lights

[kimoy]

i need advice on my lighting...i have a 120 reef with 30 gal fuge. my lights are as follows:
fuge = 2x9 watt 6.5k pcs
main tankl = 2x150 watts 10k DE HQI
2x96 watts 03 actinics PC's
2x65 watts 10k pcs
2x65 watts 03 actinics PC's
8 moonglow
i am having problem getting the color out of my corals. i need suggestions...is my lighting too much? it is a corallife fixture. one is 2x150 de hqi plus 2x96 actinics and another fixture is 4x65 watts. so in other words there are 2 light fixture on top of my tank. do i need to take the pc fixture out and leave just the halides? or do i need to get a different bulb combination? if so what do you suggest?

 

[homebrewdude]

I have 250watt HM on my 120gal tank.
and 2 T5's

My Hair Algae is very bright healthy green
And the bubble algae is growing so good it is actually lifting the sand from the bottom!

 

[kimoy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8383623#post8383623 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by homebrewdude
I have 250watt HM on my 120gal tank.
and 2 T5's

My Hair Algae is very bright healthy green
And the bubble algae is growing so good it is actually lifting the sand from the bottom!

we actually have same setup except that you have more LR. i only have about 150 lbs. same skimmer ev-180. my return is mag 12 skimmer is feed by iwaki 55rlt. wavemaker with 4 pumps and another constant pump on the tank, 5 total powerheads on my main tank.no algae problems. i just set this up a little over 2 weeks ago.

 

[homebrewdude]

It took my tank over a month to have the Algae problems.

Maybe your water is not stable yet for your corals, since your tank is new.

Do your actinics make your tank too blue?
I think my 2 bulbs make it too blue, and my 10k coralvue is supposed to be on the yellow side

 

[kimoy]

i actually had a 55 gal before and moved evrything into the 120. i mean everything including sand and water. i did the move in the same day and just added 10 gals of water evaeryday untill i fill the tank and the fuge befor the return pump was run. i had my old skimmer hung in the tank while i was doing this so i still get some kind of filtration. i finish the whole move and water addition in less than a week. bee very furtunate not to have any casualties....
and oh and also in the 10 gal water that i added everyday, half of it was from my LFS tank, not the fresh water. so it has some bacteria on it and it helps..

 

[homebrewdude]

Just a thought.... I am no expert.

has your lighting improved since the 55gal tank?

Maybe they are adjusting now?

 

[kimoy]

yup. i ahve 2 light fixture on top of my tank. one is 4x65 pc and another is 2x150 HQI plus 2x96 pc.

 

[homebrewdude]

so maybe that is it... more light then before.

 

[kimoy]

maybe...but my new tank is alot deeper that before. old one is 48x13x16H the new one is 48x24x24. i don't know. i have to see.

 

[homebrewdude]

Good luck, I am going to watch the thread and see if anyone else has ideas.

I will be good to know in the future, in case I need to take action if my Hair Algae farm looses color.

 

[glassbox-design]

Just a couple ?'s

What brand MH are you running?
What corals are you not getting color out of?
How are params and nutrients?

PC's arent the best to pop colors... and I wouldnt think you have too much light...but if you feel that may be the problem try pulling the 4x65's for a week and see what happens.

e+f

 

[kimoy]

all lighting are coral life. i have can't get the right colors out of my zoas anf sps. water are all normal...

 

[craftytony]

Kimoy, I would suggest 250w lights as the 150's may not penetrate deep enough in a 120 depending on height of the bulbs etc. Also 10k DE are going to give you more of a yellow in the light spectrum, i would suggest 12k or 14k bulbs which will give you more blue and probably get your corals poppin'
I have no experience with pc lighting though, but I would think they probably aren't penetrating enough either...
Does that sound about right to the rest of ya?

 

[glassbox-design]

Tony Sounds about right. Lighting gets the blame many times, but IMO 150's work great even at those depths with high water quality...but then again 250's cant hurt Try uping the water changes and running some rowa and carbon. See's if that's the culprit...then if that doesnt change anything look into upgrading the lights.

e+f

 

[kimoy]

my lights are 4.5 inches above the water. i moved my sps down the bottom since they are the ones i am not happy with how the color are coming out. and alos remove my pc fixture (4x65). i'll see how it will come out....

 

[kimoy]

tested water today

salinity 1024
alk 7.0
calcium 480
pH 8.0
amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20 using APC/ 25 using salifert

took down the PC light fixture so now using 2x150 10 DE HQI with 2x96 03 actinics with 4 moonglow and 2x9 6.5k on the fuge....

 

[glassbox-design]

if you can, check po4 with a hanna...if trates are that high odds are po4 is up there too. The combination of these two are probably more so the reasons you're not getting the color you want. Chaeto, po4 filters, RDSB...all of these can be used to help lower levels and nutrients.

e+f