phosphate laden substarte ?

[rick rottet]

I have been reading a few articles about substrates becoming phosphate laden. With regards specifically to Cyano, can you explain some of the chemistry/physics behind this phenomenon and any possible contributing factors to the proliferation of Cyano? i.e.- What types of substrates are most vulnerable; I s the age of the substrate a consideration; Are phosphates liberated at some point and the consequences of such liberation?

How much does light play a role in proliferation of Cyano? When I had PC lighting, the color of Cyano was more of a deep greenish-purple. Now with MH, it is bright red in the "punch" area and a black fuzzy appearance in lower light/shaded areas.

[Anthony Calfo]

I cannot speak competantly to the dynamics of chemistry that are at play in the substrates of our aquaria. I'm not a chemist, my friend and at best am only as well-read on the subject as you are or can be soon enough :)

What I can assure you of is that cyano is one of the easiest nuisance growths to understand and control. It is clearly rate limited by nutrients in the system. Unlike Valonia-type algae and Bryopsis which may be spurred by excess nutrients but do not easily wane when said nutrients are limited/controlled... cyano is strictly at your mercy.

Frankly, I have never seen an aquarium with a cyano problem that could not be cured in just a couple of weeks.

Identify where the nutrients are coming from. If they are in your substrate, then its because you lacked adequate (volume or direction/type) of water flow to keep solid matter in suspension for export (feeding opportunities of filter-feeding inverts, skimmers, mechanical filters, etc)... and/or your substrate is of an improper depth (often intermediate at 1-3 " which IMO is too deep to be adequately aerobic yet not deep enough to be adequately "anoxic" and thus isolates either desirable faculty and allows such so-called DSBs to become a nutrient sink collecting matter). Othr issues too... skimmers that do not skim dark daily skimmate, source water of course, etc.

But if one has cyano, its a simple matter of addressing how to stop the import of nutrients.

I would not be surprised if adding extra water flow in your case here and making sure the skimmer kept up in stride with increased skimmate production didn't cure any such problem in 2 weeks or less. Have seen it many times.

Hmm... not sure if I answered the question fully... but I hope it helps :)

Anthony