Lighting help please??

[blk822822]

I had my 29gal tank setup and running really nice with PC lighting. I then switched everything into my 75gal tank added some more live rock and live sand. I then bought a lighting system with 4x54watt T5 actinics, 2x 250 watt MH 15K bulbs, and 6 dual moonlight LEDs. I have never ran MH lighting befor and these 15K bulbs have no blue tint to them like I though they would(Odyssea brand bulbs).I am running the MH lights for like 4 hours a day and in just the last 3 days i have had a brown algae out break and today brown hair algae. I checked my water params 2 nights ago and everything was good. No nitrates ,ammonia, phos. and such, all at 0. water temp swings from night to day from 78 to 82 degrees. I did a 15gal water change just to be safe and I use well water that has only 35ppm on the TDS meter. I wondering if the cheap MH bulbs are causeing the problem????? Or what else should I look for , I have a nice skimmer and a refuge setup, also. I don't feed very much either, HELP???

 

[blk822822]

O and all my corals are doing good and fish also. I only have a few fish ,a tail spot blenny, yallow clown goby, purple firefish, 6 line wrasse, 1 green chromis, and just got a Kole tang today to help with the algae.

 

[reef18ster]

How long have you been using well water? Odyssea bulbs are cheap and regardless of how many k's you get the will run yellow in no time. I've had luck with phoenix 14ks but they're a bit more pricey. If the only thing you've changed on your tank is the lighting, then chances are the stronger light along with well water caused the algae bloom. PC's were probably not strong enough to cause the bloom if you've been using well water for awhile. I would suggest doing the water change with RO water would be your best bet.

 

[blk822822]

The well water has been tested every year and only has traces of manganese in it and is really pure. I may buy a ro unit anyways but think the bulbs are probly the problem I just wanted to see if I was on the right track befor buying new bulbs. I was running 195 watts of PC lights on my 29 gal with no algae at all.

 

[TJL]

You also kinda stirred everything up a bit in the transfer and this will cause a small cycle at the least. I did basically the same thing from a 50g to my 75g in December and got a few small diatom blooms but all settled out in a few weeks.

Todd

 

[reef18ster]

High temp can cause algae bloom as well and the switch from pc to halide must have raised your tank temp. Was there a significant rise in temp from when you switched lighting?

 

[blk822822]

High temp can cause algae bloom as well and the switch from pc to halide must have raised your tank temp. Was there a significant rise in temp from when you switched lighting?

At first the temp was higher due to the fact that I was running the MH lights to long. So I cut down the time they were on and now I have cut back another hour for the algae bloom.

 

[keener1830]

sounds like your on the right track I would not use the tap water from Kent that is for sure. had some algee issues when I was living there stoped using the tap water started using the RO/di water and it all went away.

 

[minhmattmai]

If it's any consolation, algae seems to come and go as it pleases in my tank w/ seemingly no rhymes nor reasons.

 

[Myteemouse]

get better bulbs I had the same problem in my 29 and frag tank
cheep or old bulbs cause ucky algae

 

[blk822822]

Thanks for all the responses. I ordered 2 new bulbs last night. 20k bulbs . But they were really cheap, so I don't know how the quality will be. But I don't have the money for name brand bulbs right now. I work for a school dist. And we only get paid once a month so I have to wait til next month if I want to get a bulb like a Ushio ,or MX and such. I got 2 -250watt HQI 20k bulbs new from a place on the net for $49 with free shipping so they may be junk. But for the price I will take the chance and they said they are the same quality as sps, mx and ushio.. Let you all now how they work when I get them. And thanks again for the advice. O and I also changed my return pump from my refuge to the tank. I had a Rio 2500 and the impeller was all hogged out where th ceramic shaft went through. From 10 years of use. I was running a cheap no name pump and at first was working good and flowed alot of water, they I noticed the flow had slowed way down. I put a impeller in the rio and put it back in and the flow is great now. 3 times what it was with the other pump. Low flow throught the refuge and filter could have been an issue also . I guess Ill see how my algae grows today when the halides come on.

 

[Katchupoy]

+1 on TJL

You also kinda stirred everything up a bit in the transfer and this will cause a small cycle at the least. I did basically the same thing from a 50g to my 75g in December and got a few small diatom blooms but all settled out in a few weeks.

Todd

+1 on TJL. I believe that you will end up having a mini cycle everytime you do a major change like that. Maybe not too much on a BB tank but will still have some.

 

[Katchupoy]

sounds like your on the right track I would not use the tap water from Kent that is for sure. had some algee issues when I was living there stoped using the tap water started using the RO/di water and it all went away.

Im not sure where you live in Kent but Im between 124th and 116th near Kentridge area, I use (filtered 0.5 micron) tap water for the past 10 years and the TDS reading coming out of the tap is 25. Im not sure if I have algae problem other than the normal glass film type that you clean every now and then... So the algae can be anything other than the water.

 

[Katchupoy]

blk822822, where are you in Kent, I like to see your setup and hook up sometime.

Just put astrea snails in there and should clean it up for you. maybe at least 10 should work great on your tank.

 

[blk822822]

blk822822, where are you in Kent, I like to see your setup and hook up sometime.

Just put astrea snails in there and should clean it up for you. maybe at least 10 should work great on your tank.

I live on 172nd ave se, by Tahoma High school. I work for the Tahoma school dist as a Bus mechanic. Yea , would be cool to meet other reefers around here. I thought there was only a hand full in washington till I found this site.