(cyanobacteria?) Growing on my chaeto

[Reef of Fillory]

Noticed today after messing with the chaeto in my sump (picking it out of the tank to check the color) that it is covered with something that looks like cyanobacteria. The chaeto has taken off recently and is now covered in this. Any ideas as to whether this is cyanobacteria or something else?

Phosphates are either .02 or .04 according to Hannah phosphorous checker, nitrates <5

One thing to note is that the display tank has absolutely no algae or hints of cyanobacteria.

Thanks

 

[SDReefer]

Looks like cyano, how old is your tank? I'm assuming you use an RODI filter, but have you tested the TDS recently?

 

[kazikage42]

how long it been in there? If it's just in your sump then I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've had cyano in my refugium before and it went away by itself in a few weeks or so with regular tank maintenance.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Looks like cyano, how old is your tank? I'm assuming you use an RODI filter, but have you tested the TDS recently?

Yeah the RODI is at 0. This tank is about 4 months old, transferred from my 75 gallon which used cycled/cured rock from a friend. Recently [~1.5months] I moved my old rock to the sump and put all new dry rock into the display tank. There's no algae or cyano in the display.

how long it been in there? If it's just in your sump then I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've had cyano in my refugium before and it went away by itself in a few weeks or so with regular tank maintenance.

My chaeto died off almost completely a couple of weeks ago after changing my 36watt TaoTronics light for the Kessil H380. Now I switched back to the TaoTronics [24hrs/day] and the chaeto grew out to where it is now, but is covered with cyano. I just [last night] put my H380 back on the sump running only 6 hours/night.

I took a turkey baster and blew around the chaeto, and blew off the eggcrate under the skimmer as well.

I'm going to take out my chaeto tonight and rinse it in the sink to get rid of as much as I can.

I also don't do water changes [Triton method]

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I had the thought to add a powerhead to the chaeto compartment, but I already run pretty high flow through my refugium. In the video you can see the speed of the chaeto spinning.

I use a QuietOne Pro 3000 return pump which is almost completely wide open, and I estimate after headloss to have close to 525-560 gph of return flow. This all comes down into the chaeto compartment through the two 1" drain lines, one at a backed-off siphon and the other trickled.

One hesitation that I have about adding a powerhead [like a maxijet 600] to that section is that the chaeto will get caught in it?

 

[Charterreefer]

Yeah the RODI is at 0. This tank is about 4 months old, transferred from my 75 gallon which used cycled/cured rock from a friend. Recently [~1.5months] I moved my old rock to the sump and put all new dry rock into the display tank. There's no algae or cyano in the display.



My chaeto died off almost completely a couple of weeks ago after changing my 36watt TaoTronics light for the Kessil H380. Now I switched back to the TaoTronics [24hrs/day] and the chaeto grew out to where it is now, but is covered with cyano. I just [last night] put my H380 back on the sump running only 6 hours/night.

I took a turkey baster and blew around the chaeto, and blew off the eggcrate under the skimmer as well.

I'm going to take out my chaeto tonight and rinse it in the sink to get rid of as much as I can.

I also don't do water changes [Triton method]

I clean cyano off my chaeto when I do water changes. I do this by taking a five gallon bucket of siphoned out tank water that I am going to dispose of and put in a clump of chaeto at a time and shake off the cyano. I wouldn't blow any cyano off. Only remove what you can siphon off or clean outside of the tank. Blowing it off and into your systems water will cause it to spread!

Cyano is ok if it's only in your refugium and not in your tank. It will help consume nutrients that might otherwise cause algae and cyano to grow in your display, just like the chaeto does. I have had small amounts of cyano for years and am happy that I only have to deal with it as opposed to bubble algae and slime algae, etc that I dealt with in the past. It is easier to remove (in small amounts) and deal with then the aforementioned.
It seems like there is always going to be something unwanted that will be growing, along with all the good stuff. Limiting it seems to be the challenge.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Is the egg crate a new addition ?

Are you feeding a coral food , particularly a powered one?

Myself I don't like a powerhead in the fuge generally , it blows the crud right back into the display.
I'd guess the return rate is good and not too fast because your getting build up in the sump.

I have a Powerhead in my sump for a dead spot. It's a tiny 12v one.

IMO too high a flow can be a problem, nothing settles in the sump.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Is the egg crate a new addition ?

Are you feeding a coral food , particularly a powered one?

Myself I don't like a powerhead in the fuge generally , it blows the crud right back into the display.
I'd guess the return rate is good and not too fast because your getting build up in the sump.

I have a Powerhead in my sump for a dead spot. It's a tiny 12v one.

IMO too high a flow can be a problem, nothing settles in the sump.

Egg crate has been in the sump since I added the sump a few months ago. I have fed reef chili occasionally but it's been maybe one or two feedings of it in the last month or so.

I also think that my return pump is getting plugged up from the last chaeto die-off so i'm planning to pull it out and take it apart/clean it tomorrow. This may be affecting my flow through the sump.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Gotcha , its a bit anecdotal, but I've seen it happen and had it happen to as well as other people. Some eggcrate seems to promote odd orcnaisms to grow.
Why it didn't before, I'd say spectrum.

Not crate , but spectrum bloom example.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/spectrum-and-dinoflagellate-outbreak.338182/

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Decided to get rid of the h380 and go back to the taotronics. I might add a second bulb after a while. The new growth that I got with the taotronics bulb died of and fell apart under the h380 @ 6 hours/night.

I cleaned what I could out of the sump (broken chaeto that was growing off of the egg crate) cleaned the return pump and and took out most of the dying chaeto.

Starting over again with a small ball (golf ball size) of chaeto with the taotronics.

Phosphates have risen from .02 to .04 under the h380.


The chaeto I took out looks healthy but it's falling apart and getting small pieces everywhere including the display tank.