Cyano!!!! HELP!!!

[bandr1002]

NEVER HAVE I SEEN SUCH AN OUTBREAK!!!

So my fuge is covered in it. I am afraid if i cut the lights that it will make it into the main system. What can i do (without the use of chemicals) to rid myself of this nast crap!???!!!

90 gal, 2 @ 150 watts pheonix 14ks, 2 @ 96 watt 460 nm. all params are reading perfectly, and yes i test everything (except mag). the fuge is on a 24/7 light cycle out of fear of the cyano spreading to the DT. the light is a daylight R40 flood light 23 watt 5000 k
here are some pics for you all. The first pic is the DT.........


as you can see the DT is not affected, however this eve i am forced to get rid of the chatoe and try to start fresh with the fuge....



I only have 3 chromis in the tank and i do not feed much. The skimmer is doing its job wonderfully.
if i change the lighting cycle I am afraid that this will spread to the DT. what should i do???

[funkejj]

Ok time for a 3 day lights out period, Cover the tank and leave all lights out for 3 days do this once a month for a few months and all will be well. Also the source of this problem is high nutrients more then likely phosphates.

[bandr1002]

Originally Posted by funkejj

Ok time for a 3 day lights out period, Cover the tank and leave all lights out for 3 days do this once a month for a few months and all will be well. Also the source of this problem is high nutrients more then likely phosphates.

will this affect the sps in a negative way??? and how do i figure out the cause of the phosphates, if i go without the light for 3 days but do not figure out the cause of the phosphates wouldn't it just return?

[helitaiwan963]

i'm new to reefing and whatnot, but can't you shut off the valves that go from your overflow to the sump, then take the sump out and then just dump all that water out and clean the sump and equiptment very well and start fresh with new saltwater mixture and let it run again? And do a few water changes once a week or something and see if the cyano comes back?

[funkejj]

If it is only in your sump then I would say no lights in the sump for 3 days. If it is in your DT as well you can do the cycle of lights out for 3 days with no harm to SPS or any corals for that matter. They get long periods of no light during hurricanes and such. As long as you are not running halides then after the 3 day black out turn your lights back on, if you do halides then first do a actinic only day.

[disc1]

Cyano seems to like the fuge because there's usually less flow there. If you've got good flow in the main tank, there's no sin in letting a bit of cyano grow in the fuge and pull it out when you trim up your macro. Cyano makes one heck of a nutrient sink and will keep your nitrate and phosphate levels at or very near zero. IME it helps keep cyano out of the main tank if it's in the fuge. Just try to keep it relatively under control.

[vorm]

I always have a tiny amount of cyano in my sump, but nothing like that. That's a lot of cyano..lol
For that much I would kill the sump light for 3 days like others have suggested, I really don't think it will move to the DT.

Edit: also you might try putting in a new bulb. Try a 26w 6500K "daylight" bulb. I have no proof to back this up, but it seems to grow more under lower Kelvin/Wattage bulbs from what I've noticed. And don't get rid of the cheato, that's only going to make it worse, it will get "clean" again after the cyano is gone.

[Jstdv8]

That's awesome!

[Dana42078]

that looks bloddy! lol.