Sump Cleaning and Cyano

D

dustybrannum

In my sump i have some CC that has adopted many pods, small starfish, and probably lots of life I cannot see. Also the walls of the sump are covered in what looks like a gelatin mounds( i.e. filter feeder, sponge?). Should I clean these off or leave them as they may help more than hurt? Also could this area not being cleaned cause my cyano problem. All my parameters are in range except pH is a little low (8.0) and the KH and alk are low 6.6 for KH and 2.2 for alk. Could these low parameters cause it? When I feed my fish eat like junk yard dogs and barely any food touches the bottom unless it is so small I cannot see it. I have a 30 gallon fuge that is packed full of caluerpa prolifera so that should help on any excess nutrients. I use RODI water with my TDS stating less that 5. My lamps will be 1 year old in September but they are run only 8 hours a day. I tried chemi clean before and it did not seem to do anything.
Any suggestions or thoughts would be wonderful. Thanks
 
Do you have a picture of the "what looks like a gelatin mounds( i.e. filter feeder, sponge?)" ? This would help, as it could be sponge, but it could be an algea.
 
Actually these are larger than a grain of rice. They are twice as long as they are wide and not very tall at all. You can see dark lines like ribs through them. I will get a picture as soon as i go back home for the holiday.

Any ideas though if this is causing my cyano issue?
 
Low flow and excessive nutrients. Cyano in the refugium is okay though, as long as you don't see any in the main tank.
 
The area it grows in is directly in the middle of the tank which is hit by two power heads from the sides and two spray bars from the back of the tank. I use 3 295 gph ph's and a mag 24 all day and a mag 36 at night both on 1" spraybars. I do not know the calculations to figure the actual amount of water being moved but in my real dead spots like corners there is not any cyano :?
 
Then I'd suggest ChemiClean by Boyd Enterprises. Tranquil Scape had some when I was there at the meeting this month. Cyano rarely exists in high flow. Strange.
 
here is a picture of it.
Also a pic of my setup.
if you can tell in the pic the two power head in the front corners are aimed to the middle of the tank and there is one in the back right corner also aime to the middle of the tank. The spray bar in the top is accompanied by a spraybar at the bottom with holes drilled to push water straight out, down and at a 45.
i need some salt so next week i will add some of the chemiclean to my list.
Thank you
 
I'm having the same problem. I recently added a pump with a spray wand to add some water movement. It has helped but I still have some out breaks in my sand . Let me know if that chemical helps.
 
@dustybrannum wrote:
So should i clean my sump thoroughly or just vacuum the excess detritus. said:
If you have the desire to clean it thoroughly, by all means. I clean and wipe down my sump probably weekly, but only work on it intensely once a month. Detritus should sucked out as that is just waste that will rot in the water. That creates Nitrate and Phosphate.
Click to expand...
 
I used the chemi clean by boyd and have not seen any cyano return. I have a small amount of diatoms but nothing major. Thanks for the help.
 
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