I've seen the Light!!!

[bmorecopper]

OK gang,
I am about ready to toss in the towel and sell my system. I have a hair Algae problem that will not go away. I have read almost every thread I could find on the subject. I have scrubbed my LR three times to get the stuff off. I have tested, re-tested and tested again my water. Everytime, all appropriate tests fall within accepted ranges. The only thing I can think of now is the lighting. I can only keep my lights on about 4 hours or within a week I have more hair algae growing all over the place. My light is a HQI Pendant 150w with a 14k bulb (bulb came with pendant) the brand name is Current.
Is there any possibility that the lighting could be too much for my tank (44g pentagon) Or could the bulb itself be the problem? If I dropped to a 10k would it make a difference? Or maybe used a specific brand of bulb?
Please, any thoughts, comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I never had an algae problem until I started using this light.
Thank you,
Copper

 

[shinobi9119]

has the tank been moved in front of a window or anywhere that it might be getting direct sunlight. Iv heard this can cause algae growth.
Also how close it the new light to the surface of the water?

 

[arod268]

How old are your bulbs?

 

[waterlogged]

You use ro water right and what are your water parameters?

 

[bmorecopper]

Originally Posted by Shinobi9119
has the tank been moved in front of a window or anywhere that it might be getting direct sunlight. Iv heard this can cause algae growth.
Also how close it the new light to the surface of the water?

At first it was about 8 inches off of the surface. I have moved it up in hopes of stopping the problem. Right now it sit about 14 inches off of the surface.
The tank is not in direct sunlight and it has never been.

 

[bmorecopper]

Originally Posted by arod268
How old are your bulbs?
They are about 6 months old so I figured it was time to get new ones anyway. But I have had the problem about 2 weeks after I installed the pendant.

 

[arod268]

There is sometimes a bloom when you add a stronger light to the tank.

 

[bmorecopper]

Originally Posted by Waterlogged
You use ro water right and what are your water parameters?
Yes, I use the RO water from Wal-Mart.
SG 1.024
Nitrates 0 ppm
Ph 7.9 (Usually 8.0)
Nitrites 0 ppm
Ammonia 0.0 ppm
These numbers are as of today

 

[bmorecopper]

Originally Posted by arod268
There is sometimes a bloom when you add a stronger light to the tank.

But good grief, how crappin long does this bloom last?

 

[arod268]

That I dont know sorry

Bump for some one that can help

 

[nycbob]

dont u hv any clean up crews? lawnmower blenny will eat all of ur algee within 4-7 days. turbo snail is another option.

 

[toeknee]

Some people actually tested the RO water from walmart and found out it was horrible! maybe try testing their water.
Sometimes they don't take care of the filters as often as they should.

 

[turbohaulic]

Originally Posted by nycbob
dont u hv any clean up crews? lawnmower blenny will eat all of ur algee within 4-7 days. turbo snail is another option.
My lawn mower blenny does not eat green hair algae when its to thick. A sea hair will get rid of it in a hurry. The only problem is they run out of food fast and then die, they are toxic and can can kill fish and corals when they die.

 

[wattsupdoc]

The bloom will remain until you find the source. Though it may be time to replace the bulb, IMO it's not the cause. Do you test for phosphates? Do you have any form of macro algea? What about a fuge? What about a skimmer? Dont let algea beat you. Every SW aquarist battles it at some time or another. It can be a very daunting experience, but once you beat it you will have a ton of satisfaction. OK, I checked your profile and it does say you have a prizm skimmer, and an A.C. filter. Do you have any other filtration and flow? If thats all you have then this is what I would do, your problems will probably go away.
Add a refugium with some macro algea. Cheato is the most popular these days for the fact it wont go s.e.x.u.a.l. Put a good sugar sized 2in deep sand bed in it with some LR rubble. Then step up the flow in the display. If you go with 600 GPH through the fuge, then add another powerhead, like a maxijet 12, you'll have pretty good flow .You can relocate your heater and possibly the skimmer to the fuge, leave the aquaclear in the display for the flow as well as using for mechanical filtration, running carbon/phosban. You could add a phosban reactor also, this will be very helful removing phosphates(a key component for algea). Or you can just run some in the A.C. But you need to run some somewhere. I would get two different products, phos gaurd(by seachem) and phosban(by two little fishies). First run the phos gaurd, just like the directions say, dont run it any longer than the directions state. Remove it and run it again. After the second application, put the phosban in service. Run it continuosly.
This is what you will be accomplishing when you do these things.
Flow, you need to step it up to keep uneaten food, poop, stirred up so it can be picked up by your skimmer, your filter, and the new fuge. Remove it so algea cant use it. The refugium will be a location for algea to intentionally grow. The idea is that the macro algea will take up the nutrients, use them so nuisance algea cant, and then you pull the algea out from time to time. This actually manually removes the nutrients that are in the column. Also the S.B is a natural nitrate removal media. Algea needs ntrate to grow. Convert it to nitrogen gas and it's useless to algea. Phosphates are in everything in this world. When you feed, your adding phosphates. When fish poty, theyre dumping some phosphates, salt mixes can contain phosphates, walmarts RO water also. Even if you test for it and show none, you can still have phosphates. The phosphate medias mention earlier are great product for removing these. The Phosgaurd removes large amount quickly, but should only be ran short term, the phosban takes it up well also, though not as quickly, but can be ran long term. Also, a good clean up crew helps.
I know this seems like a lot, but most likely, if you do this and possibly add a critter that eats the stuff, it will go away and stay away. Frequent water changes with a good salt mix is very beneficial also. If your not doing these very often, you should. However being as your pulling and pullling, I think that you probably are doing the changes.

 

[acrylic51]

Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
The bloom will remain until you find the source. Though it may be time to replace the bulb, IMO it's not the cause. Do you test for phosphates? Do you have any form of macro algea? What about a fuge? What about a skimmer? Dont let algea beat you. Every SW aquarist battles it at some time or another. It can be a very daunting experience, but once you beat it you will have a ton of satisfaction. OK, I checked your profile and it does say you have a prizm skimmer, and an A.C. filter. Do you have any other filtration and flow? If thats all you have then this is what I would do, your problems will probably go away.
Add a refugium with some macro algea. Cheato is the most popular these days for the fact it wont go s.e.x.u.a.l. Put a good sugar sized 2in deep sand bed in it with some LR rubble. Then step up the flow in the display. If you go with 600 GPH through the fuge, then add another powerhead, like a maxijet 12, you'll have pretty good flow .You can relocate your heater and possibly the skimmer to the fuge, leave the aquaclear in the display for the flow as well as using for mechanical filtration, running carbon/phosban. You could add a phosban reactor also, this will be very helful removing phosphates(a key component for algea). Or you can just run some in the A.C. But you need to run some somewhere. I would get two different products, phos gaurd(by seachem) and phosban(by two little fishies). First run the phos gaurd, just like the directions say, dont run it any longer than the directions state. Remove it and run it again. After the second application, put the phosban in service. Run it continuosly.
This is what you will be accomplishing when you do these things.
Flow, you need to step it up to keep uneaten food, poop, stirred up so it can be picked up by your skimmer, your filter, and the new fuge. Remove it so algea cant use it. The refugium will be a location for algea to intentionally grow. The idea is that the macro algea will take up the nutrients, use them so nuisance algea cant, and then you pull the algea out from time to time. This actually manually removes the nutrients that are in the column. Also the S.B is a natural nitrate removal media. Algea needs ntrate to grow. Convert it to nitrogen gas and it's useless to algea. Phosphates are in everything in this world. When you feed, your adding phosphates. When fish poty, theyre dumping some phosphates, salt mixes can contain phosphates, walmarts RO water also. Even if you test for it and show none, you can still have phosphates. The phosphate medias mention earlier are great product for removing these. The Phosgaurd removes large amount quickly, but should only be ran short term, the phosban takes it up well also, though not as quickly, but can be ran long term. Also, a good clean up crew helps.
I know this seems like a lot, but most likely, if you do this and possibly add a critter that eats the stuff, it will go away and stay away. Frequent water changes with a good salt mix is very beneficial also. If your not doing these very often, you should. However being as your pulling and pullling, I think that you probably are doing the changes.

Good info.....Hey bemorecopper where in PA are you?

 

[dragonzim]

Definitely do a phosphate test if you havent done one already.

 

[sharkbait9]

Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
The bloom will remain until you find the source. Though it may be time to replace the bulb, IMO it's not the cause. Do you test for phosphates? Do you have any form of macro algea? What about a fuge? What about a skimmer? Dont let algea beat you. Every SW aquarist battles it at some time or another. It can be a very daunting experience, but once you beat it you will have a ton of satisfaction. OK, I checked your profile and it does say you have a prizm skimmer, and an A.C. filter. Do you have any other filtration and flow? If thats all you have then this is what I would do, your problems will probably go away.
Add a refugium with some macro algea. Cheato is the most popular these days for the fact it wont go s.e.x.u.a.l. Put a good sugar sized 2in deep sand bed in it with some LR rubble. Then step up the flow in the display. If you go with 600 GPH through the fuge, then add another powerhead, like a maxijet 12, you'll have pretty good flow .You can relocate your heater and possibly the skimmer to the fuge, leave the aquaclear in the display for the flow as well as using for mechanical filtration, running carbon/phosban. You could add a phosban reactor also, this will be very helful removing phosphates(a key component for algea). Or you can just run some in the A.C. But you need to run some somewhere. I would get two different products, phos gaurd(by seachem) and phosban(by two little fishies). First run the phos gaurd, just like the directions say, dont run it any longer than the directions state. Remove it and run it again. After the second application, put the phosban in service. Run it continuosly.
This is what you will be accomplishing when you do these things.
Flow, you need to step it up to keep uneaten food, poop, stirred up so it can be picked up by your skimmer, your filter, and the new fuge. Remove it so algea cant use it. The refugium will be a location for algea to intentionally grow. The idea is that the macro algea will take up the nutrients, use them so nuisance algea cant, and then you pull the algea out from time to time. This actually manually removes the nutrients that are in the column. Also the S.B is a natural nitrate removal media. Algea needs ntrate to grow. Convert it to nitrogen gas and it's useless to algea. Phosphates are in everything in this world. When you feed, your adding phosphates. When fish poty, theyre dumping some phosphates, salt mixes can contain phosphates, walmarts RO water also. Even if you test for it and show none, you can still have phosphates. The phosphate medias mention earlier are great product for removing these. The Phosgaurd removes large amount quickly, but should only be ran short term, the phosban takes it up well also, though not as quickly, but can be ran long term. Also, a good clean up crew helps.
I know this seems like a lot, but most likely, if you do this and possibly add a critter that eats the stuff, it will go away and stay away. Frequent water changes with a good salt mix is very beneficial also. If your not doing these very often, you should. However being as your pulling and pullling, I think that you probably are doing the changes.

can't go wrong with this info

 

[reefraff]

If all else fails also check your magnesium levels. I had a HA problem and after reading about a guy who was able to eliminate the dreaded plague by elevating the magnesium level higher than normal (about 1500 if I remember right) I decided to check mine and sure enough it was low. I got it to within spec and the problem slowly went away.

 

[wattsupdoc]

I havent ever heard of this. And frankly dont see how that could be of any significance. I had algea problems when my mag was reading 1700. So I dont bellieve it's the case. But weird things have been done to combat this ruthless enemy.

But at least test for it, adjust it if needed, and let us know.

 

[bmorecopper]

Thank you so much! After reading all of the responses I feel confident enough to put the towel back around my shoulder.
Since I have been absent for a few days let me answer a few questions that have been asked.
Acrylic51 I live just above York (5 minutes to the north).
NYC Bob I do have a small clean up crew. But the algae grows so fast the supply far out weighs the demand. At one point I had algae growing on the shells of the turbo snails.
Dragonzim & Reefraf I am going today and getting a test kit for Phosphates and Mag. I will post the results ASAP.
Wattsupdoc Thank you for your response in particular. The only question I have would be, How do I fit a fuge and the set up under my stand. I do not have much space under there. I could probably fit a 5 gallon tank or smaller under the stand. Would this be a safe size?
If there is anyone else I may not have mentioned, thank you!
As always any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Copper