Red Slime in Refugium

Hi,

I'm running a 240L (65Gallon) tank with 90L sump. Lighting cycle approx 9 hours per day. Aqua One skimmer, Phosban phosphate reactor, UV steriliser.

Sump has cheatomorph and caulerpa (mainly Chaeto) growing well.

Parameters are good - NO2 @ zero, NO3 @ zero, Ammonia zero, pH 8.3, trace phosphates only.

My problem is that I can't get rid of red slime algae growing in the sump (cyanobacteria?). I manually remove as much of the stuff as I can and I trim back the chaeto to remove it where it's growing in the weeds but still it comes back and is a bit of a mess.

Any ideas how to shift it?

The only thought I had is that the light I use above the sump runs 24hrs/day - when I set up the tank I was told the chaeto/caulerpa would need light full-time. Is this correct?

Thanks for your help.

 

the 24 hour cycle is not the best for the chaeto. it needs a break from light to carry out dark reactions.
This excess of light is probably leading to your cyano also.
most people do a reverse schedule in their lighting between the DT and the fuge to try and keep the pH stable in the tank.

 

Thank for that - I'll give the reverse schedule a try.

Any thoughts on how to get rid of the cyano now it's there?

 

manual removal... its not technically bad for the tank, in fact its good if you can keep it in check. if your bulbs are old or dim you can replace them or move to a higher kelvin.

also watch your phosphates and nitrates, that is what feeds cyano

 

As long as its only in the sump I would leave it alone, the most efficient way of getting rid of it is to increase waterflow, but we dont want to do that in the fuge. Also by letting it grow in the fuge it should use up the nutrients it requires and prevent it from spreading to the DT.

 

I had the same problem. I cut my light cycle from 24 to 12 and it has disapeared, the first thing i did though is turned off the lights in the fuge for 2 to 3 days and it weas gone. reapereaed a little but with the new light cycle it went away completely. i have before and after pictures if you want. hope this helps you.

 

Great advice. I've left the lights off for 3 days and it's almost gone. I'll reintroduce lights on a reverse cycle with the main tank.

Thanks for the replies.