My wife is complaining that my tank looks to blue. I have a viparspectra light at 30% blue for 12 hours and whites at 1% for 2 hours. It seems if I run my whites longer or at a higher intensity than that a day I get algae breakout. I have a sump with chaeto and my phosphates read 0 and nitrates 0 as well. My tank is 6 months old it may possibly be new tank syndrome but I’m not 100% sure. I want to know if I get a different light will I be able to make it not as blue as well as be able to not have an algae breakout or is there a light I could add to change those things as well. Pic is for attention.
Tank light to blue
- Thread starter Dustin321
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Ron Reefman
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What kind of algae are you getting? Is it just diatoms? How about a photo of the algae. Is your tank getting any sunlight from a window? How well is the chaeto in the fuge growing?
Changing to a different led fixture will NOT solve your problem. Lots of people are using the Viparspectra led and they don't have algae issues. Frankly, I think 1% white and even 30% blue is way too low an intensity. Maybe other Viparspectra users will offer their power levels. I had leds that weren't all that different from yours and I ran blues at 80% and whites at 30% at midday for 6 hours with just blues for 2 hours before and after.
Changing to a different led fixture will NOT solve your problem. Lots of people are using the Viparspectra led and they don't have algae issues. Frankly, I think 1% white and even 30% blue is way too low an intensity. Maybe other Viparspectra users will offer their power levels. I had leds that weren't all that different from yours and I ran blues at 80% and whites at 30% at midday for 6 hours with just blues for 2 hours before and after.
I have diatoms, hair algae and some bubble algae. This is my first tank and I wasn’t sure someone told me to work up my blues to a higher level as I have a small blasto, hammer, and a toadstool. He had his whites at 1% so I wasn’t sure. It’s by a window but like 3 feet away and it has blackout curtains on the window; as well as never gets direct sunlight.
dantimdad
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That used to be a popular way of trying to do things.
But, it has been proven (much to us old guys saying we told you so) that 0 phosphates and nitrates are not a good thing. Now, that being said, it's a balance between too much and too little and there is debate on how much is too much. We won't go into that here and now.
Let's tackle the issue at hand.
I would definitely figure out what is sucking out all the nutrients in your system. Let us start by removing the chaeto.
Don't change anything else at first.
We want to change one thing at a time.
But, it has been proven (much to us old guys saying we told you so) that 0 phosphates and nitrates are not a good thing. Now, that being said, it's a balance between too much and too little and there is debate on how much is too much. We won't go into that here and now.
Let's tackle the issue at hand.
I would definitely figure out what is sucking out all the nutrients in your system. Let us start by removing the chaeto.
Don't change anything else at first.
We want to change one thing at a time.
So is there a way to save the chaeto in case I need it again like put it in a bucket with a light? Also there are a ton of pods in it if I remove it will that mess anything else up I know they may be dumb questions but I’m just wondering.
