cyano problem... is my spectrum causing this?

burninreefer · Jan 29, 2018

im running a 120 community reef and Im having a cyano problem, past 2 months.

cal 445
alk 8.3
mag 1350
salt .026
ph 8-8.3
temp 78-78.7
nitrate 1-3
phos 0-.02

recently I switched to all LED, I was previously running a 400w 20k halide with 2 AI hydra26hd's. I got rid of the halide and picked up 4 more hydra's. im assuming the cyano is light related. with my halide I was running my hydras at 20k to match the halide. with all led im running the lord howe preset, great color and growth but a cyano outbreak. any ideas?

Brew12 · Jan 29, 2018

I would say it is very unlikely that the spectrum itself is the root cause but it may have been the trigger. The MH may have been causing other microalgae to thrive and it is no longer out competing the cyano.

If possible, I would try to get your nitrate up a little. Some common strains of cyanobacteria cannot form mats with NO3 above 3ppm. You may need to break up the mats daily while you get NO3 up to clear it from the system.

Sagecritter4life · Jan 29, 2018

I know on my Hydra 26's if running higher blues the cyano is crimson red and looks much worse if running no white lol ;-) still there but not nearly as annoying as looks when running high blues/violet. Try raising your white and see if the optical illusion of less cyano occurs...chuckle...seriously since changed lights may be less white in spectrum. Not a fix but mentally makes me happier ;-) and less aggravated.