very odd

reefr

reefr

Member
afte getting my radions, i started at 30%, after about 4 days, went to 32%, and im now at 37% intensity. i set them up on christmas eve BTW. about a week ago, i noticed brown substance on a couple pieces of LR on opposite sides of my display. i believe it to be diatoms on my rocks. i squirted water at the brown substance and the rock turned its normmal color, and the brown disappeared. when i came home today, the brown had reappeared. for treatment, what should I do? I was thinking to lower my lighting schedule. Ik its a long time, but to acclimate my SPS and other corals, i run lights from 6:15AM-7PM every day. Also, I do bimonthly WC (1x/2weeks) and tank will be setup one year in 2 months, so its definetly not new.
TY in advance
 
reefr

reefr

Member
no pic. i will upload one tomorrow if i can find the time. i dont thinnk its detritus since several of the brown areas are in high flow, so I dont think it could collect there. Also, like i said, it disappeared on the rock, but reappeared after several hours, when i got home.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
I think from the description is a algae bloom.....Being that you blew it off and reappears.....Honestly I think you should 1 cut your lighting schedule back....There really isn't a reason to run them as long as you are and possibly the light increase is another issue....I'd be very cautious as far as ramping up the intensities.....Might seem very minimal to the naked eye, but others have taken quite a bit longer to acclimate their corals to the LEDs......Just my .02
 
elrodg

elrodg

Member
Ok here is my two cents.
It sounds to me like an algae bloom as well. When I first set up my tank (not knowing the consequences) filled my tank with tap water and conditioner. After running my lights for a few days I noticed brown stuff that I later found to be algae that lives off certain trace elements and chemicals in tap water.
U using ro water?
May be time to change the filter
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
What kind of lights did you upgrade from?? Which Radions did you get (gen1 or 2, pro)??
Some of the new LED units with full spectrum could be causing nuisance algae. 2Quills posted a good blog link on a thread that offers some ideas in regards to red and green LEDs being used.
http://www.reefbrite.com/benefits-red-green-leds-science-or-hype/ Credit to 2Quills for posting this first.
A little paragraph from this blog:
"ronically most of the green and red leds offered to hobbyist either DO NOT target these key wavelengths. Or they do so ineffectively making their use questionable. Some companies install multi color leds or offer RGB led systems in hopes of targeting some of the key wavelengths with little or no proof of their effectiveness. When attempting to promote photosynthesis in your aquarium. It is important to keep in mind that corals and invertebrates are not the only opportunist when it comes to light absorbtion. Unwanted nuisance algae love the misinformed.""
It may just be some algae popping up because of the new lights. Just a thought.
 
reefr

reefr

Member
good point. i do of course use RO water and the water has no silicates in it. i lowered the intensity to 30% and haev them turning off at 615PM. i will keep testing different combos until it is gone.
 
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