Algae issue - Too much light ?

[J Fox]

Was wondering how many hours is good to run the light in our BioCube 29. With Nitrates at 0.75 and phosphates showing zero, I am still getting quite a bit of algae growth on rocks.
I have the light ( NanoBox retrofit) come on at 12 and ramps up to full setting at noon. Sunset starts at 9 and by 10 PM tank is dark.
Anybody have any thoughts or ideas on the algae ?
Thank you -

 

[Gpettit721]

If your getting algae then your phosphates and nitrates are higher than what they are testing most likely the algae is using it up before it can be tested...

 

[reef lover]

Did I read that right? Your lights run from midnight to ten pm ? 12_14 hours is more than sufficient....

 

[J Fox]

Noon until ten -- sorry
Starts at noon, ramping up to full at 1 PM.
Sunset starts at 9 pm and dark at 10 pm.
Needed my coffee before that first post -

 

[McMullen]

Yeah, not sure if that was a typo? Think about the ocean sunrise sunset. 8hours with the white channel and 4 with the blue to poorly stimulate dusk/dawn. Consider too that even though there is some visible light dusk/dawn, once the sun begins to set, under water gets dark fast!

 

[TheEngineer]

In my experience, reduced photo periods are only a bandage on the real problem, nutrient export. Does reducing your photoperiod help slow algae growth? To some extent, yes, but nutrients contribute so much more. Give us some more specs on your tank. How old is it, how heavily stocked, what and how often do you feed, do you have a skimmer, how often do you do water changes, etc.?

 

[Retro Reefer]

I would cut your lighting down to 75% of max levels.. Run your lights 10-12 hrs with your mid day max lighting running 5-6 hours, I have a bell curve ramp up / ramp down..

 

[J Fox]

In my experience, reduced photo periods are only a bandage on the real problem, nutrient export. Does reducing your photoperiod help slow algae growth? To some extent, yes, but nutrients contribute so much more. Give us some more specs on your tank. How old is it, how heavily stocked, what and how often do you feed, do you have a skimmer, how often do you do water changes, etc.?

Ok the tank started up Feb 14th - 29 gallon BioCube - skimmer is a Tunze 9oo1 that works great - 4 gallon water change every weekend so far since starting it up, home brewed 0.0 TDS RODI, 10 coral frags, 1 shrimp, army of snails.
My system is on R2R here :
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/j-foxs-first-reef-biocube-29.238366/
Hope this helps - and thanks for the replies.

 

[J Fox]

I would cut your lighting down to 75% of max levels.. Run your lights 10-12 hrs with your mid day max lighting running 5-6 hours, I have a bell curve ramp up / ramp down..

The lights are not running at full power when they are fully ramped up. Sorry for the confusion. I have set the levels to what I was told by NanoBox retro users on another forum.

 

[TheEngineer]

Ok the tank started up Feb 14th - 29 gallon BioCube - skimmer is a Tunze 9oo1 that works great - 4 gallon water change every weekend so far since starting it up, home brewed 0.0 TDS RODI, 10 coral frags, 1 shrimp, army of snails.
My system is on R2R here :
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/j-foxs-first-reef-biocube-29.238366/
Hope this helps - and thanks for the replies.

Where did your rock come from? Was it live when you bought it? Did you clean it? Since you have no livestock that needs supplemental feeding, the nutrients are coming from what's already in your tank.

 

[J Fox]

Forgot to mention I have been adding a drop of Pohls Coral Vitalizer every other day-
The rock came from BRS as dry Fiji and was " cooked" in heated salt water tub for a year - literally almost to the week for a year with bi weekly water changes.

 

[TheEngineer]

Hmmm... What's your water source?

 

[J Fox]

Well water running through my BRS 6- stage RO/DI making 0 TDS

 

[J Fox]

 

[Retro Reefer]

Do you have a clean up crew? Maybe try a emerald crab.. I put a tiny one in my BC a couple weeks ago and he spends his days pulling and eating algae, I put him in to take care of a couple small unreachable patches of bubble algae but he seems to prefer hair algae the most.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Also make sure you have lots of flow to keep detritus and waste from settling on your rock and "fueling" more growth, a turkey baster to blast dirt off rocks before water changes for maximum nutrient export will help limit any potential food source

 

[McMullen]

Good point from @Retro Reefer, those picks also make me think you may benefit from increased flow.

 

[J Fox]

All right I will kick up the MP10 a bit tonight -
Clean up crew consists of 2 turbo snails, 6 Nassarius snails under the sand most of the time. 5 Nerites who have moved to the back chambers for some reason, 20 dwarf Ceriths who go from front glass to the sand, that's it for them. And some dwarf Cerith shells that have blue hermits in them. AlSO the hardest working of the bunch some Trochus snails I bought from Unique Corals. They are small ones but are always at it.
Speaking of the Trochus snails, they are breeding out of control. There are baby ones by the dozens !

 

[Luke Schnabel]

If you using LEDs I've found that I had to turn down my UV because that will promote algae growth.
My lights are on for 13hrs but they ramp up and down for 2hrs dawn/dusk

 

[J Fox]

Yes I am using LED. As a "Noob" I'm not ashamed to say I don't totally follow you concerning turning down the UV -

I did just change MP10 from 35% reef crest to 45% Tidal.
Might try 50% but didn't want sand to blow ?