brown now greet....ick!

chadman

chadman

Active Member
i was having a slight problem with what i thought was brown algaea forming on the walls of my tank and on the ground and some of hte lr....everyone informed me that these were dead phytopplankton or something like that which was also the stuff floating in my water...but today i came on after having my light on for about two extra hours because i was out and now there is a slight green build up which does no wipe off as easy as the brown stuff....it kind of reminds me of sap almost...what is this?
 
drew2005

drew2005

Active Member
Sounds like more algae. Probably from the extended time the lights were on. Do you have timers for the lights? Withe the brown algae and green algae id cut back on the lighting. Run it for 6 hours a day and slowly increase it.
 
chadman

chadman

Active Member
yeah i had been trying to run it for around six hours but today i got held up with dinner and stuff....i will look into getting a timer...are they the easiest way to go?
 
drew2005

drew2005

Active Member
Originally Posted by chadman
yeah i had been trying to run it for around six hours but today i got held up with dinner and stuff....i will look into getting a timer...are they the easiest way to go?
They are the only way to go. Another must have in the hobby. I got 3 timers for $12 at Ace Hardware. You never know when your gonna get held up again.
 
chadman

chadman

Active Member
what do u do set one for each function or can u get one timer to power an entire light? cause i have daylights actnitcs and a night light
 
drew2005

drew2005

Active Member
Originally Posted by chadman
what do u do set one for each function or can u get one timer to power an entire light? cause i have daylights actnitcs and a night light
I have one timer for my actinics, one for my daylight, one for the fan. The moonlight is ok to leave on all the time. Heres my lighting schedule...
3pm - Actinics ON & Fan ON
4pm - Daylight ON
10pm - Daylight OFF
11pm - Actinics OFF & Fan OFF
Moonlight 24/7 ON
 
chadman

chadman

Active Member
awsome i will stick with that but maybe move it up a little lbut stick with the same hours in between
 
drew2005

drew2005

Active Member
Originally Posted by chadman
should i also hook my powerheads up the a timer or are they supposed to be on all the time?
I leave mine on all the time. My clowns love the current. Plus i have caves for them to relax from the current. You can hook them up if you want. But if your using a powerhead for surface movement then you dont need a timer for that. It should always be running.
 
chadman

chadman

Active Member
yeah i guess my fish have ample space to get away from the current as well...i just did not know whether current is good all the time...i would like to eventually get some corals so then current with b even more important
 
granny

granny

Member
There is a timer power strip for $42 in ************** that has 7 outlets. It is specifically designed for moonlight, actinic and daylight. You can set a variety of times. It also has an outlet for constant current and you can set timers for wave currents on two powerheads. I have it on mine and it is awesome.
Truly, removing light from your tank is not the solution for nuisance algae. it just comes back when you extend your ilght time again if the basic problems arent taken care of.
If you have any light needy inverts, you will harm them in the long run. It comes down to tank maintenance and water quality.
You may actually be getting coraline algae on your glass which is a good thing. Keep the fron glass clean, but leave it on the sides and back as it provides food for many fish and a breeding ground for pods.
 
chadman

chadman

Active Member
so if i have a powerhead in both back corners of my tank i should set one to run for 12 hours and then the other for the other 12 hours?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top