cyano growing on my chaeto

mskvarenina

Member
My refugium was growing some cyano. I cleaned as much as I could up about a week ago. Now my chaeto is turning red and brown presumably because the cyano is growing on it also.

What's the best approach to removing this? I've on the forums some folks mentioned a higher flow rate in the fuge and I'm going to try that today but should I treat the tank with something like Boyd's Chemiclean or is there a natural way of clearing it up. I really don't want to turn off my skimmer and UV for a week.
 
One easy way to remove cyano from chaeto in a refugium is to simply turn off the light for 3 days. It won't hurt the chaeto.

Many folks beat down cyano in a tank by blacking the whole tank out for 3 days. That said, nutrient control is a must to keep algae/cyanobacteria to a minimum in a tank, particularly if it's a new tank (less than a year old).
 
One easy way to remove cyano from chaeto in a refugium is to simply turn off the light for 3 days. It won't hurt the chaeto.

That's an interesting approach, I haven't heard of lack of light killing off the cyano.

My refugium has historically a pretty low flow rate which I see many folks saying promotes the cyano. What do you think about re-cleaning out the fuge as best I can, increasing the flow rate through the fuge, clipping off most of the chaeto (there's a few sections that are still a nice green)? I'm thinking the increased water flow should feed the chaeto better and hopefully it will grow quickly back to it's current size.

I'd just replace the chaeto complete but it's not easy to find it locally.
 
This is interesting because my tank seems to have the same issue...got red algae growing in the refugium but nowhere else in the tank. Today is day 2 that i have shut off the light in the fuge but i still see a good amount of the stuff. I'm assuming its cyano but not for sure. Will it go away without cleaning it out?
 
Pull cheato, rinse it out real well in some old tank water, siphon remaining cyano out, up the flow in your fuge a tad bit, place cheato back in and lights out for a few days. Should take care of it.

Only ill effect should be a negligible pH swing at night if you run opposite photoperiods in your DT and your fuge. Won't hurt a thing.
 
Sounds like a plan. Will the cyano rinse off the chaeto when I do the rinse or should I cut out the badly discolored sections?
 
I would say trim as necessary. Dead loss and the like. But, should just rinse right out. Cyano , in my limited experience, never has a strong hold on anything it's growing on.
 
I have the same problem in my newly set up fuge. What I have done was rotate the chaeto ever few days so different sections are exposed to the light. I also increased my flow in the fuge and the cyano seems to be going away.
 
The other thing that happens us the chaeto gets loaded or covered in bubbles yet there is no bubbly water passing through it. Any ideas why or what this may indicate?
 
The other thing that happens us the chaeto gets loaded or covered in bubbles yet there is no bubbly water passing through it. Any ideas why or what this may indicate?

The waste product of photosynthesis is oxygen. That's all those bubbles are. No harm at all. Increase in flow will help blow the o2 away from the cheato.
 
Refugium is all cleaned out. I washed the chaeto in fresh water in the bathroom sink and it's a nice green color again. I ask built this DIY spraybar and connected it to the exhaust of my UV. There's a nice flow of water now into the refugium. In the past it only received a little water from a 1" hole as the sump filled up above the waterline of the hole. Now this water sprays down across most of the refugium then drains to the return room of the sump.

I'm hoping with the increased waterflow, the chaeto will grow faster as it absorbs the nitrates and phosphates in my water.
 

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The none of the above has worked. Even with the increased waterflow and cleaned out refugium my chaeto is turning red. I can rise it but it comes back in a few days. The DT is fine, no cyano there.

Today I keep the lights on 24/7. Someone above suggested maybe turning off the lights for a few days?
 
Lights out definitely works. The reason you see it in your fuge and not in your display is because the flow through the fuge is much slower. Detritus has a chance to settle in the fuge. From there the cyano feeds off it and it takes off.
 
Lights out will work along with the increased flow. Maybe stick a couple of hermit crabs in your fuge to take care of detritus?
 
I guess the chaeto will survive the lights out for a few days?

My fuge is full of miracle mud so it's not a nice clean bottom. Maybe a crab or two once I pull the copper back out of the tank.
 
Lights out is only a temporary fix. The problem is excess p04. Cutting back p04 is another bear itself but that's the way to cure your cyano problem.
 
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