Brown algae My 2p

[Annette Kurten]

Battling for years, and reasonably in control.
But recently cut my lighting by just one hour, to 9 hours a day (last 4
weeks) and the problem has completely cleared up with no adverse effect on
anything.

[robin.gordon1]

is that 9 hours in total from morning til night or is that just the
brightest. it works for you and may well be what I'm looking for. I've
switched my MH off and just use florescent tubes and its a lot better so
cutting the time down my help me more.

Robin

[Annette Kurten]

"robin.gordon1" > wrote in message
...
> is that 9 hours in total from morning til night or is that just the
> brightest. it works for you and may well be what I'm looking for. I've
> switched my MH off and just use florescent tubes and its a lot better so
> cutting the time down my help me more.
>
> Robin
>
9 hours total m8 Mh on for 2 1/2 hours only, just my way of thinking, as the
sun is not right overhead all day is it? I start of with blue moon then t5s
then mh then t5s and back to blue moon. all on timers to save messing about,
and I think that is best as the tank gets into the routine of regularity (if
you get my drift)

[Pszemol]

"Annette Kurten" > wrote in message ...
> 9 hours total m8 Mh on for 2 1/2 hours only, just my way of thinking,
> as the sun is not right overhead all day is it?

Maybe in Northern or Southern parts of the globe... not Equatorial.
If you think Tropics - it is, 12 hours over you head, all year around!
And it is very short time for dawn and dusk - bright light is the whole day.
Whole year with a very short break for cloudy weather in the rain season
light is shining like during our June/July - no winter...

[Annette Kurten]

"Pszemol" > wrote in message
...
> "Annette Kurten" > wrote in message
...
> > 9 hours total m8 Mh on for 2 1/2 hours only, just my way of thinking,
> > as the sun is not right overhead all day is it?
>
> Maybe in Northern or Southern parts of the globe... not Equatorial.
> If you think Tropics - it is, 12 hours over you head, all year around!
> And it is very short time for dawn and dusk - bright light is the whole
day.
> Whole year with a very short break for cloudy weather in the rain season
> light is shining like during our June/July - no winter...

Cured my algae problem though with no bad side effects.
Actually it is 100% better.

[Pszemol]

"Annette Kurten" > wrote in message ...
> > Maybe in Northern or Southern parts of the globe... not Equatorial.
> > If you think Tropics - it is, 12 hours over you head, all year around!
> > And it is very short time for dawn and dusk - bright light is the whole
> > day.
> > Whole year with a very short break for cloudy weather in the rain season
> > light is shining like during our June/July - no winter...
>
> Cured my algae problem though with no bad side effects.

Actually I am not questioning your success in fighting algae...
I was just debating your statement about how much light do corals
have over their "heads" in tropical reefs. Your algae might be gone,
but the effects of prolonged dark phase might be not good long term
for other critters...

> Actually it is 100% better.

Well, I do not know how your other photosynthesizing organisms are doing,
but 2 and 1/2 hours of light a day sounds more like Greenland during
winter than tropical reefs somewhere near the Equator...

Something is simply unbalanced in your tank if you had to
move to such a drastic measure to fight algae problems...
I would look at my water quality more closely:
-Is your tank overcrowded?
-Are you overfeeding fish/corals?
-Not efficient skimming?
-Lack of other ways for nutrients export? (i.e. Xenia/Macroalgae)
-Lack of herbivores? (i.e. fish, snails/slugs, hermit crabs, urchins)

You could probably find a better cure for your "algae problem" than
keeping your *tropical reef* in the dark almost 22 hours a day...
I would never think I have too much light if I had lights on for less than
8 hours a day. A typical light phase for a tropical reef tank, recommended by
all respected sources, is 8 to 12 hours. Yours 2.5 hours is radically short.

BTW - a healthy tank will have some algae naturally and will never look
like a pinkish paved parking lot with corals sticking out the "floor" :-)
Some of the algae growth is even beneficial for a lot of reef critters.

p.s. how old is your tank?

[Rod]

The light was not the CAUSE of the algae in the first place.. Sprung and
Delbeek had the best analogy. Thake your stereo for example..
power button = nitrate/phosphate.
volume= lighting
sound = algae
If you dont turn the power button on, you can turn the voulum as high as you
want for as long as you want, but will hear no sound.. Once you turn on the
power (add nutrients), and turn up the volume (lights), you will have sound
(algae) .. turn the power off.....
Also, I remember reading , By 8:00 AM in th etropics th esun is more intence
than 800 Watts of halides a few inches off of the watwer. IMO,IME MH should run
for 10-12 hrs per day.

[Pszemol]

"RicSeyler" > wrote in message ...
> SPS Tank - I run my MH 9 hours (11am-8 pm) and the Actinics 12 hours
> (10 am-10 pm).
> With a 1 hour break in the middle of the MH light cycle (3 to 4 pm)
> to give the tank a moment to cool a little.

1. Would this break make it 8 hours of MH instead of 9? :-)
2. What volume of water is it?
3. Do you really see the temp decreasing during this one hour period?

[RicSeyler]

Oh yea, the IceCap Fan stays on during the
1 hour MH off period.

--
Ric Seyler