Cyano Help !!!!

Six month old 90 gallon reef tank and terrible cyano outbreak in my sump and on the sandbed. Nitrate and Phosphate levels are at 0 and I have great flow including an MP40 and Koralia 1050. Looking for causes ?

One possibility is lighting, I purchased a used TEK fixture six months ago with six Geissman bulbs which are probably at least a year old. Maybe time for a change?

Second could be water, I use RO/DI but I have not changed my filters in almost a year, the TDS always reads zero even though the water pressure has dropped to 30. I just ordered new filters from BRS.

Third could be over feeding, but I only feed once a day as much as they eat in a few minutes.

Seems like I have eliminated almost everything, any suggestions.

 

The cyano is feeding off the extra nutrients in the water. They test out at 0 because the cyano is using them up.

Could be your RO/DI filters, possibly changing those will help. And lights should be replaced every 9-12 months. Old lights definitely feed algae!

Do a water change, add more flow along your sand bed, change your filters and bulbs and hopefully it will clear up!

 

Thinking combination of age of lighting and your RO/DI filters.

 

New RO/DI filters are on the way and i think I will order some new bulbs while I'm at it.

 

I don't mean to hijeack this thread but on a sumwhat related topic, are you saying that old/weak bulbs are feeding the cyano algae problem? Wouldn't too much lighting in addition to too many nutriants be feeding the outbreak? I always thought you should reduce lighting until you can get it under control. please clarify.

 

Reduced lighting and bad lighting are different. Solutions: Only use bulbs that are designed for aquarium use, run the lights 8 to 9 hours a day, and following the basic wattage rule of thumb, try different types of bulbs to increase the intensity and the spectral qualities of the light in the aquarium, particularly when it comes to any type of full-spectrum or color enhancing tubes being used. Lighting: The use of improper bulbs, lack of maintenance, and extended lighting hours are contributors that can lead to all sorts of algae problems. While these organisms do well in the 665 to 680 nanometer (nm) wavelength range, they are quite active bewteen the 560 and 620 nm range as well.

Phosphates (PO 4 ) are commonly introduced into aquariums by means of using unfiltered fresh tap water, and through many aquarium products that may contain higher than normal concentrations of this element, such as sea salt mixes, activated carbon, KH buffers, foods, and many other sources. Also, for established reef tanks the long-term use of kalkwasser precipitates phosphates out of the water, and these phosphate based compounds can settle on and in the live rock and substrate.