Bad bulbs cause cyano?

[cash cow]

do bad bulbs help facilitate the growth of cyano or is mainly from nutrients and bacteria?? any input would be great.....thanks

[ctenophors rule]

well from what i know, cyanophytes are a form of eubacteria very similar to green algea when considering light. i believe they have both chlorphyl a and b, just like chlorophyta.

so if your bulb encurages green alga, it will encurage cyano bacteria.

btw blue lights are bad for cyano, because just like green algae, the color the algae is, is the color that it reflects.

so ive been told. lol

[Gdevine]

Cyno is caused by 4 primary conditions:

1. Old lamps
2. Poor water quality
3. High nutrients
4. High phosphates

Any two of these in combination can cause a cyno breakout.

[davocean]

Old bulbs do promote nuissance algaes, never heard of a blue bulb issue myself.

[cash cow]

yeah.........my bulbs are old..........way past due for changing but i have a new fixture coming in from overseas, so i'm holding off until it arrives............what will the new 6 bulb ATI t5 fixture do to it, once i put it on the tank???? i hope it will vanish...........or turn green so it can be consumed..........

[davocean]

Just keep on WC's and skim well.

[ctenophors rule]

by blue lights are bad, i meant that the blue spectrum is harder for cyano to absorb than lets say.....10,000. so the blue bulbs will be bad for the cyano.

[hyperfocal]

For the most part, bulbs lose intensity (and PAR) as they age.

Since algae is photosynthetic, and assuming that it isn't photo-suppressed (good luck with *that* in an aquarium), reducing the available PAR will *reduce* it's growth. With that in mind, it makes no sense that old bulbs would encourage problem algae growth.

I'll bet my new A. loripes frag that there is a high correlation between old bulbs and lax husbandry. It's the lax husbandry that leads to the problem algae. When someone gets tired of the problem algae, they replace their bulbs and spend more time on husbandry (since their interest in the tank is sparked). This leads to a reduction in the problem algae, and replacing the bulbs is viewed as the 'cure'

I'd keep the bulbs and reduce the dissolved organics in the water column.

[cash cow]

no, that's not true at all hyperfocal..........i actually do husbandry every single day...........i think i'm having a nutrient problem from my bio-balls in my wet dry and i was wondering if the old bulbs were making matters worse........thanks for you opinion though

[hyperfocal]

IME, a wet-dry filter in a reef tank *is* bad husbandry, since it inevitably leads to high nitrates.

That being said, my response wasn't specifically directed to you I was looking more at those who insist that old bulbs lead to problem algae. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[cash cow]

no, i was misunderstanding.........i actual appreciate your opinion.....that's why i'm asking........how would you go about replacing my bio balls with live rock..............slowly obviously, but with small live rock or bigger rocks inside the wet dry?

[hyperfocal]

Live rock is expensive enough that I like to get my money's worth -- I try to fit it all into my tank Aside from that, I suppose you might be better off with smaller pieces (larger surface area) than larger but I don't think the difference is significant. Go with whatever is most affrodable

[cash cow]

no, my tank is packed with live rock and but i'm still having a nutrient problem........i've had this wet-dry set up a long time, so i bet i'm having a problem with the bio-balls. I can't just take out the bio-balls and leave nothing in the wet dry? right? let me know what you think

[spleify]

I'm with hyperfocal on this one. Old bulbs will not cause algae.

Ask this in the chemistry forum and see what kind of answers you get.

I also suggest taking the bio balls out slowly and replacing with LR, so long as all the LR will be completely submerged. Some wet/dry's have the bio balls partially out of water. So I don't know what you have.

HTH

Good luck

Spleify

[spleify]

.....and cyanoBACTERIA is not an algae at all. It is a bacteria. As mentioned, remove the bio balls slowly. Do large frequent water changes. Cut back on feedings. Try turning the lights off for 3 days.

Good luck

[cash cow]

thanks spleify! that was my next question..... all live rock that i put in the wet dry should be submerged? can i throw live rock in my sump also? plus, after putting in live rock, should i get rid of the filter pads at the top of the wet dry or leave them in? thanks

[spleify]

Definitely get rid of the filter pads. You sure can put LR in the sump. My refugium/sump is loaded with LR.

[cash cow]

so basically use no filtration pads, poly, etc.? just all natural?

[spleify]

JMO.

What were you using the poly pads for? I personally run a filter sock on my drain line into to sump.

[ctenophors rule]

thats interesting about the lights.

i had always heard that when the par was reduced the k rating was lowered and that resulted in more viable light for the organisms containing chlorophyl a-b.

you learn something new ever day (smiley faced emoticon)

[tkeracer619]

What kind of substrate do you have?

[Toddrtrex]

The only thing old bulbs will do is shine light (( pun intended )) on an existing problem -- excess nutrients. I recently changed the bulb over the fuge of my 75 (( a quad 96 watt PC )), the old bulb was over 2 years old, and yet no nuisance algae.

The filtration pads can be used, but have to be good about changing/cleaning them. Wouldn't go more then a week b/t change/clean.

[an411]

Originally posted by Gdevine
Cyno is caused by 4 primary conditions:

1. Old lamps
2. Poor water quality
3. High nutrients
4. High phosphates

Any two of these in combination can cause a cyno breakout.

Good list but I have to add one more Low flow

[hyperfocal]

I gotta split a hair -- low flow may make it worse, but it doesn't *cause* cyanobacteria. Nutrients, light and the presence of cyanobacteria lead to cyanobacteria.

[Agu]

............the presence of cyanobacteria lead to cyanobacteria.

As a bacteria if it's not in your tank you're not going to have an outbreak of cyano. Unlike algaes that are always present I question if the cyano bacteria is always present? I've cross contaminated tanks with cyano before. Nothing changed except I used tools from a tank with cyano in an uninfected tank and had an outbreak. The lights didn't change, the flow didn't change, The nutrients and phosphates didn't change.

Point being that none of those implicated parameters cause cyano imo/ime. They can make the outbreak worse and harder to eradicate but it's not necessarily a sign of poor husbandry to have cyano develop in a tank.