cyanobacteria in my sump

[Antman]

Hello all my sump is a 15 gallon tank with DIY baffles -first chamber is a euroreef skimmer /second is small fuge about 4" by 10"/last a Mag 5 up to the tank with the heater
I am getting cyanobacteria growing in my cheato .Why would this happen and how can I stop it ?
I do not have any in my tank YET

 

[Overland04]

What lighting do you have over your sump? and how many hours a day is it lit? are you using tap water by any chance?

 

[Antman]

I use
http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/PROD/EnergyStar/1P381951

I do 11 PM to 6 am ish But forget to shut it off some days (I need a timer)
I use RO water

 

[Antman]

NO Thoughts ?

 

[rustybucket145]

I have some slight cyano growing on my chaeto also. At first I was worried about it, but it never spread anywhere else in the tank. So now it's all just part of my nutrient export. When I prune the chaeto, I also prune the cyano. I would leave it be and just keep an eye on it.

I think it has to do with low flow through the chaeto. Also mine always seemed to be more prevalant toward the top of the water column.

 

[Craig Lambert]

This is very common. Cheato likes flow, so you might want to place a powerhead in the sump pointed directly at it. Additional water movement will help. I have to clean my area of the sump where a cheato is sectioned off about every 6 weeks.

 

[illal]

if its only in your sump than your sump is serving its purpose you could always try to add some flow to the fuge area but until it enters the main thank i wouldnt worry about it

 

[Rhodesholar]

I find when I disturb my DSB I get a cyano outbreak. It happens everytime. I will have no cyano, and then I get cute and change a PH for flow, disturb the sand and then the cyano outbreak.

I find in my fuge since adding large nassarius snails that stir the DSB I have a huge cyano problem. Before them I had the small variety and had no problem.

I find the magic depth is about 1/2 inch. If the DSB is disturbed below this depth I can guarantee a cyano outbreak, at least in my system.

If sand disturbance is not the issue in your system then the next would be an abundance of organics as mentioned earlier, and employee the recommended fixes as mentioned.