Marsaqua and algae problems

[LCDR Noble]

I upgraded to LED lights and Im using (4) of the Marsaqua 165 lights on my 300 gallon tank. Its 8 feet long and 30" deep. Ive been playing with the adjustments to see what setting is best. I have no corals I just like the bright glow of LEDs. Ive had them a few months now and the algae is growing out of control. I have to wipe the acrylic sides every 3 days to keep it clear. I was wondering what I could do about this? Ive heard about vodka dosing but didn't know if I want to try that and not sure how to. Or maybe I need to reset the brightness adjustments?? also using GFO?? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Nimitz87]

how high are the lights from the water surface? and what do you have the dimmers set to?

I have 2 on my 90 about 5" from the water (just sitting on egg crate top) and run just under 50% for both blues and whites. whites are only on for 4 hours or so and blues 6-7.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I can see MarsAqua leds being a bit of an issue on a 30" deep tank in terms of low PAR deep in the tank due to only powering leds to 1.8 watts rather than the 2.2 watts most everybody else does. But not algae... unless you are running a lot of white channel with the red and green leds as well. That might push you into some algae growth. But that's a user issue, not a MarsAqua issue. And light alone is not responsible for algae, it need nitrate and phosphate as well.

 

[ksicard]

Isn't wiping the glass/acrylic of algae every 3 days normal?

 

[goreef170]

What type of algae is it ? Might it be cyano bacteria ? Is the algae from to much nutrients ?
I use red sea no p4, works well.

 

[ericarenee]

I Would Agree with those above.. The algae is growing because of nutrients. You can lower your lights intensity. Especially the white maybe raise the blue channel to compensate and will help...
But check your Nitrate and phosphate... Thou if you have algae growth already those test can be false positive due to the algae consuming them..

What is your maintenance routine and water source ?

The Algae is a symptom not the actually issue in most all algae cases...

You can target nutrients by
1. reducing input , feeding less using ro/di water
2.step up water changes and cleaning , Running tighter micron filter material and changing it more often.
3.lowering light intensity and hours on.
4. Stepping up to bigger and more often water changes..

Good Luck..

 

[LCDR Noble]

Thanks guys. The lights are about 24" above the tank. I use RO water and change out about 75 gallons a month. The whites and blues are about 3/4 on the dial adjustment. I only have a wet/dry sump that also houses the skimmer. I've never had an algae problem until I switched to the LEDs. It had cyano that I killed and now it's mostly brown algae. I do feed 4 times a day small amounts with auto feeders because I have 10 Lyretail Anthias inmy stock.