Cyanobacteria

[ATLL765]

Pretty sure I got lots of this stuff in my fuge right now. Don't have pics at the moment, but will throw a couple up if needed.

It's red, it's on the glass and sand bed and it appears like it's growing on the macro algae I have in there. My concern is that it's going to coat the macro algae and choke it out, as the Botryocladia I got in there has lost some of it's bubbles lately and is looking not so great.

Issue #2 is my Peacock Mantis hasn't been eating for the past few days, so I'm hypothesizing that he's preparing for a molt. Because of this, I don't want to mess around too much changing the water quality with any chemical solution or by siphoning a bunch out and having to do a water change to replace it, as I've been told it's best not to try to keep the tank as stable as possible while he's molting.

Right now I figured I'll just turn the light off for a bit, but is there anything else I can do?

I was thinking of replacing the strainer I put on the fuge water inlet with an elbow to get more concentrated, directional flow. I think the strainer might by dispersing the flow so much that it's not all that helpful.

 

[dppitone]

What's the lighting, lighting duration per day, flow and water temperature in the fuge? And how large is it, and how large is the rest of the system. And what are the nitrates?

 

[ATLL765]

What's the lighting, lighting duration per day, flow and water temperature in the fuge? And how large is it, and how large is the rest of the system. And what are the nitrates?

DT is a 20 high. Sump is 5.5, fuge is about 2 gallons of that about 7"x8"x8" including the sand bed. System is kept at 76 degrees.

Flow comes from a mag 2(250gph), which is teed off to supply the fuge. I couldn't really give you an accurate number for flow in the fuge though, it'd just be a guess.

Nitrates are around 5-10ppm right now.

Light is a little CFL, I think it's 11 watts, might be 13. I forget exactly, but it was the smallest one I could find with a reflector, just like the refugium light recommended on Melevsreef. It's on 24/7 because I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten to buy a timer in the past few weeks.

I had some cheato in the fuge previously, but after it took nitrates down to 0, it started to die back and I guess I didn't prune enough back to keep it alive and it all died. I imagine this might be a factor.

 

[dppitone]

My guess and IMO is that you have phosphates causing this and that the light needs to be stronger. Some folks may differ with that opinion, but I'd use a 26watt power compact for that fuge. When you're fuge is at the low point in the sump, nutrients can settle down in there and that might be part of it. If you don't have a sand bed in your fuge to help battle the waste, direct flow to the bottom may help. After your system gets some age to it the phosphates should level down.

 

[ATLL765]

My guess and IMO is that you have phosphates causing this and that the light needs to be stronger. Some folks may differ with that opinion, but I'd use a 26watt power compact for that fuge. When you're fuge is at the low point in the sump, nutrients can settle down in there and that might be part of it. If you don't have a sand bed in your fuge to help battle the waste, direct flow to the bottom may help. After your system gets some age to it the phosphates should level down.

Light needs to be stronger? I specifically looked for a low wattage light because I didn't want to overdo it with a 2 gallon fuge. I mean, with the sand in there, it can't really be more than 1.5 gallons of water and it's only like 4" deep and then you're on the sand. Would just buying a stronger CFL work? I don't really want to spend $50+ on a new fixture for my fuge. Not sure how many fixture come in a 7" size either, so that might be difficult.

Like you said though, this is a new system, so it will probably level out and be fine. It's just my fuge is tiny and this stuff is pretty much everywhere in it, so I'm probably going to see how a couple days of no lights goes. I may try to do a little scrape and siphon over the next few days too.

 

[ATLL765]

Lighting needs to be stronger? I have at least 11 watts over less than 5" of water. The system is new, as you guessed and surely that is a factor. Would a stronger CFL work? I'd prefer not to buy another fixture as I imagine it's hard to find one that will fit over my 7" long fuge and I'd rather not spend too much money on one.

For now I'm probably going to see how a couple days of no light works and may try to scrape and siphon as well.

Do you think putting an elbow in to replace the strainer that is there now would help? It would definitely direct the flow better instead of spreading it evenly in all directions.

 

[dppitone]

Just IMO on the light, there's few right or wrong answers. If you're getting continuous macro growth and have to clip out half of it every month than it's fine.