So my kessil 160 was really great at growing algae, so I relegated it's use to a xenia regugium. It runs on about 22g of water volume on a 9 hr lighting schedule. Here are pictures about a month after up and running. The system was put together with 2 other mature tanks. This first is the algae growing on the rocks in the refugium under the kessil. The 2nd and 3rd are a couple of spots in the display under current orbit. The display has zero to minimum algae growth at all, it is the same system.
leds and algae
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mcarroll
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If you measured the light on each tank with a light meter, I bet this situation would make more sense to you.
A $free lux meter app can get you started, but you have to find one that works well with your phone. Sometimes the first app you try doesn't work or doesn't work well.....so check it with a known source (like sunlight!) to make sure you get sane results.
A handheld lux meter is a better way to go, and still only costs $10-$15. This is the smart way to go.
If you can afford a PAR meter, get one. Don't avoid the others if you can't afford a PAR meter though.
A $free lux meter app can get you started, but you have to find one that works well with your phone. Sometimes the first app you try doesn't work or doesn't work well.....so check it with a known source (like sunlight!) to make sure you get sane results.
A handheld lux meter is a better way to go, and still only costs $10-$15. This is the smart way to go.
If you can afford a PAR meter, get one. Don't avoid the others if you can't afford a PAR meter though.
OP
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lion king
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I have no issue with this, that's why it's in a refugium. The point is that certain leds will contribute to algae growth. Kessil is a very popular led and I see and hear a massive amount of people having extreme algae issues. For some reason the led disciples don't want to hear that their lights are causing the problem. I know what the problem is, I'm just trying to help some others figure it out on their own.
Salty1962
Wrasse and SPS Lover
Algae growth involves many elements. Foremost, the amount of nutrients in your tank. I had a frag tank that had a Kessil 160 Tuna Blue that had 0 algae issues due to the tank being very low in nutrients. It also has to do with the spectrum of your light and the light schedule, I use a Aqua Sun 160 in my refuge and my cheato and mangroves are going crazy under it. I keep it with the spectrum @ 6500K. So I don't believe it's fair to say a certain light causes algae growth without considering all of the factors involved
reeferfoxx
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Interesting.
mcarroll
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I guess I'm asserting that it's not LED's, but a lack of awareness of the amount of light we use is what's causing the problem.
(The algae are just doing their job – showing up for work.)If we don't have a light meter, we don't know the amount of light we are using.
Knowing that can make a big difference.
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lion king
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Algae growth involves many elements. Foremost, the amount of nutrients in your tank. I had a frag tank that had a Kessil 160 Tuna Blue that had 0 algae issues due to the tank being very low in nutrients. It also has to do with the spectrum of your light and the light schedule, I use a Aqua Sun 160 in my refuge and my cheato and mangroves are going crazy under it. I keep it with the spectrum @ 6500K. So I don't believe it's fair to say a certain light causes algae growth without considering all of the factors involved
This is the same system with 2 different light sources, so go figure. I will update in a month or so to the progress of each. I run the lights on opposite timing schedule at 9 hours. The kessil is set up just as you would set it up for a reef.
mcarroll
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I have a side-by-side shared-sump setup too....and one tank grows almost no algae compared to the other.
Both run LED's.
One tank gets 40,000-50,000 lux.
The other tank gets 10,000-20,000 lux.
Once you know that, I don't even have to tell you which tank grows the algae, right? You already know.
Both run LED's.
One tank gets 40,000-50,000 lux.
The other tank gets 10,000-20,000 lux.
Once you know that, I don't even have to tell you which tank grows the algae, right? You already know.
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lion king
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My point really isn't to bash kessil, it's the point of at least looking at your light source for the extreme algae issues. Yes there are a few contributing factors, so every tank is not going to respond the same way to just a single contributor. I moved that kessil around to different tanks and it always created an algae problem. I also found that the tuning of your leds is almost always at the root(besides nutrients) to algae and cyano issues. When I told my #1 lfs that I was putting a kessil on my refugium, they lol and said "well it certainly does grow algae". This is 2 different light sources on the same system, not different light sources or the same light on different tanks; that makes a huge difference. You can set up and stock 2 tanks exactly the same and for some reasons they will both react differently in many regards. I do have a lux meter and will check later when the lights come on.
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lion king
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The overall output of each light is close, but I don't put too much stock in the readings of a lux meter in reef applications. I forget how this thing is set, I used to grow orchids and used it for that; the display tank read at around 400 and the kessil on the refugium at around 470. The reason I don't count on lux meters is because they do not read blue or reds well, and the biggest contributor to algae and cyano will be red. I used this to calibrate the three leds I have on my 210 fowlr, they have a manual dial instead of digital. There are 2 channels; 1 with whites(that include yellow, green, and red), the other with the blues. I calibrate the channels separately. after I taped off the yellow, red, and green leds; the reading on the lux meter barely changed. But after taping the r,y,and g leds; all my cyano and algae issues disappeared.
not even going there.
glad you reef is happy.
glad you reef is happy.
Salty1962
Wrasse and SPS Lover
I didn't mean to sound like I was accusing you, thus the
Salty1962
Wrasse and SPS Lover
I don't believe the LEDs in the 160 are 3W. It's a dense matrix to get the 40W from 24 LEDs, so they're @ 1.5W each. Just a FYI
Lninwa
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I have the Kessil 160 on my 6 wk old 33 gal cube. So far there are just a few patches of diatoms which the cuc is cleaning up. My nitrates are 0-2. I haven't been able to find my Hanna phosphate checker so so far I haven't measured
