Question about light in sump causing cyano

I helped my dad set up a basement sump and he has been running a 5k HD bulb over the center part of his sump when his main lights are off. We will eventually add chaeto to this compartment. Right now there is just LR. As you can imagine, algae is taking off in that compartment, especially cyano. Is there a danger of this making its way into his main tank? I ask, because he found a small patch in his DT, but I think it is flow issue in that part of his tank, he thinks its from the sump, so thought I would ask. TIA

 

From reading on here, I think it's part of the goal of a sump, that bad algae stays in the sump so it doesn't make its way to the DT. I'm thinking the two are unrelated unless there is a nutrient issue in the DT.

 

5k is pretty yellow...

I would get a proper refugium light 6,500k. There are great LED options and this may help cut down on cyano, but most importantly, it will be better for macro algaes to grow under (chaeto, mangroves, kelp, ect..)

 

I'm of the mindset that the 'fuge is where you want all that stuff growing. Let it grow there and suck out nutrients out of sight. Then you manually export those nutrient by throwing patches of cyano away.

Cyano is everywhere, and can literally come to be from the air. If you have enough nutirents to grow it (most everyone does), you're not going to stop it.

 

I actually agree with most of what is being said, but will add that the redder the Kelvin(lower k) the more it's going to grow different types of Algea based off photoperiod.

I personally use a 3700k horticulture fixture(200 watt) which is equivalent to a stock hps bulb. The reason as stated is I want to focus on growing the macro down there, which it does amazingly well! But, with that red of a spectrum,I am encouraging both macro and other strains of Algea.

The thing that I have found(at least for my system) is where the light is most intense in lower Kelvin, that it's where my Algea would grow the best. For example, at one time,I had 450 watts of pc in the sump. Algea grew like crazy in the sump, the life in there was insane, but that is the cleanest my display has ever been, and hasn't been that clean since. I have to buy another bulb, but I had two fixtures in the refugium.

To and for me, it's target spectrum overpowering. If the sump has the most light(as long as you can keep it cool) in the red spectrum, and the display has good, but not as much light in the bluer spectrum, the tendency is for the pest or nutrient thriving Algea to grow in the area most consistent with their illumination need and want, which is lower Kelvin light.

That's just my findings that coincide with hydroponics and horticulture. I still get good growth and pull with the one light, but nothing like I was before.

 

Thanks guys. That's what I was thinking. Where do people find the 6500K bulbs? I see people posting that they are using bulbs from HD but I can only find 5k.

 

What type of bulb! T5's, PC, Screw-in lol

 

Sorry lol. I'm just talking about the screw in lights you can clip onto the sump.

 

I got my bulb from hd. I got an led bulb 6k and it has been grown cheato great for about 5 months now.
When I first started my sump I had cyano in my fuge and it eventually got starved out. My fuge literally looks like a swamp and looks pretty disgusting but I don't have any algae in my dt.
I'd say whatever is growing in your sump just let it grow, a long as its not in your dt then it's a good thing.

 

Don't apologize lol !! It's all good.

This one is for a deeper, more packed sump

12W E27 720 LM 6000 K-6500 K Pure White LED Light Bulb (Golden) - LX0367Y

And this should work fine for what you have expecially if cheato is your primary macro

http://m.globalsources.com/gsol/Gen...149681&design=mobile&catalog_id=2000000003844