Cyano & flow?

[Awibrandy]

I am not trying to start WWIII with this question!!!!! So please not haters!!!

I am curious more then anything! I've been bashed many a times for not having "enough flow" in my tank (regardless of the fact that I do not keep SPS corals other then caps), yet I am not (thank you God) having all these problems with cyano, or other nuisance algea.
The only flow in my 155 BF mixed reef w/tons of fish is my two return pumps. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1]Iwaki MD 40RLT - 750gph turned down a bit & EHEIM 1262 Water Pump - 898gph split amongst 4 locklines.[/SIZE][/FONT]
Why is it that anytime someone has a cyano problem it is blamed on not enough flow?
Could there be other causes?

 

[jhale]

yes! I have a lot of flow, and my tank grew cyano

 

[Deanos]

Why is it that anytime someone has a cyano problem it is blamed on not enough flow? Could there be other causes?

There usually are other, more significant causes:

• elevated nutrient levels
• aged bulbs causing temperature shift conducive to cyano growth
• ineffective detritus removal
• lack of competition for available nutrients by micro/macroalgae or corals

 

[Awibrandy]

There usually are other, more significant causes:

• elevated nutrient levels
• aged bulbs causing temperature shift conducive to cyano growth
• ineffective detritus removal
• lack of competition for available nutrients by micro/macroalgae or corals

Thank you Dean!

Now, why is it that the first thing that comes out of peoples mouth is "you don't have enough flow. Add some more flow"
I mean like I said in my previous post. I have been harrased about not having "enough flow", even though my animals appear to be happy. I was even told that I should "not" give advice to newbies. Guess I'm not in a good mood this morning - please forgive me.

 

[marrone]

One of the cures that people use to get rid of Cyano is to increase flow but if having high flow eliminates cyano than people with high flow tanks should never have cyano and we know that's not the case.

My prior tank, 58gal, was a low flow tank. I have a lot of LPS, softies and some SPS and the tank was fine, and no cyano. Low flow tanks work just fine, and just like Dean posted cyano comes from many other things.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I've heard raising the magnesium level might help as well.

 

[fritz]

Cyano has nothing to do with flow. As dean mentioned there are other causes, usually an abundance of PO4. "You need more flow" is just anecdotal advise. Truth be told if you add flow to where the cyano is currently growing, it will just move to a spot in your tank that has less flow. Cyano just prefers lower flow areas, it doesn't come into existence because there is a low flow area. The root cause of it's presence in your tank is that there is a food source for it. The way to irradiate cyano is to remove the food source from your tank (PO4). Keep in mind it can take upwards of 6 months for a phosban reactor to remove all of the PO4 in a phosphate laden tank.

 

[Awibrandy]

Thank you Marrone/fritz! You guys just made my point for me! Perhaps hearing it from you guys people will see my point!

Like I said I apparently am not in the best of moods today! And I've been tired of the put downs for a longgggggggggggggggg time now!

And Marron you just gave me the courage to try a small SPS. With all the "Flow" talk I have been weary of even trying the few SPS I do like.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Awilda, I always increased flow in cyano areas to get it into the water column so it could be filtered out. I would put a poly pad in the filter to get it out, I would also make sure my calcium, alk, and Mg were in check and test my PO4 to correct the problem.

 

[Awibrandy]

Thank you Chief!
The question was asked because of the bit of harrasment I had been the subject off. I do not have cyano in any of my tanks to date! Thank God!! I don't even have algea in the displays. There is a small amount of green hair algea that does grow in the inside of the overflows in the 155 that I have to remove every couple of months.
My point was/is that you do not have to have tons of flow to have a successful reef!

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

No you need just enough flow to keep everything happy

In regards to cyano I have also removed rocks from the tank and rinsed and scrubbed the cyano off of them to get rid of that. The most important thing is water parameters.

If the parameters are good then the tank is successful, if they aren't, not so much.