Will lunar lights cause increased algae growth?

[Sunshine0659]

I have a 125 gallon FOWLR tank. I just put new lighting on the tank about 2 weeks ago and it has a lunar light built in. I have everything on timers, so currently, my actinics come on first for about half an hour, then the rest of the lights. They stay on for about 9 hours then the white lights (CF) turn off, leaving the actinics on for a few more minutes, and then it goes to lunar lights for the rest of the time.

I am fighting algae growth daily. I have snails, but they can't keep up. So, I wipe the sides almost daily.

Will the lunar lights contribute to the algae growth? Does the tank need to be in total darkness for a certain amount of time per day?

Thanks.

[charlie]

I have never heard of them contributing to algae growth. Exactly what type of algae are you fighting?

[Ninong]

Will the lunar lights contribute to the algae growth?

No, not unless they are ridiculously bright.

Does the tank need to be in total darkness for a certain amount of time per day?

If your "lunar" lights are not computer controlled to simulate natural moonrise and moonset times and the intensity is not varied to mimic the phases of the moon, then what you have is a "nightlight" over your tank, in which case, I would suggest that you set it to go off four or five hours after it comes on.

[Sunshine0659]

I'm fighting green and red algae. I don't mind the red so much because it looks good on my lace rock, but the green is all over the sides of the tank. The tank is not near a window. Thanks.

[charlie]

I'm fighting green and red algae. I don't mind the red so much because it looks good on my lace rock, but the green is all over the sides of the tank. The tank is not near a window. Thanks.

The algae is coming from excess nutrients in your system. From a previous thread:
http://www.reefland.com/forum/lighti...-m-newbie.html
It was noted that you had a bunch of lace rock, instead of live rock in your tank. Have you taken any steps to replace the lace rock with live rock? My guess is the lace rock is adding the bad side of nutrients to your system. Do you use RO/DI water?

[Ninong]

I'm fighting green and red algae.

Scott has written a couple of articles on nuisance algae: Check 'em out: Part 1 and Part 2.

Always strive to keep nitrate and phosphate levels as low as possible. A good protein skimmer helps a lot. You may also want to consider adding some sort of phosphate sponge product to your sump (assuming you have a sump). Just put some of the iron oxide media in a mesh bag and place it in the sump where it will be in the line of flow. Choose only an iron oxide based product. Avoid alumina based products.

When you say "red algae," do you mean algae that happens to be red or do you mean cyanobacteria, which some people call red slime algae? These are two entirely different problems. In my opinion, I would rather deal with cyanobacteria than real red algae -- the nasty red turf algae that can be almost impossible to get rid of. Just ask Scott about red algae. I won my battle with red turf algae after about 10 months but Scott wasn't as lucky. He had to throw out all of his live rock and start over again. Red turf algae can be extremely nasty to deal with. Cyanobacteria, by comparison, is a pussy cat.

If you really mean cyanobacteria (aka red slime algae), then just run a search using the word "cyanobacteria." We have discussed that topic many times.

I don't mind the red so much because it looks good on my lace rock, but the green is all over the sides of the tank. The tank is not near a window. Thanks.

It's nice when you can place your tank in a spot where it will receive early morning sunshine. Or even sunshine all day long. Unfortunately, most of us can't do that. Natural sunlight is great for reef tanks!

If you have green algae all over the sides of the tank, you should scrape it off. Do this as often as necessary -- daily, every other day, weekly -- whatever it takes.

[Ninong]

...it looks good on my lace rock...

I just finished reading your previous posts. I realize this is presently just a fish-only aquarium but I noticed that you hope to add an anemone at some point in the future after you upgrade your lighting. Therefore, I have to ask you about your lace rock. You say that it was in use in your freshwater aquarium for several years. Did you ever dose any medications containing copper in that aquarium? If you did, then you may have problems trying to add invertebrates (including an anemone) to your tank.



P.S. -- Recommended reading before you purchase an anemone.

P.P.S. -- Could you please describe your present lighting: exactly how many power compact lamps do you have and what are their Kelvin ratings? In other words, do you have two daylight lamps and two actinic lamps, 65w each or do you have more than that?

[Sunshine0659]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I do believe that what I have is cyanobacteria. I do have some live rock, but it's covered with this stuff now and you can't see alot of the orange and purple coraline algae anymore. Also, I had some bright red sea squirts that came with my live rock that are now dark and covered with algae.

I think my main problem is the fact that I can't find an easy way to use R/O water. I do not have a sump since this is a tropical fish tank that I converted to salt water. It's 125 gallons so my water changes are 30-40 gallons and that's too much water for me to carry back and forth from my fish store that is 45 minutes away. Anything that hangs on the side of my tank is just going to look awful. I've checked into some of the water purifiers that you put on your sink and it would take hours to get enough water to do a water change.

I don't believe I ever used copper in this tank.

As far as my lighting goes - it's a Corallife High Output CF system. It does have lunar lights, actinics and day lights. I'm told it's enough to have coral in my tank. I do have a piece of pale green brain coral that came on a piece of live rock that has doubled in size. My fish seem to be very happy and I have not had much fish loss at all in the 8 weeks that my tank has been up.

So, I know that I'm doing things half-assed because I was given bad info from the LFS guy in the beginning. I have no sump, no protein skimmer and no R/O system. If he had been straight with me, I would have bought a whole new reef-ready system. Anyway, I'm making do, and when I move in a couple of years, I will start from scratch and do it right next time.

[Ninong]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I do believe that what I have is cyanobacteria.

Probably so. Do a search on the board using "cyanobacteria" as your search word. We have lots and lots of threads on this topic.

I don't believe I ever used copper in this tank.

That's good.

As far as my lighting goes - it's a Corallife High Output CF system. It does have lunar lights, actinics and day lights. I'm told it's enough to have coral in my tank.

OK, I can see where we're going to have do a little guessing here, so here goes. I assume your 125-gal tank is a standard glass 125-gal tank and that means it's 6-ft long, right? I assume that your light fixture is also 6-ft long, right? I assume that it has two 96w 10,000K CF tubes and two 96w Actinic CF tubes, plus four 3/4w blue-moon-glo LED lamps, right? If so, that's enough light for some corals but inadequate for most SPS, especially Acropora spp.

[Ninong]

Sunshine,

You're only about 75 miles away from Dr. Mac's place in Mardela Springs. That would be a very nice place to visit sometime.

[Sunshine0659]

Your guess on the lighting sounds correct. I doubt that I will try and venture into corals with this set-up, except maybe for more of the brain coral that came on the live rock that has doubled in size in 3 weeks and seems to be quite happy. I would like to get an anemone some day, but that will be several months down the road and only if I can keep my nitrates down.

Thanks for the info on Dr. Mac's. It's about an hour and a half drive for me, but it is on the way to Ocean City, Maryland, which we visit about twice per year.

Thanks again.