Do I Need To Use My Canister???lights???

ilovefish2009

ilovefish2009

Member
I would like to know?
I have had a real bad case of hair algae because of my almost 2 yr old lights, I believe. (tried everything else)
1. What lights can support corals, but aren't over $500 dollars? Money is tight.
2.SInce the canister is filled with hair algae all the time do I need to use it? I have a sump with a skimmer.
INFO-
90 gallon
Fruval 405 canister
Coral Life Skimmer
Inverts
Snails
Hermits
Camel Back shrimp
Cleaner shrimp
Fish
Cowfish inch and a half
false perc
tomato clown
domino
blue damsel
yellow tail damsel
black damsel
2 engineer gobies
2 madrain gobies (doing great after 6 and a half months...been getting pods and they eat mysis)
bi color blenny
algae blenny
psuedochromis
potter angel
too many fish??? lol I don't know...fine params...nitrates don't show up because the hair algae absorbs it I guess?.?.?
HELPS
 
shaggyblz

shaggyblz

Member
That is a pretty big stock list for a 90g but you should be able to keep it under control with frequent water changes. What type of water do you use? Do you test for phosphates? My understanding is lights fuel algae growth so old lights shouldn't cause more algae. Could be wrong though.
 
ilovefish2009

ilovefish2009

Member
I use premixed RO water from my LFS...every weekend...And I heard/read that if you got old lights then they send off the wrong "waves" or something. Who knows? What lights should I get?+ canister question in 1st post
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Old lights can accelerate the growth of algae because the color spectrum shifts over time into a range that provides more usable light for the algae.
IMO you are a little overstocked, which is contributing to your excess nutrients. Is the hair algae growing in your canister or is it filtering it out of the water column? How often do you clean your canister?
As far as lights go you can build a MH retrofit kit for less than $500 or a T5 setup but as for prebuilt setups I have seen very few besides Power compacts for less than $500.
 
shaggyblz

shaggyblz

Member
First, I would check your LFS's water to make sure they keep up with filter changes in their RO unit. If it is high in phosphates, it will cause algae growth.
Canister filters, if not cleaned and changed very often, are known to be phosphate farms which once again, cause algae growth.
As for the lights, it all depends on what kind of corals you would like to grow. Different corals have different lighting requirements. I, personally, would have at least 2 150w metal halides on your tank. Once again, this all depends on what you want to grow and the depth of your tank.
 
ilovefish2009

ilovefish2009

Member
I just cleaned my canister to night and before that about 2-3 months ago. The hair algae filters in from the water colum and kinda clogs it. We could be overstocked...My dad put stupid damsels in there to cycle it and now they are annoying as HELL
...anyone known how to catch 'em???
EDIT-ILL CHECK CRAIGSLIST FOR SOME T5's OR MH's
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
You should rinse the media and filter pads in the canister every 2-3 weeks and replace monthly on the fine filter pads and every other month on the coarse pads. This could be contributing to your excess nutrients also because not only is it trapping dietrus but it is trapping the hair algae which is decomposing in the canister and releasing nutrients back into the tank. Canister are very effective if they are kept clean.
 
ilovefish2009

ilovefish2009

Member
oh wait bump
1 more question...Most of the hair algae is on my white fake/dead coral so I took them out...everytime I clean them they just grow some much algae...I boil them, bleach them, then boil them wait for them to dry and boil them again...I really don't like them but my dad does
 
shaggyblz

shaggyblz

Member
Get new lights and get rid of the phosphates. Should fix your problem with the algae. Do you have many snails?
 
ilovefish2009

ilovefish2009

Member
Originally Posted by Shaggyblz
http:///forum/post/3005998
Get new lights and get rid of the phosphates. Should fix your problem with the algae. Do you have many snails?

Honestly, I only have about 5 hermits and 6-8 turbos/others
Im going to get a phosphate test kit in the new few days...And Im going to get new lights as soon as I have the money.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
You need to increase your CUC quite a bit your should have closer to 75-100 snails and 30-50 hermits.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Just noticed you didn't mention anything about rock or sand, do you have any live rock and what are you using for substrate?
 
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