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Djm

Brown algae

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by
Djm
, 05-27-2011 at 08:19 PM (2130 Views)
Just installed 2 hybrid 200 watt led evolution lights. 20k's i have had them up and running for about 1 week. I have noticed within the past 3 days a bloom of brown algae growth. All water parameters are perfect. However i recently raised the ph levels from 8.10-8.25 to 8.25-8.40 could that cause the bloom? My lights come on @ 3pm - 8:30pm at which the moon loghts come on untill 10:30pm and then go off until the next day. Is it too long? How do i get rid of it?
Alk 8.3
Ca-450-500ppm
Ni. 0
Phos 0
Temp 77-80
ph 8.25-8.33
Salinity- 1.024

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Comments

  1. marks69's Avatar
    a pic would help. mabye diatoms?
  2. Djm's Avatar
    Bingo diatoms! I google pictured it. That is exactly the name and description. Now the cure would be???
  3. marks69's Avatar
    time and flow. clean your glass , lightly vacuum your sand when doing a water change. and then just wait.lol
  4. cyano's Avatar
    diatom bloom's can be a common thing when changing out bulbs that have gone out of spectrum or changing to a higher output lamp, continue with regular water changes and keep everything within parameters and it will go away in a couple weeks
  5. Alaska_Phil's Avatar
    Yeah, anytime you change just about anything you'll get diatoms for a while. And actually, your photo period seems pretty short, most people run there lights 10 to 12 hours/day. Unless your moonlights are actually full power actinics that is.

    Phil
  6. cyano's Avatar
    yeah I agree with phil your lights are on for a pretty short amount of time, but if you do crank your light time up do it gradually not all at once, 15-30 minute intervals over weeks. Also one thing about diatoms I have read is that they will feed off of silicates in the water so if you added any new plastic equipment it will feed off the small amount of silicates the equipment leeches until it starves itself out. I am actually having a little diatom bloom right now from the hoses, pvc, and plastic u tubes installed from my closed loop system, but expect it to be gone soon enough.
    Updated 05-29-2011 at 11:33 AM by cyano (addition)
  7. Djm's Avatar
    Bio pellets would be the new addition.1 month in, and just added the other 1/3 of the pellets today after soaking for 24 hours.
  8. Djm's Avatar
    Thanks guys you have been a huge help. So about 10 hours would be the time frame for the lights?
  9. cyano's Avatar
    10 - 12 hours is the range to shoot for, every tank is different responds different to lighting times believe it or not the 2 hour range there can make a big difference between happy corals and algae, lol