grow cyano? BUT WHY?!!!

[rDr4g0n]

here was my first design



i think ill try that one. i know it will be harder to harvest the stuff off the sand, but i know that my sand grows cyano.

[sasquatch]

Good plan, we need cross over experiments, mine is spreading, so it seems to take a bit but once seeded it go's

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

Good plan, we need cross over experiments, mine is spreading, so it seems to take a bit but once seeded it go's

ahhhh thats good for you. you should post some pics.

[sasquatch]

not enough to show up yet, but soon it will be like the BLOB trying to escape and take over the planet

[sasquatch]

well 3 weeks later! this is being retired now so a more productive model can be built, it does work! more flow and some stagnant areas will be tried next

[lcstorc]

Looks like it was starting to take off.
Waiting to see the new models.

[rDr4g0n]

did it actually reduce growth elsewhere?

[sasquatch]

UMM cant say John (touch wood) I never get cyano, this was just a way to prove its always present and just looking for a place to grow

[vdituri]

John, it most likely just needs some rough surface to grab on to. Try scratching your original surfaces with sandpaper ro scoring with an exacto blade. JMHO lol

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by vdituri

John, it most likely just needs some rough surface to grab on to. Try scratching your original surfaces with sandpaper ro scoring with an exacto blade. JMHO lol

i actually sanded mine down, so it is pretty rought. i stopped running mine because i needed the powerhead in my main display to get more circulation near my sandbed. i think if i had left it going, i would have similar results to sasquatch.

what i mean squatch is, did the stuff that normally grows on your sump baffle stop growing since this stuff is taking its nutrients? or was it too small to produce and impact?

[sasquatch]

Well thats a good question, the growth on the baffle wall is thick and dosent change, it didnt recede and the rest of the macro just kept growing, the last 3 weeks ive been micro adjusting my alc and calk to keep it right on the money so that probably had a big impact on growth, Im starting to suspect that cyano once established would continue to grow even if you took all the fish out and stopped feeding, light alone is probably enough

[Asa Herring]

I would like you guys to think about actually creating a full fledged algal turf scrubber. I believe that it will cure your cyno problem with room to spare. I have used one for years and never had a cyno problem even though I drastically over fed my tank. I even added fish emulsion fertilizer because the tank was running too clean when I over scrubbed.

I stopped using a skimmer as soon as I turned on the lights. Speaking of lights, my second version of a scrubber used a 300 Watt halogen light and it did cause about a gallon of evaporation per day, although it actually lowered the tank temperature.

Then, I built version three and used VHOs. Later, I changed to compact fluorescents. My evaporation dropped dramatically while continuing to lower my tank temperature. You can look at my web site and also check out a thread on another site that t ends up talking about scrubbers.


Reef Central Online Community - New Design for a Non-Photosynthetic System

[vdituri]

That is a good point about tank temperature.
Evaporation has an excellent cooling affect.
That is why we sweat. Brilliant!
Thanks for posting that.

And karma for dusting off this thread. lol

[Asa Herring]

As I said, when I switched to the cool compact fluorescent lighting, the evaporation went down dramatically. The intermittent water fall and splash of a dump bucket causes a lot of interaction with the air in the room. If the room is cool, the water will be cooled, even without significant evaporation.