Cyano in Sump

[Mr. Microscope]

Hello All,

 

I have an outbreak of cyano in my sump. I'm assuming this has been caused by a combination of running biopellets, having an inefficient skimmer, and light that I'm using for my fuge.

 

Here's the question. If I simply turn off the light for a few days, will this be enough to wipe it out or will it turn into a form that lends itself to traveling up my water column and into my display where it will take over?

 

(Yes, I know that's not eliminating the cause of the problem. I just want to keep it manageable.)

 

Thanks!

 

TL:DR

Cyano in sump..

If I shut off the fuge lighting will it then spread to the display in an effort to survive or will it die off in the sump?

[seabass]

So maybe upgrade your skimmer, then manually clean out the sump.

[jservedio]

I would definitely shop-vac it out during a water change (or siphon if it isn't ground level). If there is no sign of cyano in your DT, why risk just spreading it up to your DT where it will be more difficult to remove.

[Mr. Microscope]

So maybe upgrade your skimmer, then manually clean out the sump.

I would definitely shop-vac it out during a water change (or siphon if it isn't ground level). If there is no sign of cyano in your DT, why risk just spreading it up to your DT where it will be more difficult to remove.

Hmm.. perhaps a full sump cleanout isn't such a bad idea. Tough though, no shop vac. Still doable. Will strongly consider.

 

Thank you for the suggestion.

 

 

 

The question still stands. If I shut off the lights, will the cyano spread to the display?

[amphipod]

Its inevitable, at some point, maybe not now. It will break off maybe just a few cells, they will get through whatever filter maybe as an accident and get to the display tank. You need to be prepared, I'd say keep nutrients down and invest in some snails, some will eat the cyanobacteria.

[Mr. Microscope]

Its inevitable, at some point, maybe not now. It will break off maybe just a few cells, they will get through whatever filter maybe as an accident and get to the display tank. You need to be prepared, I'd say keep nutrients down and invest in some snails, some will eat the cyanobacteria.

Thank you for your thoughts amphipod. I think I'm about ready to do a complete clean out of my sump. Hopefully, I can catch it before it spreads to the DT.

[jservedio]

Tough though, no shop vac.

 

You can get a clamp-on bucket head wet-dry for about $25 from HD. You just clamp it onto a 5g homer bucket and you ahve a ready-made shop vac. They take up almost no space and it is the best option if you live in an apartment.

 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bucket-Head-5-gal-Wet-Dry-Vacuum-BH0100/202017218

[seabass]

IMO, a shop vac is an important piece of equipment (for floods, spills, and cleaning out sumps/tanks/containers).

[Mr. Microscope]

You can get a clamp-on bucket head wet-dry for about $25 from HD. You just clamp it onto a 5g homer bucket and you ahve a ready-made shop vac. They take up almost no space and it is the best option if you live in an apartment.

 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bucket-Head-5-gal-Wet-Dry-Vacuum-BH0100/202017218

Wow, what a cool little gadget! Do you have one? Do they work well? That'd be about the only shopvac I'd have room for.

[MikeTR]

My only beef with the bucket head is that when the bucket gets full enough for it to trip the float ball it starts sputtering some water out of the exhaust. Towel on floor fixes that problem. Works pretty good though.

[Mr. Microscope]

Okay.. So, I managed to do a complete sump cleanout last night. This included draining it, removing all the equipment, and even taking the sump out of the stand to really get my elbows in there. There was A LOT of detritus and lime build up. It's sufficient to say a went through a lot of vinegar.

 

I also took the opportunity to completely submerge and clean out my Mag 3 return pump with vinegar (first time ever, lol). Additionally, I cleaned the Bubble Magus NAC3 skimmer to hopefully improve performance. I'll be re-adding the other CAD Lights Nano Pipeless skimmer as well. I recently took it off line due to preformance issues. I'm going to be giving it a vinegar bath and try to tune it back in.

 

Hopefully, between the sump cleanout, cleaning the NAC3, and adding the CAD Lights I should be able to keep cyano at bay. After this mad cleaning session and setting everything back up with some freshly made salt water (about eight gallons), I didn't see any of my livestock freaking out (Acros kept PE, etc.). So, it would appear I didn't screw up anything like properly rinsing out all of the vinegar.

 

Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

[tibbsy07]

Is there a light source in the sump area?

[VW_TDI_02]

Could it also be a flow problem? If I recall correctly, doesn't cyano prefer very low flow areas? Tossing a small powerhead in the sump might help.

[Mr. Microscope]

Is there a light source in the sump area?

Yes, I have a small fuge in there with chaeto. Here's an old pic of the basic setup.

 

Could it also be a flow problem? If I recall correctly, doesn't cyano prefer very low flow areas? Tossing a small powerhead in the sump might help.

Good point! I've been considering adding a Koralia Nano that I've had laying around. Probably a good way to keep detritus suspended as well.

[MikeTR]

My cyano grows on my glass up to my vortechs. I hate this ish. It also grows on top of my chaeto in my sump. It's time for a deep clean. I'm changin salt mixes also.

[tibbsy07]

Turn the light off for now. Cyano primarily grow via photosynthesis. Your chaeto won't be able to compete with the cyano even if you keep the lights on.

[jservedio]

Wow, what a cool little gadget! Do you have one? Do they work well? That'd be about the only shopvac I'd have room for.

 

Yeah, I live in an apartment and it was my only option too - luckily it turned out to be awesome. Other people are right that if you fill it up too far it'll spray a mist of water out of the exhaust, but almost any shopvac will do that. I've never had a problem with it and I use a white bucket so I can see the water level if I shine a light on it to prevent that from happening. It happened the first few tiems I used it, but haven't had that happen in a very long time.

 

My sump sits just 2" above floor level, so a siphon doesn't work and compared to the power of a real plug-in shopvac, those gravel filters are absolute garbage. Plus, they are like 3 or 4x the cost!

[seabass]

I still use a Maxi-Jet pump to suck up the water and detritus; but they can't pull out that last bit of water. Without a shop vac, it takes a couple of towels to get up that last bit of water (or just way too many paper towels).

[tibbsy07]

 

Yeah, I live in an apartment and it was my only option too - luckily it turned out to be awesome. Other people are right that if you fill it up too far it'll spray a mist of water out of the exhaust, but almost any shopvac will do that. I've never had a problem with it and I use a white bucket so I can see the water level if I shine a light on it to prevent that from happening. It happened the first few tiems I used it, but haven't had that happen in a very long time.

 

My sump sits just 2" above floor level, so a siphon doesn't work and compared to the power of a real plug-in shopvac, those gravel filters are absolute garbage. Plus, they are like 3 or 4x the cost!

So do you actually use this to gravel vac your tank? I'm wondering if this would work for actually cleaning my AIO or if I should just stick to the siphon/gravity fed tubing.

[Mr. Microscope]

My cyano grows on my glass up to my vortechs. I hate this ish. It also grows on top of my chaeto in my sump. It's time for a deep clean. I'm changin salt mixes also.

Yikes! Why the salt mix change? Sounds unrelated.

 

 

Turn the light off for now. Cyano primarily grow via photosynthesis. Your chaeto won't be able to compete with the cyano even if you keep the lights on.

I know it's mostly photosynthetic, but I'm worried that if I cut off the light, that it will detach and make it's way up into the display where it will proliferate. Though, after cleaning out the sump, I may not have to worry about that anymore. Though, perhaps shutting off the light isn't a bad idea. I know chaeto can survive in the dark for a very long time.

 

 

Yeah, I live in an apartment and it was my only option too - luckily it turned out to be awesome. Other people are right that if you fill it up too far it'll spray a mist of water out of the exhaust, but almost any shopvac will do that. I've never had a problem with it and I use a white bucket so I can see the water level if I shine a light on it to prevent that from happening. It happened the first few tiems I used it, but haven't had that happen in a very long time.

 

My sump sits just 2" above floor level, so a siphon doesn't work and compared to the power of a real plug-in shopvac, those gravel filters are absolute garbage. Plus, they are like 3 or 4x the cost!

Thank you for sharing your experience with this tool. I think I'm going to have to pick one up.

 

I still use a Maxi-Jet pump to suck up the water and detritus; but they can't pull out that last bit of water. Without a shop vac, it takes a couple of towels to get up that last bit of water (or just way too many paper towels).

Hmm...I've thought about using pumps to do that. Why have I never tried it? lol

[jservedio]

So do you actually use this to gravel vac your tank? I'm wondering if this would work for actually cleaning my AIO or if I should just stick to the siphon/gravity fed tubing.

 

No, I use a siphon gravel vac to clean my sand in my DT. The shop vac is only to get the crap out of my sump and get the water out. I only use it once every month or two when detritus builds up.

[MikeTR]

Seems as if the cyano comes back as soon as I do a water exchange. I let the cyano burn itself out over about 2 months. Came right back after a 30g exchange. I been formulating a theory for a while now, so time to test it out.

[amphipod]

Seems as if the cyano comes back as soon as I do a water exchange. I let the cyano burn itself out over about 2 months. Came right back after a 30g exchange. I been formulating a theory for a while now, so time to test it out.

 

speak the theory