Cyano cause????

[Tankjunkie0481]

Other than phosphates can an outbreak of cyano be caused by a shift in spectrum from compact flourescent lighting getting close to the end of its useable life???

[THS]

I believe it is, I can't explain the science behind it though. My only guess is that the spectrum of an old bulb shifts to that range optimal for cyano growth.
My LFS replaces their bulbs every 3 months, and at the end of that time you can see more cyano in the tanks.

[TundraGuy]

Yes a very common phenomenon with PCs when the color shifts is cyano or diatom blooms. Do a search and you will see this is talked about a lot. PCs are notorious for this reason. The bulbs aren’t cheap and they don’t last very long in comparison to other lighting used in this hobby. Ideally PCs should be swapped out anywhere from every 3 to 6 months depending on the burn time each day before they start to shift. Compare that to T5s 9 to 12 months, or MH 10 to 16 months. This is all based on my own experiences with the use of my old as dirt PAR meter, different manufactures of bulbs, ballast, and fixtures will have different results but I find these numbers to be pretty constant. Now let’s not forget the growing trend of LEDs (I myself have moved to the dark side) some boast 10 year life spans I can’t confirm this to be true I would say 5 years is a more realistic number. But heck even 2 years vs 6 months (at best) is just too much to pass on for most. Now I am talking in relation to the color shifting of light bulbs not the usable life of bulbs. Once lights start to shift you start to pick up wave lengths of light that aren’t usable by our corals yet are more usable by some of that funky crude we don’t want to look at in our tanks.

My recommendation is to try and upgrade to a different light then the PCs. But if this is not do able then if you have multiple pc lights in the fixture is to keep the better of the lights in the unit replace the ones that are cruddy right off the bat. Then in a month replace the other bulb/s. This will save you from having to spend all your money right now on lights and again in 3 to 6 months. It seems less painful to buy half the lights at a time. The other reason I would go this route is your new lights are going to be a lot more powerful than the old ones and it’s easy to burn corals by swapping the old crummy lights with bright brand new ones.

[Kayo2289]

Yes a very common phenomenon with PCs when the color shifts is cyano or diatom blooms. Do a search and you will see this is talked about a lot. PCs are notorious for this reason. The bulbs aren’t cheap and they don’t last very long in comparison to other lighting used in this hobby. Ideally PCs should be swapped out anywhere from every 3 to 6 months depending on the burn time each day before they start to shift. Compare that to T5s 9 to 12 months, or MH 10 to 16 months. This is all based on my own experiences with the use of my old as dirt PAR meter, different manufactures of bulbs, ballast, and fixtures will have different results but I find these numbers to be pretty constant. Now let’s not forget the growing trend of LEDs (I myself have moved to the dark side) some boast 10 year life spans I can’t confirm this to be true I would say 5 years is a more realistic number. But heck even 2 years vs 6 months (at best) is just too much to pass on for most. Now I am talking in relation to the color shifting of light bulbs not the usable life of bulbs. Once lights start to shift you start to pick up wave lengths of light that aren’t usable by our corals yet are more usable by some of that funky crude we don’t want to look at in our tanks.

My recommendation is to try and upgrade to a different light then the PCs. But if this is not do able then if you have multiple pc lights in the fixture is to keep the better of the lights in the unit replace the ones that are cruddy right off the bat. Then in a month replace the other bulb/s. This will save you from having to spend all your money right now on lights and again in 3 to 6 months. It seems less painful to buy half the lights at a time. The other reason I would go this route is your new lights are going to be a lot more powerful than the old ones and it’s easy to burn corals by swapping the old crummy lights with bright brand new ones.
Yeah!! Wat he said ^_^

[alberthiel]

Spectrum shift and the length of the photoperiod ... too long and you are likely to get more cyanos. Of course nutrient levels in the water need to be low, and so does DOC

[mtcoins123]

You got a couple yes's I will support the yes crowd but there are other factors that assist in cyano outbreak (nutrients, flow rate, waster quality etc.) I don't think lighting shift can cause an outbreak on it's own.

The most effective route I have found to eliminate cyano (also the simplest) is multiple black out periods (2 to 4) with water changes. that's just my experience others have not had success with only that treatment.

my .03 cents :lol:

[pleuralplexus]

I had a horrible cyano outbreak in my las tank. I made a number of changes in my new tank whic seem to have cured the phenomenon (knock on wood ;) )
Here's what I did:
1. WATER CHANGES:
went from once a month to once a week. Because the changes are more frequent, I upgraded to the best salt mix I could get to keep chemical stability as high as possible
2. MUCH cooler water:
I added a chiller and cranked it down. My reading tells me that reefs can tolerate mid-to low 70's (I run mine at 75 degrees) much better than they can stand hot water (above 80). And this makes sense. Colder temps slow lifecycles of microorganisms like cyano.
3. Better light:
I had compact fluorescents before. They were hot, and wore out way too fast. I switched to an LED fixture and saw a huge improvement in overall brighness, decreased energy consumption, and more stable PAR
4. Phosphate reactor:
As soon as I put this thing on my tank, poof! no more little cyano patches anywhere! In fact this thing was almost too good, becaused it starved my refugium! But that was ok with me
5. Skimmer:
I had a crappy skimmer because my original idea was to keep it cheap. But I soon realized you get what you pay for. Now I run a HOB-1 and there isnt a trace of protein on the water surface anymore
6. Cleanup crew:
True scarlet legged hermit crabs have been one of the best investments ive made. I just keep bigger shells around for them, and they last & last, while so far keeping everything spiffy
Also, this isnt a change, but I'm fond of a ceaner shrimp or two, since they take care of any mild overfeeding.

[pleuralplexus]

forgot to mention:
Since I've changed my light fixture, I've actually been able to INCREASE my photoperiod with no blackouts anymore.

[Tankjunkie0481]

Good info. Thanks everyone. I'm going through the lights out period right now and after three or four days(probably 4) i'm setting up my new fixture from rapidled. Hopefully this will help beat the cyano out of the tank and help prevent future outbreaks.