Help please! Effects of my lighting upgrade?

[Original Fin]

Last week I traded in my standard 40 watts worth of Aqueon T8's for a Quad T5HO fixture, two blue, two 10K, LED moonlights. I think the sudden change has upset the ballance of my FOWLR.

The tank is 7 weeks. Up until now, it seemed that it completed cycling three weeks ago. Being new to the hobby, I've been obsessing over daily testing and logging. I've observed a nice flat line for the last four weeks with PH (8.2) Ammonia and Nitrites. Nitrates spiked in the 2nd/3rd week and then levelled off, fluctuating between 15 and 40. I change water 10% every two weeks.

I changed the lighting last Tuesday, and did away with the plastic and glass canopy. Now, brown hair algae is going crazy and ammonia has spiked to 1 ppm. I have a clean up crew (Added week 4) that did a good job before of keeping up with algae, but they can't keep up this week. A couple new observations: Gas bubbles are forming below and above the substrate and LR...I've seen this in other tanks before, but never asked why it happens, or whether it's a good or bad sign...anybody? The other, there are hundreds of teeny tiny little white snowflake looking things all over my front glass. They look like they could be baby starfish, although they dont all have the same number of arms. My camera wouldn't pick them up at all...too small. Any ideas?

My continuing barrage of questions: Is immediate action warranted here? I don't want to overreact or misdiagnose what's going on. The algae itself doesn't bother me, but is the ammonia somehow related? Should I consider this a temporary effect and continue on with my usual tank maintenance? Should I use Ammo Lock, or do a massive water change? Should I reduce my lighting schedule? Add more CUC? Can't really reduce fish feeding much...maybe could cut back on Phyto?...I dose 15 mg every two days for small LR mussels, clams, tubeworms and polyps.

Heres a pic of all the gas bubbles forming under the substrate.

[charlie]

What it sounds like is that you have kicked your tank into another cycle. Yes...............you should probably cut down on the photo period.

Here is a link to a thread that is in our reef aquarium forum that may help answer some of your questions.

Click here before you ask, (links to answers)

[reeferguru]

Normally when you change lighting fixtures or bulbs/kelvin/wattage etc., you will epxerience an algae bloom, and also a behavioral change in many species of livestock, especially in corals and Tridacna Clams(symbiotic).

Often times, all this entails is a reduced photoinhibition period where after a period of a few weeks your lighting fixture can be set to remain on for as long as you desire(usually 8-12 hours). Also, if you are replacing bulbs, it is best to replace a bulb or two at a time depending on the number of bulbs/wattage and type of livestock (corals etc.).

The gas bubbles are nothing more than oxygen being released as a result of photosynthesis provided by aerobic bacteria in the benthic area of your tank(sandbed) as it consumes dissolved carbon dixoide.

Now, ammonia is not really synonymous with lighting except when used in context with pH. Normally ammonia is the end result of a dead or decaying animal or living organism.
I don't want to get to technical but ammonia comes in two forms, an un- ionized form which is NH3(toxic form) and an ionized form NH4(very little toxicity). The pH level of your water can have a profound effect on the form of ammonia in your water and the toxicity of it. Elevated pH levels, say above 8.2 will provide more toxic ammonia molecules(NH3) than the same water with a lower pH level of say 7.5. Basically what I am saying is that at higher pH levels the more molecules f the toxic form of ammonia will be evident. This is one of the reasons why performing water changes during the initial cycling of a saltwater aquarium is so detrimental. When a tank is cycling ammonia will rise. This will ultimately reduce the pH of your water, which because of this causes more molecules of the less toxic form of ammonia(NH4). When a water change is done during the cycling process, yes, initially the ammonia level will lessen, however the pH of the water will rise due to the buffering effect of fresh saltwater. So a higher pH once again provides a higher level of un-ionized ammonia molecules (NH3). To help reduce the ammonia try using Amquel or other suitale ammonia remover, not a water change.

Snowflake looking things are Asterina Seastars. Their are different forms of them with some being more favorable than other. Some can pose potential problems to certain corals by feeding on them, though population control can help reduce this threat. Harlequin Shrimp can keep their numbers down significantly by feeding on them.
Good luck...sorry for being so verbose and technical, but hopefully this helps and I got my points across!
Tom