Kessil H160 Creating algae everywhere. Help

fishnugget1 · Dec 28, 2019

I purchased this light to make my refugium grow better. All that is growing better is algae everywhere in sump. I now have to clean my sump and skimmer after 1 month of using light. Is there a better light that is more directed without spread. This is ridiculous. I was using a HD light with a grow bulb that was doing better. Getting slimy green algae clumps everywhere now.

Any ideas?

Ron Reefman · Dec 28, 2019

Block the light from getting into the skimmer or the sump area. My wife made a cone shaped 'sleeve' with a velcro seam to wrap around the skimmer. It took several months for a film of algae to develop inside the skimmer, but now it never even gets started. A wall of white or black acrylic or pvc sheet could protect the sump from some/most/all of the light.

SPR1968 · Dec 28, 2019

What you describe is exactly why I removed the refugium from my sump. It was growing all sorts of nasty looking stuff everywhere and making it a mess. My new system actually has blacked out glass panels each side of the refugium in case I ever want to have one again, so that might be an option to look at to reduce light spill.

There are other options and I experimented with the ALR2 algae reactor and there are other types. This keeps the refugium out of the sump with all the issues it causes.