tonybwill
Active Member
Want to add a new led fixture to my tank. I need you expertise. Help me choose a unit. 45g (36x12x24 deep) I want to purchase asap. I have Chinese evergrow now and algae grows on glass over night smh.
Led fixture
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What makes you think the other LED units won't do the same thing?
Emac909
Active Member
If u don't mind me asking what are your parameters?
More specifically what r your nitrates and phosphates?
Your lights will definitely cause algae to grow. When your lights start to go bad they can throw off funky spectrums. If light didn't cause algae to grow then it wouldn't become more pronounced the longer your lights are on and you would not be able to leave your lights off to hinder its growth. You can have other problems but your light can cause this. The problem with water tests for these issues is that they only test the water column and not what is in the substrate or live rock that can leach into your system. The type of algae could also help determine if you are having issues other than your lights ie diatoms and iron and or silicate levels.
I would imagine that it is a diatom bloom. There are many factors that can cause this ie iron and silicate levels( diatoms can use up all of you iron because they use it to grow which causes deficiencies for corals), nutrients, tank age such as cycling or overstocking too quickly without letting your tank adjust to the increased bio load, insufficient filtration, too much ambient light, failing equipment or magnets leaching undesirables into the water..... Lighting plays a roll in it, but I would think that there may be other underlying factors. Algae has the ability to lie dormant longer than we have the ability to starve it of light. It is a way to keep it from spreading and getting it under control, but it is not a long term fix. I have two tanks running one tank has ecotech LEDs and the other t-5s. I notice than when my t5 bulbs need replaced I am more likely to experience an outbreak. I usually change my bulbs, clean my glass with a scrubber to let the skimmer and vacuum to take it out of the water column, vacuum the sand bed, and do a water change. This has always worked for me in the past. Randy Holmes Farley is the mad scientist on this site and has his own section on reef chemistry that may point you to a better solution. Just look under the forums tab and he has his own section just like fish, equipment, etcetera do.
Vodka dosing is a type of carbon dosing and I'm not too sure about the ins and outs of vodka dosing. It is very similar to a pellet reactor in which you have to build up the bacteria before it will work effectively. Some types can take weeks to sufficiently build up. I'm not sure if vodka is faster though. By some Randy is considered in the top five of reef chemistry and you may find more information on one of his threads.
If your params are in check, no, vodka dosing won't help, if anything it might create a white film on the glass. I run the so called cheap LEDs on my tank, and I don't get any algae build up. Do you have the lights shining directly on the front of the tank? Mine are directed so they don't quite hit the front panel.
waxhawreefer
Active Member
Small tank, go with t5 and don't look back, I had similar problem, found out that my nitrate test went bad, also how old is ur tank, live rock takes about two years to truly deplete all the phosphate out of it, that alone would give u algae from time to time!!
