cyanno ina refugium

Iammatt219 · 04/13/2006, 10:37 AM

Please help I have set up my reefugium with a dsb about a month ago with chaeto, caulerpa, and gracilaria. Now for the past couple of weeks cyano all over my refugium. At first I didn't mind as I figured it was a mini cycle. But now all my graciliaria is gone and the cyano is still spreading. the chaeto and caulerpa are both growing. teh refugium is 30x12 on a 58 gallon tank with about 110 lbs of rock between the 2 with a seperate sump, and a coil denitrator. My nitrates, nitrites and phosphates all test at 0 but i think the algae/cyano is using it b4 it becomes available for the test to read. Is there any animal that i could add that would aid in eating the detritus that i think is building up.

I was thinking about a small fighting conch but am not sure if that woudl be a large enough area for it.

sorry about the long post but I figured I would give as many specs as a I could think of

TWallace · 04/13/2006, 10:42 AM

I'm battling a similar problem. I keep getting cyano in my refugium. It got so bad that it choked out my graciliara and chaeto and I had to buy more chaeto. I used chemi clean and that got rid of it, but it's making a come back now.

whiteshark · 04/13/2006, 10:47 AM

How long are the lights on in your fuge? I have the same problem but the lights are on 24 hrs a day. I suspect that could be t he problem because I never get cyanno in the main tank.

Iammatt219 · 04/13/2006, 11:34 AM

My refug has the lights on 24 hours. 96 watt power compact 50/50 bulb. forgot that in the other info. I was thinking that because of the slow flow detritus was settlling. This is why chemi-clean works so well as it breaks down the organics.

TWallace · 04/13/2006, 11:44 AM

My fuge light is only on for around 12 hours a day. I've never had cyano in my main tank, only in the fuge.

whiteshark · 04/13/2006, 11:51 AM

Low flow could also be an issue. Like Iammatt said, large organic particles could be settling. That being said, I have a decent amount of flow in my fuge and still get the stuff. Maybe we just need to do some serious water changes. It is very possible that the cyanno is using the trates before the test can detect them. I know that my extra trates and phates come from overfeeding, but my mom likes to spoil our fish

simonf · 04/13/2006, 12:09 PM

I had this problem when the grow light over my refug burnt out and I had to temporary replace it with a normal 'white' light bulb. Once I got the new grow bulb, 5100K, and put it in the cyno was gone in a few days. I'm guessing this is similar to the reported phenomenon of people seeing cyno when its time to replace their display lights because of spectrum shift.

melev's refug bulb

Iammatt219 · 04/13/2006, 12:28 PM

I also only have cyanno in the fuge. The fuge light is new enough not to have spectrum shift...under 3 months. My main tank currently has lots of zoa's, some palyo's, a couple of wagon wheel shrooms, a kenya tree, some hermits, bunch of snails, an algae blenny, a coral banded shrimp, an evil crab who refuses to fall for the glass trap, and possibly a mantis or pistol shrimp as there is an occasional popping noise, and a royal gramma who disaapeared.

I feed very lightly, as only the coral banded free floating eats prepared food, the algae blenny eats 1" x 1" nori squares as soon as I add to a feeding station in the tank.

what i would really like to know is if a conch could live in a 30" by 12" area with a dsb

Iammatt219 · 04/13/2006, 07:46 PM

bump

MarkT · 04/14/2006, 05:25 AM

I had a similar problem - cyano growing in the fuge but not in the main tank. I was running the lights on the fuge 24 hours a day. It seems that switching the lighting schedule to 12 hours a day opposite the main tank's lighting has essentially eliminated the cyano.

sean48183 · 04/14/2006, 07:02 AM

What you need is hair algae in your fuge! Once the hair algae gets going the cyno won't keep up. Go to the lfs and buy the most hairy rock you can find(Shouldn't be a problem from most of the lfs I've seen) and put it in your fuge.It will proliferate in your fuge and keep your water phosphate and nitrate free. I wouldn't let the cyno proliferate in your fuge it has a tendency to make it's way to the main display IMO.

Iammatt219 · 04/14/2006, 12:34 PM

back to the top

northbay-reefer · 04/14/2006, 01:05 PM

it's definitely a low flow problem, I remore the powerhead from my fudge and the cyano problem started, and after adding the powerhead back in, the cyano is going away.

Iammatt219 · 04/14/2006, 01:22 PM

hmm. I have a spare rio... do you think putting that in my fuge would help?

Iammatt219 · 04/14/2006, 08:55 PM

bump

ZOKU · 04/14/2006, 09:47 PM

How much flow is too low? I thought the flow through the refugium was supposed to be fairly mild and slow...?

04/13/2006, 10:37 AM	#1
Iammatt219 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: South Huntington NY Posts: 743	cyanno ina refugium Please help I have set up my reefugium with a dsb about a month ago with chaeto, caulerpa, and gracilaria. Now for the past couple of weeks cyano all over my refugium. At first I didn't mind as I figured it was a mini cycle. But now all my graciliaria is gone and the cyano is still spreading. the chaeto and caulerpa are both growing. teh refugium is 30x12 on a 58 gallon tank with about 110 lbs of rock between the 2 with a seperate sump, and a coil denitrator. My nitrates, nitrites and phosphates all test at 0 but i think the algae/cyano is using it b4 it becomes available for the test to read. Is there any animal that i could add that would aid in eating the detritus that i think is building up. I was thinking about a small fighting conch but am not sure if that woudl be a large enough area for it. sorry about the long post but I figured I would give as many specs as a I could think of

04/13/2006, 10:47 AM	#3
whiteshark Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 3,024	How long are the lights on in your fuge? I have the same problem but the lights are on 24 hrs a day. I suspect that could be t he problem because I never get cyanno in the main tank. __________________ Deep Blue 60 gallon cube: Setup in progress.

04/13/2006, 11:51 AM	#6
whiteshark Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 3,024	Low flow could also be an issue. Like Iammatt said, large organic particles could be settling. That being said, I have a decent amount of flow in my fuge and still get the stuff. Maybe we just need to do some serious water changes. It is very possible that the cyanno is using the trates before the test can detect them. I know that my extra trates and phates come from overfeeding, but my mom likes to spoil our fish __________________ Deep Blue 60 gallon cube: Setup in progress.

04/14/2006, 05:25 AM	#10
MarkT Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 27	I had a similar problem - cyano growing in the fuge but not in the main tank. I was running the lights on the fuge 24 hours a day. It seems that switching the lighting schedule to 12 hours a day opposite the main tank's lighting has essentially eliminated the cyano. __________________ 250 Gallon display with 4 Radion's and 2 MP40's, 180 gal grow out tank (6x80w T5 ATI SunPower), 40 gal refugium, 2x70gal sumps, SRO XP-3000 skimmer, Barracuda return pump. Current Tank Info: 250 Gal. Display Tank - 500 gal total system

04/14/2006, 01:05 PM	#13
northbay-reefer Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Wine country Posts: 4,831	it's definitely a low flow problem, I remore the powerhead from my fudge and the cyano problem started, and after adding the powerhead back in, the cyano is going away. __________________ go BIG or go home Current Tank Info: Tankless :D

04/13/2006, 10:42 AM	#2
TWallace Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Seattle Posts: 1,464	I'm battling a similar problem. I keep getting cyano in my refugium. It got so bad that it choked out my graciliara and chaeto and I had to buy more chaeto. I used chemi clean and that got rid of it, but it's making a come back now.

04/13/2006, 11:34 AM	#4
Iammatt219 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: South Huntington NY Posts: 743	My refug has the lights on 24 hours. 96 watt power compact 50/50 bulb. forgot that in the other info. I was thinking that because of the slow flow detritus was settlling. This is why chemi-clean works so well as it breaks down the organics.

04/13/2006, 11:44 AM	#5
TWallace Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Seattle Posts: 1,464	My fuge light is only on for around 12 hours a day. I've never had cyano in my main tank, only in the fuge.

04/13/2006, 12:09 PM	#7
simonf Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Issaquah, Wa Posts: 71	I had this problem when the grow light over my refug burnt out and I had to temporary replace it with a normal 'white' light bulb. Once I got the new grow bulb, 5100K, and put it in the cyno was gone in a few days. I'm guessing this is similar to the reported phenomenon of people seeing cyno when its time to replace their display lights because of spectrum shift. melev's refug bulb

04/13/2006, 12:28 PM	#8
Iammatt219 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: South Huntington NY Posts: 743	I also only have cyanno in the fuge. The fuge light is new enough not to have spectrum shift...under 3 months. My main tank currently has lots of zoa's, some palyo's, a couple of wagon wheel shrooms, a kenya tree, some hermits, bunch of snails, an algae blenny, a coral banded shrimp, an evil crab who refuses to fall for the glass trap, and possibly a mantis or pistol shrimp as there is an occasional popping noise, and a royal gramma who disaapeared. I feed very lightly, as only the coral banded free floating eats prepared food, the algae blenny eats 1" x 1" nori squares as soon as I add to a feeding station in the tank. what i would really like to know is if a conch could live in a 30" by 12" area with a dsb

04/13/2006, 07:46 PM	#9
Iammatt219 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: South Huntington NY Posts: 743	bump

04/14/2006, 07:02 AM	#11
sean48183 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: michigan Posts: 1,577	What you need is hair algae in your fuge! Once the hair algae gets going the cyno won't keep up. Go to the lfs and buy the most hairy rock you can find(Shouldn't be a problem from most of the lfs I've seen) and put it in your fuge.It will proliferate in your fuge and keep your water phosphate and nitrate free. I wouldn't let the cyno proliferate in your fuge it has a tendency to make it's way to the main display IMO.

04/14/2006, 12:34 PM	#12
Iammatt219 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: South Huntington NY Posts: 743	back to the top

04/14/2006, 01:22 PM	#14
Iammatt219 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: South Huntington NY Posts: 743	hmm. I have a spare rio... do you think putting that in my fuge would help?

04/14/2006, 08:55 PM	#15
Iammatt219 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: South Huntington NY Posts: 743	bump

04/14/2006, 09:47 PM	#16
ZOKU Resident Ninja Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Oshkosh, WI Posts: 560	How much flow is too low? I thought the flow through the refugium was supposed to be fairly mild and slow...? __________________ - SCOTT. Check out my homepage to see my build! Current Tank Info: 40B / Super Reef Octopus SRO2000INT / 35-gal. acrylic sump+refuge / 120W LED lighting / Water Blaster 3000 Return... IN PROGRESS!