LIGHTS OUT

[meowzer]

PHEW!!!!! Water changes in tghe 28G cube, 10G, 29G and 225G have all been done
I just turned the lights on in the 28G cube....NO signs of cyano YAYYYY....HENRY.....How long should I leave them on today??? I was thinking 2 hours (maybe 3)??
The 225G just had it's last w/c with Aquavitro No way for me to get it....next w/c will be with tropic marin pro.....STILL have a lot of fuzz on the rocks and brown on the sand I am thinking since I changed the phosphate reactor yesterday, w/c today...and chemi pure when it gets here (LOL) that will help a lot....I still have not put the MH lights back on.....I may tomorrow for a couple of hours....since all corals look great, I AM NOT worried about them being off

 

[meowzer]

Well after having the lights on a while I saw 3 dots of cyano.....I siphoned them out and turned the lights back off....Maybe I left them on too long for the first time

 

[meowzer]

Put lights on this morning to feed...will leave them on for an hour.....and this evening I may turn them on for another hour..
the new bulbs should be here Friday, so I think I will limit lights until then...also The K1 will be here then too. Everyone seems happy, so I am not really worried about the lights being out so much

 

[meowzer]

28G update...put light on this morning before work...fed tank.....turned them off (about 35 minutes)
put lights on when I got home....ran for 3 hours.....saw 2 itty bitty dots......removed them....
225G....sand had brown on it BUT not as much today....HMMMMM.....I can't wait to get the chemi-pure elite on Friday.....FUZZ is still all over rocks...EXCEPT where the turbos have been

I did re-adjust the 2 center Koralias last night too....this is not average hair algae...it's like a fuzz....and doeds not get long....so manual removal is not an option
I think I might do another w/c this weekend.....MAYBE

 

[luvmyreef]

Good news for the 28g!! Seriously meow, we are having some of the same problems. I have a form of fuzzy hair like algae too, but it is on my back glass at the bottom. It was covering my sand until I used the one product. I have been running chemipure elite too. The only thing that I didn't mention in my thread was that I replaced my actinic bulbs Including the Purple/Red bulb. (Can't remember the exact name) It looked like it was making the algae in the back worse. Didn't you have some of those bulbs too that nikesb told us were so great???

 

[meowzer]

YEAH...LOl...But I replaced them a few months ago with some other type of pink....LOL...can't remember the name
ANYWAY...The new led system should be done soon, so I am not buying any more bulbs for this system....
What confuses me is the fact that we have to change actinics and metal halides so often.....WHEN DO LEDS get changed? when they blow out

 

[luvmyreef]

Yeah, from what I understand, leds last for a long time. I don't think you would replace them except for when they blow. I am gonna say, take the red bulbs out of your fixture, and only use actinics. I think those bulbs give off a certain spectrum that our "brown algae" and fuzz loves...just my 02. Oh, I think my dinos liked it too. But I am beating them....yah!!!

 

[meowzer]

HMMMMM.....I have kept all my older bulbs....I COULD put a couple fo blues in their place for now......LEDS SHOULD be done soon
you think I should????????????

 

[luvmyreef]

Yep. I sure would. Then, your leds will be done and you should be good. I really think that we had the same bulbs and that might be part of our problem. It couldn't hurt for you to try. I replaced all of mine with 420 and 460 actinic blues only and honestly, I think it has helped. My dinos started toward the back of the tank too. I will never use those bulbs again.

 

[meowzer]

I will see...bad thing is hubby goes to nights tomorrow, and I can not change the bulbs myself....so maybe Friday

 

[spanko]

Quote:
Originally Posted by luvmyreef http:///t/389241/lights-out/40#post_3440259
Good news for the 28g!! Seriously meow, we are having some of the same problems. I have a form of fuzzy hair like algae too, but it is on my back glass at the bottom. It was covering my sand until I used the one product. I have been running chemipure elite too. The only thing that I didn't mention in my thread was that I replaced my actinic bulbs Including the Purple/Red bulb. (Can't remember the exact name) It looked like it was making the algae in the back worse. Didn't you have some of those bulbs too that nikesb told us were so great???
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///t/389241/lights-out/40#post_3440264
YEAH...LOl...But I replaced them a few months ago with some other type of pink....LOL...can't remember the name
ANYWAY...The new led system should be done soon, so I am not buying any more bulbs for this system....
What confuses me is the fact that we have to change actinics and metal halides so often.....WHEN DO LEDS get changed? when they blow out

It would help me to know which bulbs they are that you are talking about. Pinkred colored bulbs in the 600-690nm range emit light that cyano utilizes in growth.
"High output T-5 lamp for enhanced aquarium plant growth. AquaticLife T5 HO 650nm Roseate Fluorescent Lamps emit light that closely matches the chlorophyll absorption peak in the red spectrum. Also enhances the red and orange coloration in tropical aquarium fish for a vibrant aquarium display."
or Giesemann PowerChrome AquaPink
or ATI Purple Plus T5HO. Full spectrum bulb characterized by its deep red color section in the 650 - 720 nm range

 

[snakeblitz33]

Will red LEDs cause the same problems?

 

[spanko]

Depending on what other color combinations and the amount of red you put in I would think. There are on the market All RED 660 NM 90 Watt LED Grow Lights
as well as High Power All RED LED 660 nm hydroponic Lamp GROW LIGHTS

 

[meowzer]

Henry the last time I bought bulbs I bought the ATI Purple plus...I have 2 of them (out of 8 T5's) I have no red algae in this tank though...just fuzz and brown on the sand...although yesterday I noticed a difference on the sand....there was some...just not as much.....I hope today when I get home I have the same results. There did not seem to be any this morning, and their has been...so yay on that too
actually these are exactly what I bought
2 Super Actinic
4 Blue Plus
2 Purple plus

 

[luvmyreef]

Spanko, when I first started this tank, I added a couple kz fiji purple based on nikesb stating that it really makes reds/oranges/purples pop. When it was time to change it, I used a different brand, but I forget which one.EDIT: I remember, I tried the wavepoint coral wave bulbs. I had the growth on the sand since the first couple months. I was trying to figure out why meowzer and I had the same problem, and that is the only thing I could remember that we both did. Other than using rc salt. We have the same light fixture, and both use 14k phoenix. Although, I am gonna replace mine with 20k next. I read that uping the k will help kill off bad algae...

 

[spanko]

So 25% of your light source was in the 650-720 nm range. Were these bulbs mount in the fixture right next to each other? I am wondering if that would concentrate the light from them in an area where you may have experience the most algae - cyan growth? Couple this with the age of all of the bulbs, and remembering that the blue spectrum of the rest of the bulbs would be the first to show signs of loss, well it may be safe to "assume" that the color shift had something to do with the algae - cyano bloom.

 

[luvmyreef]

In my case, it is most definitely where the dinos started. In the back. Also, the orange tinge on the sand was in the back too. I had one bulb on each back end of the fixture so it would make my monti's and rics look better. This fixture is like a rectangle. with the three metal halides running in the center. The actinics are grouped together in each corner by 2's, total 8 in all.

 

[meowzer]

I don't have cyano or dino in this tank.....just fuzz...and brown on sand....
the 2 "purples" I have are the back 2....side by side. Bulbs were changed September I think.....There will be NO reds in my LED set up.

 

[spanko]

Quote:
Originally Posted by luvmyreef http:///t/389241/lights-out/40#post_3440314
Spanko, when I first started this tank, I added a couple kz fiji purple based on nikesb stating that it really makes reds/oranges/purples pop. When it was time to change it, I used a different brand, but I forget which one.EDIT: I remember, I tried the wavepoint coral wave bulbs. I had the growth on the sand since the first couple months. I was trying to figure out why meowzer and I had the same problem, and that is the only thing I could remember that we both did. Other than using rc salt. We have the same light fixture, and both use 14k phoenix. Although, I am gonna replace mine with 20k next. I read that uping the k will help kill off bad algae...

I am not sure where the idea that a higher kelvin bulb would help to "kill" off algae came from but I would certainly consider that those higher kelvin bulbs have less spectrum the the ranges we are talking about that the lower kelvin bulbs. See the chart below from Sanjay Joshi. Oh and by the way nikesb was correct, your coral color did appear nicer to your eye didn't they?

Quote:
Originally Posted by luvmyreef http:///t/389241/lights-out/40#post_3440323
In my case, it is most definitely where the dinos started. In the back. Also, the orange tinge on the sand was in the back too. I had one bulb on each back end of the fixture so it would make my monti's and rics look better. This fixture is like a rectangle. with the three metal halides running in the center. The actinics are grouped together in each corner by 2's, total 8 in all.
So when you say in the back can you narrow it down to the back corners more so than the middle where the halides are? Also again when looking at the chart above remember the spectral shift in the halides as they age will occur in the violet - blue - green - spectrum degrading faster the those higher spectrum.

 

[spanko]

Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///t/389241/lights-out/40#post_3440331
I don't have cyano or dino in this tank.....just fuzz...and brown on sand....
the 2 "purples" I have are the back 2....side by side. Bulbs were changed September I think.....There will be NO reds in my LED set up.
If you are saying no reds in the led setup because of this discussion IMO you may be throwing out the baby with the bath water. I am not sure that a controlled amount of red led's as part of the total fixture to enhance the overall look of the tank would cause a nuclear explosion of algae - cyano. However please note I said I am not sure.