lighting

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I am having a problem with some black hairlike algae.
Could be related to the bulb (is it new or used?) or it could be related to the amount of time the light is on every day. You should also look into PO4 in the water as this is a very high contributor to unwanted algae.
 
the bulb I do have is just a 20w full spectrum light, only about 3 months old. I had the lfs test po3 it was pretty minimal, but we started using phosguard any way. ammonia is pretty low too, but it is hard to tell if it is at 0 or 20.
 
Even a trace amount of PO4 is a bad thing. Make sure you test your source water for PO4 as well, I am sure it will be a bit higher.
 
So why would they put the moon lights and the HQIs on the same plug? Wouldn't you think it would make sence to be able to timer those differently?

I am looking at these also, other than that lil problem they seem like a great bargain. I am thinking of two of the 20" 211W Metal Halide Fixture & Ballast System for my 90 (18x24x48). Anyone think that is irregular? :D

Do you think that it may be possible to take it apart and add a third plug for the moons? Or maybe it's not worth the time and I can add another LED moon strip in addition to this setup.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for semi-hijaking :D


Best Wishes!

Mark
 
I have not really had time to inspect the ballast internally, but there is another spot to run a cord from it.
 
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Lando "Even a trace amount of PO4 is a bad thing"


I had been just using tap water, i have just started partial water change with purchased ro/di. I will go to lfs and get a PO4 test kit. I have been trying to swap 10 gallons of h20 a week to try to get ammonia down.
 
Certainly the NH3 is much more serious then the PO4. Work on that issue first. By using RO/DI water that is free of PO4 you can actually correct both issues at ocne.
 
I purchased a PO4 test kit. Tested the RO water before I putting it in the tank. It is the same color as the tank water, the indication is kinda hard to tell as it is a little darker in color than the lightest color on the chart, however it is considerably lighter than the next color, ( I have the same problem with NH3) So the best I can say is that my po4 is between 0 and .5 and the nh3 is between 0 and 20. I know that it is very important that I get these numbers as low as possible, but I am starting to wonder if I am reading them wrong since the new water has the same po4 reading. (maybe it is zero but I am reading it wrong)

The test kit is aquarium pharmisuticals (SP?) is there a better test kit that could be purchased?

I have also heard differing opinions about lights. Some people have told me that I can up the lights and almost burn off this black algae, others have said that this will make it grow faster, any thoughts.

my current light is a standard 20w full spectrum. I am considering this 36 inch dual strip CF

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=24

any thoughts???

Wade
 
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