Lighting too long?

[ret25yo]

got mine from the filterguys.... great support... good price

[art_of_war]

It's kind of strange to have to respond to this thread since everyone else has provided some very good input but what fun would that be? This is a FOWLR tank, correct? There are a few options that you might consider. If you intend to keep it a "FOWLR" tank, there's really really no need for any type of PC lighting. You could easily just retro-fit something very generic from a simple office supply store that will provide you good enough lighting to feature your fish.

That photoperiod that you have set up is LONG! And Long photoperiods don't really matter. In fact, keeping the lights off for 3 days could do you better good. 10-12 hours of actinics and perhaps 8-10 hours of whites should suffice if it isn't too long already. You have to remember green algae is photosynthetic.

If you're truly bothered by the algae bloom (red, blue, green, yellow, black and white whatever colour I may have left out), you could do a few different things. Your water quality would be numero uno: RO/DI <--if you choose. However, this is subjective since it's FOWLR. But if you intend to ever convert it to a reef tank then you would be doing yourself justice by changing now. Your salt mix is another. A good quality mix is the difference between a porche and a yugo. It all boils down to the "you get what you pay for" mentality which unfortunately is true.

There are the possibilities of high levels of Chlorine, Chloramine and especially PO4 (Phosphates) in your water <---despite whatever you may think. Calling your local water treatment plant and getting this info. is like pulling teeth. Don't bother. One option that most people have considered which incidentally isn't really THAT expensive would be to get a Phosban reactor. If you ever decide to go with SPS corals, it would be the greatest gift to your reef.

If you want immediate solutions to your cyano-problem, there are chemical methods that you could use which DOES work provided you keep a close eye on your water chemistry and be ready to perform large water changes. Other methods of algae control that work would be to use something called, "Algone". It works; just gets expensive after a while.

Natural algae eaters are the best options: hermit crabs, turbo snails, even tangs and rabbitfish. The best is a sea-hare (but can be detrimental if it dies unknowingly). Sorry, I'm a little scatterbrain right now. Good luck.