[Carol]

My tank has been set up for 8 mos. 55G, 55# LR & 4" sandbed. Just switched from 440W to 330W VHO, running 10 hrs day. I have 100 nasarrius, 50 hermits, 24 bumble bee, mushrooms, 1 featherduster, 1 condylactis, 1 tang, 1 clown, 1 emerald, 1 scarlet & 1 peppermint & 2 cleaner shrimps, 1 firefish, 1 scooter, 1 lawnmower, 1 blue star, 1 anemone crab and 1 tree coral. My sandbed has lots of stuff in it when you look at it from the side but when I look at it from the underside of the tank it looks brand new. Is this normal? I have an on going battle with brownish green algae very heavy on the glass and many clumps of hair algae. Any opinions?

[SomeHairyOldGuy]

When you downgraded the lights to 330 from 440 is when you started having problems? Hmmm... How long have you have VHO on there in the first place? When you took the 440 off how long had it been since the bulbs where changed? When you put the 330 on did you use brand new bulbs? Might try and cut your photo period back about 1 hr a week or 2 till you get it to about 6 hours a day. On your LS you say from the underside of the tank the sand still looks normal? Is this towards the middle of the underside? If so I would think its just because your LR is ontop of the LS there for not letting the LS do its thing. As long as your AM, NI and NO are 0 I wouldn't worry about it. Sounds alot like how my phos problem started out. Have you tested for phos before? What water do you use for PWC?
SHOG