Good lighting time?

[catmel]

Just a quick question...
I currently have only my PC bulbs 2 x 96 watt on ( I only have three small mushroom polyps) I was wondering whats the minimum I could keep the lights on and still have these mushrooms happy? Right now I have them from 11:30am - 8:30pm ( I get home late)

The reason I ask is, I just got an Ro/di for christmas and am slowly making PWC ( and of course using it for top offs) due to it being below freezing lately I cant make all the water I need at once - I am starting to get quite an algae problem from originally using treated tap water with the stronger lights. I want to decrease the lights safely to help with the algae until I can get the tank switched over to almost all RO/DI

thanks!!

 

[melosu58]

You could probably get away with 6 hrs a day. My RO/DI is in my tool shed so I can sympathize with you on how slow it is.

 

[catmel]

Ok good, I'll try bumping it down to 6 hours and see if that helps. Do you think once I get mostly Ro/DI ( and of course use rodi for top off) that the algae will get under control?

Its crazy how all of a sudden after almost a year with no algae problems I've got a HUGE problem with green algae. I did just get new lights about a month ago.. I know that contributes.

Whats a good amount of time to keep the lights on after I get the algae under control... 6-8 hours?

 

[melosu58]

I would say that using RO/DI water will help knock it out. There are many factors though and lighting might only be one of them but it will help.

 

[catmel]

Thanks for your input as always I will try ro/di replacement, once a week water changes ( instead of every two weeks) and feeding every other day.. I'll keep you updated.

 

[melosu58]

Also how old are your bulbs?

 

[catmel]

I bought them used. The guy had told me they were in use 2 months. I would imagine theres a lot of life left in them yet. Theres probably no sure way to tell?

I'm thinking its the water. I used treated tap water for make up and top offs since I started my tank. I only did my first ro/di and ro/di starting last weekend. I imagine the stronger lighting with not so pure water started this.

How long should I try to correct it with the above mentioned methods before trying new PC lights?