how much moonlight is too much?

[newfound77951]

I have 3 led moonlights in the light fixture of my 30g reef. The lighting is 4x39 watt T5, with 2 10000K and 2 actinics. Right now the light schedule is: actinics noon-11PM, actinics + 10000K 1-10 PM, and moonlights on whenever the 10000Ks are off (one of those one or the other timer strips)I am having some algae problems, a very fluffy, stringy algae that grows only on the sediment, glass and the concrete reef ball, not on the live rock. It almost prefentially grows where the current is fast. Any thoughts on if my lighting schedule could be exacerbating the algae issues? Can the moonlights be on too much? What would be a better moonlight schedule?

Other tank specs:
30g
1" Aragamax sand bed
Bak Pak skimmer
2 Maxi-jet 900s
4x39 watt T5
~45 lbs LR at the moment
royal gramma and sixline wrasse
cleaner shrimp
8 Astraea snails (don't really seem to eat the algae)
various other critters: snails, feather dusters, soft corals.

 

[Sadielynn]

That is a subjective opinion there , IMHHO the only real use for them is for us to view the tank at nite .. I would say that if you are happy it should be fine . I run mine 24/7 on ours I also have a CCF light that I turn off at night that is too bright for me to sleep with it is about 14 watts . I dont think that the LEDs that we use for moons are the right spectrum/strength to cause any issues that are negative to our tanks . I also dont really know if they are effective for lunar phases this all has to do with tides as well. Because this is something that is new to us and we are just now starting to study it and understand it .
Also on this concrete ball was this properly cured and cycled ? There could be some leach off . Also can you post pictures of this algea ? I would try to siphion it off if possible and increase your water changes a bit to remove any addtional phosphates or disolved solids .

 

[MT79]

Moonlights will not really contribute to algae problems. It sounds like you have PO4 present in your tank. To eliminate it you'll need PO4 free source water, good maintenance, and do not overstock or feed. As sadielynn mentioned, manual removal of the algae is necessary at first. Good husbandry should keep it in check in the future. A good test kit is necessary for monitoring PO4 at very low levels(< 0.04).

 

[newfound77951]

The reef ball is made to be put in aquariums, but it certainly could have something in it that is leaching out and causing algae growth, that was my thought too. I have several friends who all have them in their SW tanks so I'll ask if they had any problems with them. I use DI water from work (and I run nutrient analyses using that water so I know there is no PO4 in there, or anything else for that matter!). It appears that the algae on the glass and substrate is slowing down, I'm going to pull the reef ball out tonight and scrub it off. I'm leaving for 11 days tomorrow so the fish will only be fed every other day during that time, will see if that helps. It is good to know that the lights aren't causing any problems, though!

 

[tangster]

I run the coral life system--2 150watt 10,000 halides 2 96watt attinics and 4 moonrays.
IMO the moon rays are just scenic--the debateable part and the spin that goes with the system is that it illustrates conditions on the reef so it may help nocturnal inverts--but it is debateable.

What there is a consensus on is the number one cause of algae is phosphates and nitrates--not too much light
And this can be mainly from overfeeding, or not using r/o water in your changes.

Point from experience---i developed a similar algae problem---I got rid of the bioballs in my trickle filter and added a micron filter bag over the intakes. Have not had an algae problem since.