photoperiod

T

timrandlerv10

New member
the algae discussion continues...


ok, so my nitrates are 5 or less and my po4 has gone from over one to (what looks like) .1 or under. I will be putting a lamp over my cheato soon. YET I still have this little spot of cyano that my limpet cant eat fast enough, and some scattered hair algae. I followed the logic of the other coral vs algae discussion, and I agree, but I would like to clean up just a little more--I would sacrifice some color for cleaner right now.

How much impact does photoperiod have? I have MH lights on from 9 to 630 (when my office is open...) and then regular flourescent lights on whenever I'm actually 'in' my office (9 (ish!) to 6 (ish)). Would reducing the photoperiod help any?

The tank looks a lot better with the lights on...would another light help maintain looks without the impact?

My MH is hanging waaaay too high...16"? 20"? What effect would lowering that have on the tank?

thanks,

Tim
 
You want to lower your light slowly if you don't want your corals to react adversely. I usually lower my new bulb (my pendant fixture) by 1/2 inch per week till I get down to the desired level. My MH bulbs are 250W and the tank is 24 inch deep. Why do you have your light suspended so high up? Is the wattage too high for the depth of your tank?

Are you sure that a limpet eat cyano?

As for the lighting for growing chaetomorpha, most algae including caulerpa grow best with some dark period. Your light period of 9 to 10 hours a day sounds fine. Are you trying to grow chaeto in your display tank or in your sump? Chaeto does pretty well with relatively low light. A lot of people use inexpensive curlicue compact fluorescent lamps (5300K or lower) to grow chaeto.

Tomoko
 
why is the light so high?

we messed up when we hung it, and it took all day, and we were out of wire, so we left it.

limpet eating cyano?

i dont know if he eats it, but he mows back and forth, and its gone after he goes through.

(unasked)

is he really a limpet?

yeah, i dont know, but it looks like the one on melev's id page.

chaeto in the?

sump.

28 people checked, tomoko answered. we really REALLY need a 'Tomoko' thread, and then you can nominate people to help answer over time...like Randy and Chemistry :)

thanks 'T'!
 
What is the wattage of your light? You should bring it down unless it's 400W over a really shallow tank. My light is only 7 to 8 inches above my tank.

As far as I know, limpets do not eat cyano. Your limpet is probably bulldozing cyano out of its way.

Do you have light over Chaeto? Is the room light falling on the sump? I recall your sump is not exactly under your tank.

Tomoko
 
Reading back what you asked, I realized that you were asking about cutting back on the photo-period to curtail algae growth. Cutting back on the photo-period may not do much for reducing algae growth in your tank since your light probably is not really intense right now with your fixture suspended so high. The nutrient level is going to be the key there. Which test kit are you using to measure NO3? Inexpensive ones are not really accurate for measuring a low range nitrate. The same goes for PO4 test kits as well.

Tomoko
 
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If you're not doing regular (weekly) water changes, you may want to do so. I would recommend 20% until nitrate and phosphate reach unmeasurable amounts. Not that 5 is necessarily bad but it does indicate that there are plenty of nutrients for undesirable algae to feed on.

I think that you will find that lowering nutrients will do more than altering photo period for algae control. Also the more competitive macro algae you have the lower your nutrient level will drop. Good Luck!
 
we have red sea for ph, n-itea, n-ates, po4.
salifert seems to be the cat's meow, so we'll put that on the Christmas list, but i hope to not use up all my test kits by then (if the tank looks better, we'll test less!).

i've been doing 10%, but 20% starts tomorrow.

i like the bulldozing idea. i think he likes it to, as he goes back and forth in that stuff for at least 4 hours a day. until today. i shouldnt have asked... :(

the sump gets room light, but i'm going to put something over it anyway. clients like asking questions, and fortunately, they seem to ask questions i can answer :)

two have REALLY like my 'red rock coral' (cyano) and a few like my 'oh! a nemo fish' (gsm pair) and of course everyone likes my anemone. one person thought the coralline was really neat, and commented 'sure would be nice if it grew over those ug..other rocks.'

!

so:
1) lower the light about a foot
2) double the water changes
3) light over the sump
4) salifert when these run out
5) i can keep my lights on while i'm at work

thanks!

tim
 
You're on the right track. Be careful not to overfeed. I only feed what I can actually see the fish consume in a few minutes two times a day. Follow Tomoko's advice on sump lighting and time. Make your changes slowly. Once your nitrate and phosphate aren't measurable, go back to 10% changes. It could take a month or more. Remember, most things that happen fast in this hobby aren't good.
 
If you get light over your chaeto, your nitrate and phosphate levels should go down pretty quickly provided that you are not overfeeding your tank. You can get an inexpensive task light fixture and a curlicue bulb for chaeto. I hope you have chaetomorpa in a refugium section of your sump. Broken chaeto pieces can seize up your pump if they wrap around the impeller.

Tomoko
 
um...(shove shove)...nope, its always been in the sump...


we moved it after somebody else pointed that out...we're still picking out pieces of old chaeto...i bet they are coming from where my fire shrimp is hiding...
 
Are you still using a Rubbermaid container for sump? You can probably make a basket for chaeto out of a plastic bucket with a bunch of small holes drilled in it or out of some needlepoint canvas sheets and sink it in the sump.

Tomoko
 
omg what a great idea lol

no, we upgraded to a 10g with 3 lexan sheets siliconed in to section off the areas--receiving area for the downspout, skimmer, cheato (which will have a light in 5 minutes as a i just got back from 'marine' depot), return pump.

we got a regular desk clip on light (like college kids get) and a 70w 5500 bulb, and while we were there we got an extra timer (just cause) and a gfci extension cord--so now we're safer!

thanks.
 
That will do for lighting.

As for containing chaeto in the partition within your 10g sump, you can install a strip of a needlepoint sheet or even a strip of egg crate or gutter guard in the opening to catch strings of loose chaeto.

Tomoko
 
i think its blocked in, as it floats, and the way for water to pass from chamber to chamber is at the bottom of each sheet, unless we have a water volume issue (and as i look at it...sure enough...) then water can flow over the top for an extra four gallons (or for about 12 hours after i do a water change...its the only time we add six gallons and take five out! (((no worries, one is ro/di...im sure i could do the math and put in some lower sg...but...well, im not sure i COULD do the math!)))


ok...we have a 5500 light on the chaeto, and my po4 hasnt gone down yet.



JUST KIDDING...but when can i hope to see it happen?


AND...chaeto does better with a rest period? how much rest does it need? can it get normal roomlight, then get the 5500 spot from midnite to 5?

i guess what i'm asking is what hours do i want the spot on for the chaeto :)

thanks.

tim
 
10 to 14 hours of light over chaeto would be sufficient.

Your center baffle plate should be touching the bottom with two end plates being raised off the bottom. Otherwise the water will flow right though the sump at the bottom bypassing the chaeto which needs water turbulence to do well.

Tomoko
 
... :(

i think i can silicone the bottom of the last plate to get the desired effect. i think i also need to make the piece after the skimmer higher...which, as we know, takes an awful lot of silocone :)

i've been thinking of trying to seal off that section completely, and only let water progress than has been through the skimmer.

thoughts on that?
 
You have three baffle plates. I think you should keep the first and last plates off the bottom and the third touching the bottom as I mentioned before. I would not seal off any section of the sump. I don't know if the flow of your skimmer is completely matched to the drain flow. How tall are your baffle plates?

Here's my sump for my 29G display tank:

1344820GL_sump_RC.JPG


Do you see the baffle plates in this one? This one has four plates. These were put in to direct the water flow up and down through many chambers to dissipate the micro bubbles created by the fast drain. I wish I had made the 2nd plate taller to allow a bit more turbulence in the refugium in the middle. This picture was taken before I added an Excaliber skimmer in the first chamber (a slime skimmer that fits there perfectly.) If I sealed off the first chamber in this one, my sump would have overflowed.

Tomoko
 
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