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Cyano Making Me Crazy!


humpty
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OKay so I have a 120g planted tank. It's been up and running for a 1-1.5 years. I have an fx5 filter and 2 aquatic life fixtures with a total of 220w. The tank has a few swords a lot of crypts and a couple anubias and java ferns. At one point 2 of my swords were about 18" tall and very thick. For fish stock I have:

about 50 cardinals

6 petricolas

4 upside down catfish

4 bumblebee catfish

2 electric blue rams

1 german blue ram

1 blue panaque pleco

So I dose with a ppmd formula, 1part kno3, 1 part k2s04, 1 part MaSo and 1 part CSM+B.

I mixed it according to the directions and dose 5ml a day. I also dose 5ml a day of glutareldahyde. I do %50 water changes every week.

In the middle of November I went on a 2 week vacation and had nobody watch the tank. when I came back it was covered in cyano. Since then I have been trying everything to get rid of it. My lights are on a 6 hr schedule and and gravel vac as much of the cyano out as I can every week.

All my plants are growing fine. I've done the blackout which works great but slowly every week the cyano spreads.

I test a lot these days and i'm trying to keep my nitrates around 5-10 and my phosphates around .5-1. That way there is some for the plants but not too much for the algae. I've managed to slow it down but its still spreads. I just can't figure out what ius causing it to keep coming back.

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions? I really don't want to have to black the tanked out every month or 2. I'm just not sure what to try and which direction to head in next.

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if I remember correctly.. cyano tends to grow in areas of low flow... Does the cyano come back in the exact same area all the time? You have a large tank but I would guess even the FX5 doesnt keep the water moving consistently around the entire tank. Try putting in an extra power head or filter to get the water moving in all areas of the tank.

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Do a 50%+ WC

Double dose KNO3

Black out for 4 days

Do a 50%+WC

Double dose KNO3 and carry on as normal.

Also, check the age of your bulbs. T5HOs should be replaces annully for best results. You can run them til they die, but I find their color profile tends to shift as they age and the battle w. algae gets a bit tougher.

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T5HOs should be replaces annully for best results. You can run them til they die, but I find their color profile tends to shift as they age and the battle w. algae gets a bit tougher.

+1

A good read on how lighting can affect cyano .........

http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2006/07/blue-green-algae-in-aquariums.html

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if I remember correctly.. cyano tends to grow in areas of low flow... Does the cyano come back in the exact same area all the time? You have a large tank but I would guess even the FX5 doesnt keep the water moving consistently around the entire tank. Try putting in an extra power head or filter to get the water moving in all areas of the tank.

Ya it moves water but I definitely could use another powerhead for better flow.

Jvision, is the double dose of kno3 for the plants or does it inhibit the cyano or something else?

I'm wondering the same thing.

Do a 50%+ WC

Double dose KNO3

Black out for 4 days

Do a 50%+WC

Double dose KNO3 and carry on as normal.

Also, check the age of your bulbs. T5HOs should be replaces annully for best results. You can run them til they die, but I find their color profile tends to shift as they age and the battle w. algae gets a bit tougher.

I bought the light fixture with the tank about 1.5 yrs ago. Im sure they were old when I got them. I was just planning oin running them until they died.

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Jvision, is the double dose of kno3 for the plants or does it inhibit the cyano or something else?

I don't know where I first read it, but there is a lot of evidence showing that algae shows up when there is a nutrient imbalance, and cyano is always there when NO3 is low. I know you say that your NO3 is 5-10; that's low for a planted tank, and may in fact be 0 if your test kit is old. Try to aim for 20ppm NO3, and you'll also want some PO4 in there as well - around .5-1ppm. K is also needed, but deficiency doesn't seem to be causative for algae.

I think the evidence shows (it's been a while since I've researched it all) that when plants have ALL the nutrients they need, they inhibit algae growth

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My plants seem to be growing just fine. I thought there might just be too many nutrients iun the tank. That's why I have been keeping the lower nitrates and phospahtes. I will try boosting everything up this week and see if it makes a difference. I'll black the tank out if I can't get a hold on this problem.

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IME, once it's there, it's tough to get rid of w/o actually treating it. I've had some success spot treating w. Metricide/Excel, but blackout is the only method I've used that works every time for me.

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