Bulb Suggestions

I think my bulbs are the reasons why i have a recent GHA i use RO/Di ammonia/nitrate/nitrite/phosphates are all 0, and i dont overfeed so only thing im thinking of is my bulbs maybe old

I have a 4x39 T5 HO Tek that's 6 months old what bulbs do you guys like

 

yea 6months for the bulbs too, then whatever is causing it i hope it goes away soon, i wasnt sure how often bulbs needed to be replaced i thought it was a twice a year thing. I just hate GHA my tank was doing sooo good then all of a sudden out of no where it popped up and my inverts really arent eating it i just want it gone, a 7 month old tank should not have GHA

 

havent tested alk or calcium latley just the 3 and yea my skimmer has been pulling some nice black gunk out

 

lol yea it doesnt skimm good all them time kind of like an off and on thing but better than nothing hopefully it will go away soon if its going to get worse. And no im not running any kind of mediea, never needed to, everything was going great

 

+1 on neighbourtom from me

lights dont cause algae - algae spores and nutrients cause algae and the wrong type of lighting encourages it

your test kits can come back 0 but that means the algae are consuming them as fast as they are being generated

this is not a very old tank and as such algae of different types can make appearances from time to time

are you running GFO? irrespective of my PO4 levels I always run this media

magnesium - now you have SPS corals (birdsnest) its becoming more important that you can test for Calc, Mag and Alk

T5 tubes - 9 -12 months is generally accepted as a reasonable life span for these tubes
so annual changing is OK IMO and many say 15 months is OK

PC lamps are the ones that require changing every 6 months I believe

Steve

 

thanks for the info so this is a normal thing for tanks at this age?

and i dont have any special equipment or anything, just running a very simple basic setup with my ocot HOB skimmer, tek lights, and vortech mp 20 i want a sump but thats not going to happen

i also dont have a mag test kit, i have to go to the LFS for water this weekend so i will pick one up, but i have the ALK and Calcium

lol it was lamps that needed the changing twice a year, lol i knew something needed changing that often

 

Hi Puffer Chick

when I said PC lamps - I meant power compact lamps - not your T5 lamps
LOL
mag levels are very important, if you test and try and maintain calk and alk levels without having the required mag level to support those other 2 ions you may find the one you are adding is just knocking the other 1 down - out of solution

if you mag level is not high enough to support your target calc and alk levels either of these things will occur

for every 1 degree of DKH you try and increase - your calc will lower by 20ppm
for every 20ppm of calc you try and increase - your DKH could lower by 1 part

So ensuring you have enough magnesium in solution is critical to establishing the other 2 levels where you want them




Steve

 

sweet thanks im deffiently getting a mag test this weekend as i am very curious to see what its at and hopefully if its because my mag/alk/calcium is off, hopefully its an easy fix

 

Steve, a skimmer doesn't "suck" up these dissolved types of organics though, correct? At least not like we are lead to believe.

 

Seabass 1
a skimmer removes protiens which would break down and add to the nutrient levels
but your right in that people with excellent skimming capacity can and do have algae issues

improved skimming would not be effective as a means to combat established algae as GFO has proved to be

but really efficient skimming early days combined with water parameter control on the things skimming does not remove can and has IME prevented algae becoming a nuisance
( you get some, its doesnt take over and eventually the CUC keeps on top of it)

Steve