night lights encourage algae growth??

[mazilla]

it would appear that my led's are causing algae growth directly beneath them. i have just been running them 24hrs a day since i am running out of space for timers and whatnot. any pro's/cons in doing so, besides the apparent algae problem. the algae is not bubble, or hair, it's like powder on the sand and you cant see it unless the pc's are on.

 

[tecwzrd]

It's unlikely that the LED lights alone are causing algae to grow. The fact that they are directly below them is probably just a coincidence.

Algae is caused by many factors but the main one is too many nutrients in the water.

Do you still just have the yellow wrasse and two damsels in your 60 gal? Does your skimmer still work well? Are you feeding lightly? Do you use ro/di or is your tap no3/po4 free? Are your PC lights more then 8 months old?

 

[roka64]

I agree, the LEDs are not the culprit. What kind of water movement do you have and how long have you had your tank?

 

[melosu58]

These are what causes algea growth.

http://www.fantasyreef.com/showthread.php?t=478

 

[mazilla]

It's unlikely that the LED lights alone are causing algae to grow. The fact that they are directly below them is probably just a coincidence.

Algae is caused by many factors but the main one is too many nutrients in the water.

Do you still just have the yellow wrasse and two damsels in your 60 gal? Does your skimmer still work well? Are you feeding lightly? Do you use ro/di or is your tap no3/po4 free? Are your PC lights more then 8 months old?

i have the yellow wrasse, a royal gamma, and a marine beta. skimmer works pretty well, i feed .5 of a frozen cube eod. i use ro from the water store. the pc's are brand new as of this month. the "algae" isnt there unless the pc's are on. maybe it something reflecting inside the sand or something? when it's just daylight , or led you cant tell it's there. i have always tested the water in the tank and never straight from the source, i guess it would be a pretty good idea to do so. i use this water for other hobbies of mine and it has always produced great results, but i'll check it anyway.

 

[melosu58]

i have always tested the water in the tank and never straight from the source, i guess it would be a pretty good idea to do so. i use this water for other hobbies of mine and it has always produced great results, but i'll check it anyway.

Good idea. That way you can rule that one out as a cause

 

[shifty99]

How about a uv sterilizer? Haven't seen it mentioned yet, but I am getting one in hopes it will cut down on the algea

 

[roka64]

Folks like them, one of the drawbacks, is they can/will kill anything that goes through them, including pods. I think I may put one on my new 125, just so I get some experience and may be able to help folks in the future.

 

[melosu58]

They will kill algea spores but only those that travel through the lighted chamber. I personally think the benefits outweigh the problems. IMO