refugium problems

[amstar15]

i have a red algae/cynobacteria problem in my sump. the lights are on 24/7. 18 watt 10k and 9 watt 10k/9watt actinic lights. no heat problem due to having a chiller. I have two power-heads in the sump circulating the water. the macro algae is growing great. however large clumps of red algae is growing all over the culerpa. Its on the bottom and some on the rocks. the powerheads have over 300 gph just in the sump. the main tank does not even have a hint of red algae in it. i even put in phosban in to cut down the phosphates in the tank.

any ideas?

 

[fraservet]

how long has the refugium been setup?

mine has been going a month or so, and I have recently had a big red outbreak.
then 2 days ago it completely disappeared overnight - looks fine now.
my main tank remained clear the whole time.

just try and scoop out what you can, and move a powerhead around to hose it off the algae etc.

 

[amstar15]

almost 6 months at this point. at one point i pretty much trimmed almost all of my macro-algae back to get rid of the red algae. everything has grown back.. and now the red algae is growing back as well.

 

[superman]

I'd switch that lighting schedule to opposite your main tanks lighting schedule. This will help your macroalgae export the nutrients that the cyano is growing from. Going with opposite lighitng schedule will also stabilize your ph.