Alge And EVO Elements LED Lights!

[PAPSTISY]

Hello All! I'm new to the hobby and have a question or two.

I'm using a EVO LED light system on a 45 Gallon Tall Glass tank. W/ Eheim 2215 filter system and doing weekly water changes. The water being used is tanked water gathered from an Osmosis system designed for Aquariums. No live plants.

With my current set-up I have a good but a bad problem being your bright green Algae. I'm almost positive it's the light system as all other lighting is covered (Windows). As well as the nutrients in the water being so pure. And maybe because algae eater is a little lazy.

I believe the light is just too powerful.
32 x 10000Daylight
12 x Actinic
3W LED
36" overhead

With a complete water change and the rocks scrubbed to white again and all glass sides spot less this is the result in one week. Light is on timer for only 6 hours.

I have already read about live plants taking the nutrients cutting back on Algae but not interested in live plants.
Besides the obvious less light time. What Can I do to slow it down? The light is so bright you can't really see on the glass but it's there.
Are there external dimmers? Can I run a special filter in my canister? Do I use chemicals? How about raising the light? What about defuser's on the bulbs. Most would say what I have is a good thing. But I really don't like to deal with the algae on a weekly basis. Water changes are enough. I feel algae should be cleaned when you do a monthly major clean as I like to call it.

Is there links for Diffuser to my brand light that someone can provide.
Is there links to overhead light clamps to raise?

What would you do? Any help would be great! Thank you.

 

[Mebbid]

Basically you've got too much light and no algae control methods. Algae killing chemicals have a tendency of killing fish so that's a no go. My only thought is for you to make a dimmer. I was thinking about doing something like that with standard light dimmers but I'm not sure if it'll even work. Someone with more electrical background will have to comment on that.

As for using the ro system, generally its not recommended and is almost never necessary. Ro systems strip all the minerals out of the water that the fish actually need creating a whole host of health problems for them down the line as well as creating a perfect environment for a ph crash. Is there a specific reason you're using one?

 

[PAPSTISY]

Yes there is a reason

My fish kept dying. I went to my local fish store and the owner asked where I lived. I told him and he showed me his driver lic. and he lived in same city. He said they will keep dying unless I run a RO system. He said our city water has to travel great distance to the suburbs and they put extra chemicals in the water to make it to it's destination. Chlorine and some other chemical he mentioned kept making my fish get fin rot and fungus. My family won't even drink our water.
He said there is a huge difference between city water. and what we have which is city well water. some how there different.
So at first I thought he was just trying to sell me something. But after I installed no more dead fish for months. In fact my fish are so strong now it has made a huge difference.

My temp on tank is at 76 and I feed them normal flake food most of the time.
Someone said the brand type food you feed them could also be contributing to the algae.
But I'm not sure.

 

[Mebbid]

My fish kept dying. I went to my local fish store and the owner asked where I lived. I told him and he showed me his driver lic. and he lived in same city. He said they will keep dying unless I run a RO system. He said our city water has to travel great distance to the suburbs and they put extra chemicals in the water to make it to it's destination. Chlorine and some other chemical he mentioned kept making my fish get fin rot and fungus. My family won't even drink our water.
He said there is a huge difference between city water. and what we have which is city well water. some how there different.
So at first I thought he was just trying to sell me something. But after I installed no more dead fish for months. In fact my fish are so strong now it has made a huge difference.

My temp on tank is at 76 and I feed them normal flake food most of the time.
Someone said the brand type food you feed them could also be contributing to the algae.
But I'm not sure.

From your description it sounds like your tank was cycling and not being cared for properly which was causing the fin rot and fungus. Fin rot is really only caused by poor water parameters and ammonia / nitrite in particular cause it the fastest both of which are in a cycling tank. It's much more likely that by the time you bought the RO filter then the tank was finishing up cycling. That's my initial thought on the whole thing.

Even if there were added chemicals to the water it is STRICTLY regulated by authorities. The water is safe by law to be consumed by the public. Dechlorinator will take care of harmful chemical additives.

I would highly suggest getting a kH test kit and monitoring the kH of your tank closely too low and it can cause huge pH swings.

 

[PAPSTISY]

Thanks for your comments. He told me to invest in a TDS Meter. Whatever that is and never let get below 28. Then change filters. Regardless people thoughts on RO systems. I can tell you with our water the RO system changed my fish into a bunch of little He-Man's. I watched before my eyes beautiful angel fish heel battle wounds. And they have body scares to prove it.

But what about any other suggestions on the light. Is there other was to mount such a large light? Like a special clamp or something?

 

[Caliban07]

Thanks for your comments. He told me to invest in a TDS Meter. Whatever that is and never let get below 28. Then change filters. Regardless people thoughts on RO systems. I can tell you with our water the RO system changed my fish into a bunch of little He-Man's. I watched before my eyes beautiful angel fish heel battle wounds. And they have body scares to prove it.

But what about any other suggestions on the light. Is there other was to mount such a large light? Like a special clamp or something?

I agree with mebbid. The RO is definitely unnecessary and the deaths were probably due to cycling. The guy at the shop should have offered to test your water when you told him you were losing fish. Perhaps he was hoping you would be a regular buyer of his RO water?

Anyway, if you insist on using the RO unit then I would check your ph at different intervals to make sure it isn't falling.

The cause of algae is simple. The have an abundance of nitrate and phosphate (from fish food) and all the light they could ask for with 0 competition. I would consider adding live plants. The algae growth with slow down a lot. The to system will also have a rejection rate and will not completely remove everything. There may be very low level micro nutrients still passing through that the algae have all to themselves.

 

[PAPSTISY]

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What should the PH level be at all times? The local fish guy would not sell me fish until he tested the water. He supplied the bottle to use. He checked prior to buying any fish. Gave me the go ahead and said I was fine to add what I want. Also, When I had the massive die off I collected a sample. He said Nitrates were a little high and that was the only problem. That's when the whole topic of R/O and the city we lived in came up.

Regardless, The r/o system is helping now. But you guys all have me concerned about these PH crashes. Can you explain a little bit how that happens and how to avoid.

 

[Mebbid]

What should the PH level be at all times? The local fish guy would not sell me fish until he tested the water. He supplied the bottle to use. He checked prior to buying any fish. Gave me the go ahead and said I was fine to add what I want. Also, When I had the massive die off I collected a sample. He said Nitrates were a little high and that was the only problem. That's when the whole topic of R/O and the city we lived in came up.

Regardless, The r/o system is helping now. But you guys all have me concerned about these PH crashes. Can you explain a little bit how that happens and how to avoid.

There's a measurement called kH which in short is a measurement of the buffering capacity of the water. The buffering capacity of the water prevents a shift in pH. The more buffers the water has, the smaller any pH shift will be.

During the normal day / night cycle the photosynthetic organisms in the water will switch between consuming co2 and releasing o2 during the day to consuming o2 and releasing co2 at night. Increased co2 in the water will cause the pH to drop because carbon is an acidic compound. The less buffering capacity the water has, the more the pH drop is.

Bacteria will also consume kH as a normal part of its growth also potentially leading to a drop in pH.

 

[PAPSTISY]

.

Thanks you! Thank you! That explanation really helps.

Bacteria will also consume kH as a normal part of its growth also potentially leading to a drop in pH.

I was putting in liquid Bacteria prior to get the tank up to cycle. I bet that's what dropped the KH causing the deaths.

 

[Mebbid]

Thanks you! Thank you! That explanation really helps.

I was putting in liquid Bacteria prior to get the tank up to cycle. I bet that's what dropped the KH causing the deaths.

Unlikely, this is not a fast process and it really only matters in super soft water, fishless cycles, and tanks that never get a water change.