New Halide setup

[jkhudson]

I finally finished my halide/pc light for my tank. It has already revealed two things about my tank I didn't know. One, my algae problem was worse than I thought and two, my bleeping six line wrasse is caught in my overflow box. So i have three questions now; how long do i let my halide run(I've heard some leave it on less than thier other lighting), what's a good way to control phosphates with a sump without resorting to a reactor, and of course how do I get that damn fish out without shutting down my sump?!!!

 

[saltysooner]

you definitely want to gradually increase your MH lighting over the next 2 weeks. IMO would not exceed 5 hours/day
for phosphate removal I use a polyfilter sponge.

 

[jkhudson]

5 hours total or starting out?

 

[VCoo71]

what was your lighting before the change? and why do you think your phospahtes are high? have you tested them? and if so what test kit?

charlie

 

[saltysooner]

I currently run my halides 9 hours/day vho's 12 hours.

 

[dugg]

I run my halides 12 hrs a day. I would start them out at around 5 hours, and raise it by 30 minutes every 3 or 4 days until you are at a length of time that fits you. I think around 10 hours is recommended for halides.

The phosphates should be kept under control with macro algaes in the sump under 24/7 lighting.

The wrasse, well i always just let mine alone until they make it to the sump lol. Other then that, i would say happy fishing lol.

 

[cek1313]

I run halides 6-8 hrs a day (20K) with great results on a softie tank with BTAs. Gradually increase though as mentioned. Phosphate may not be the only culprit--I'm sure you probably checked nitrates but that could be it or an imbalance of both, overfeeding etc--also the kind of algae would help as that makes a big difference in diagnosis