep u posted

05/13/2019, 10:02 AM	#13
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	IMO you likely aren't doing anything wrong.. You may be overfeeding some (not sure how many/how big your fish are).. At only 8 months old one should basically expect this issues as the tank is still "maturing".. I agree to try to reduce feeding.. There is little to no need for "coral foods" in any tank and its certainly not something I'd recommend for a new"ish" tank like yours.. __________________ Who me?

05/13/2019, 08:14 PM	#14
Dale_M Official Noob Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Valrico, FL Posts: 76	I read an interesting article explaining that your phosphate tests could be inaccurate because there are no phosphates in the water column. They are locked up in the algae itself. Here's a link to the article... http://saltwateraquariumadvice.com/2...tes-came-from/

05/13/2019, 08:27 PM	#15
mrtint Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vista (San Diego county) Posts: 201	I hit the same wall at 8-14 months on my tank. Can’t say I did anything specific to solve it other putting flow to the point sand was getting moved around. That doesn’t really stop it either. One day..... all was good. I have carbon doses (redsea N03 P04x) since day one. Just know if you run carbon your not suppose to run a GFO Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk