Do my bulbs stink?

[MrPeon99]

I think the cheapest for me was amazon. I constantly have to fight shipping prices, and amazon offers "real" free shipping (unlike most others that exclude hawaii and alaska). But if you live in the lower 48 you can find places that don't charge you $40 for s&h. Yes, mh do have a "break in" period, but the visible color shift isn't going to be very dramatic. So if it fires up white, in 100 hours it isn't going to burn in and be blue later. Sounds like the brown algae is diatoms, which will go away on it's own time. The green algae you need to be a little more descriptive about it since that can be any number of types of algae.

[ozorowsky]

Originally Posted by MrPeon99

I think the cheapest for me was amazon. I constantly have to fight shipping prices, and amazon offers "real" free shipping (unlike most others that exclude hawaii and alaska). But if you live in the lower 48 you can find places that don't charge you $40 for s&h. Yes, mh do have a "break in" period, but the visible color shift isn't going to be very dramatic. So if it fires up white, in 100 hours it isn't going to burn in and be blue later. Sounds like the brown algae is diatoms, which will go away on it's own time. The green algae you need to be a little more descriptive about it since that can be any number of types of algae.

How can I describe the green algae? It is a green buildup on the glass. I run my halides 4 hours a day.

Should I be running them longer? shorter?

[MrPeon99]

During the break in period halide bulbs are actually losing the "power" they put out, until they finally settle to a constant out put. So no, your bulbs won't really "improve" any after the break in.

[ozorowsky]

Originally Posted by MrPeon99

During the break in period halide bulbs are actually losing the "power" they put out, until they finally settle to a constant out put. So no, your bulbs won't really "improve" any after the break in.

Gotcha!

Just ordered 2 phoenix bulbs. I REALLY hope these do the trick! *fingers crossed*

[MrPeon99]

It's really up to you. No matter what you will always have to clean your glass at some point. On my 55gallon I had to clean the glass every other day. On my 150, it's about once a week. Both tanks I ran the same timers for lights.

[ozorowsky]

Originally Posted by MrPeon99

It's really up to you. No matter what you will always have to clean your glass at some point. On my 55gallon I had to clean the glass every other day. On my 150, it's about once a week. Both tanks I ran the same timers for lights.

I was running the halides for 6 hours, and was getting TONS of algae growth.

Being that this tank is 2 months old or so what is the healthiest for my corals and fish at this point? How long should I run them for?

[MrPeon99]

Since your tank is only 2 months old, most of that will go away with time. I would try for around 8 hours. But you'll have to find a time that works for your tank considering your environment. In the winter I could run the lights 24/7 if it wouldn't kill my tank since the average out side temp is -20f, but in the summer since we don't have ac and the sun it out 20 hours of the day I have to run a lot of fans and open windows because the house will heat up to 80f

[ozorowsky]

Originally Posted by MrPeon99

Since your tank is only 2 months old, most of that will go away with time. I would try for around 8 hours. But you'll have to find a time that works for your tank considering your environment. In the winter I could run the lights 24/7 if it wouldn't kill my tank since the average out side temp is -20f, but in the summer since we don't have ac and the sun it out 20 hours of the day I have to run a lot of fans and open windows because the house will heat up to 80f

well I live in FL and it is hot here often; and per the stick on glass thermometer it says the temp gets up to 83 often;

I ordered some fance which I'll use to blow across the water surface, but what about running the lights during the evenings; would that mess with the fish? Seeing "daylight" most of the night and then on into the morning is night even though they see the daylight outside through my windows?
My tank is in the center of my dining room about 15ft from the window for what its worth.

[MrPeon99]

You can run the lights later as well. Or you could run then a few hours in the morning and the a few hours in the even and have them off in the middle. I would get a submersible thermometer, the ones that sick to the glass can be very inaccurate