New Metal Halide Fixture - Worried about bleaching, algae bloom etc!!!

Brian7002 · 02/15/2011, 08:52 PM

Just upgraded my coralline rich 28G FOWLR from a single cheapo fluorescent to a 150w metal halide yesterday. Made the rookie mistake of turning it on for 8 hours today... after doing some reading, I probably should have only run it a few hours today, slowing upping the hours over the next week or two.

- How many hours would you run it tomorrow, day 3, day 7, day 14 etc.

- Should I be worried about a spike in algae growth?

- Should I be worried about the nice purple coralline toward the middle/top of my tank getting bleached?

- Will either of these things cause a spike in nitrates?

- Should I wait to 'go reef' and add corals?

Thanks!

kfisc · 02/15/2011, 10:01 PM

You could expect to lose a fair part of your coralline, if not all of it; you can expect algae growth, but with excellent water quality and circulation, you can keep it well under control, and the coralline will come back, especially in more indirectly lit areas- but it depends on how intense the light is.

You can use screen (as in window screen) in layers and take a layer away every other day or so if you're really concerned about light shock, but if you have no corals, there may not be much risk beyond losing the coralline in the near term. Give the light several weeks before adding corals- that way if there is any die-off, you can have time to improve water quality.

Without corals, there's not much reason to run halides for any specific time-

Brian7002 · 02/16/2011, 08:38 AM

Ok... so it's not the # of hours/day that I need to gradually increase, it's the intensity? With the loss of my coralline, I should expect an increase in nitrates yes? How long before I see my coralline recover?

Uncle Salty 05 · 02/16/2011, 10:13 AM

Lighting should have no effect on nitrates other than possibly reducing them if algae takes off and is consuming them.

Brian7002 · 02/16/2011, 12:34 PM

.... or if the new light bleaches/kills algae, thus reducing the amount of algae, thus reducing the amount of nitrates the total amount of algae can consume yes?

seapug · 02/16/2011, 12:54 PM

Coralline Algae and hair algae are very different from one another. Coralline algae thrives in nutrient poor conditions, hair algae thrives in nutrient rich conditions. The die-off of the coralline is not going to have a significant impact on the biological assimilation of nitrate and phosphate.

If you had good coralline growth before installing the new light, it's a sign you have relatively good water quality so you really shouldn't have an epidemic explosion in hair algae simply because the coralline has bleached out.

If you had hair algae problems before the new light was installed, then there's a good chance it will get worse with the MH.

The Reef Aquarium Vol. 3 book has a good analogy on this subject, it goes something like this:

Consider hair algae as the sound coming from a stereo speaker. Nutrients are the power source and light is the volume knob. If the speaker isn't plugged in (no nutrients), turning the volume up (increasing light) will not make it louder (no increase in algae growth).

kduen · 02/16/2011, 12:55 PM

The main thing coralline algae consumes is calcium. There should be no increase in your parameters.

Uncle Salty 05 · 02/16/2011, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seapug

coralline algae and hair algae are very different from one another. Coralline algae thrives in nutrient poor conditions, hair algae thrives in nutrient rich conditions. The die-off of the coralline is not going to have a significant impact on the biological assimilation of nitrate and phosphate.

If you had good coralline growth before installing the new light, it's a sign you have relatively good water quality so you really shouldn't have an epidemic explosion in hair algae simply because the coralline has bleached out.

If you had hair algae problems before the new light was installed, then there's a good chance it will get worse with the mh.

The reef aquarium vol. 3 book has a good analogy on this subject, it goes something like this:

Consider hair algae as the sound coming from a stereo speaker. Nutrients are the power source and light is the volume knob. If the speaker isn't plugged in (no nutrients), turning the volume up (increasing light) will not make it louder (no increase in algae growth).

+1

chimmike · 02/16/2011, 01:03 PM

I'd do 3 hours per day for the first 4-5 days honestly, slowly increase from there, as the halide is significantly more PAR than your stock lights were.

Brian7002 · 02/16/2011, 04:52 PM

lfs said my calcium level was 380 last I checked... been dosing a squirt of CA every day.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

02/15/2011, 08:52 PM	#1
Brian7002 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 126	New Metal Halide Fixture - Worried about bleaching, algae bloom etc!!! Just upgraded my coralline rich 28G FOWLR from a single cheapo fluorescent to a 150w metal halide yesterday. Made the rookie mistake of turning it on for 8 hours today... after doing some reading, I probably should have only run it a few hours today, slowing upping the hours over the next week or two. - How many hours would you run it tomorrow, day 3, day 7, day 14 etc. - Should I be worried about a spike in algae growth? - Should I be worried about the nice purple coralline toward the middle/top of my tank getting bleached? - Will either of these things cause a spike in nitrates? - Should I wait to 'go reef' and add corals? Thanks!

02/16/2011, 10:13 AM	#4
Uncle Salty 05 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: South Florida Posts: 3,799	Lighting should have no effect on nitrates other than possibly reducing them if algae takes off and is consuming them. __________________ In all that I endure, of one thing I am sure. Knowledge and reason, change like the season. A jester's promenade. - Kerry Livgren Current Tank Info: 180 gal reef tank with dual attached refugiums 20 long and 10 gallon. Plus 55 gallon True Percula breeding tank.

02/16/2011, 12:54 PM	#6
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	Coralline Algae and hair algae are very different from one another. Coralline algae thrives in nutrient poor conditions, hair algae thrives in nutrient rich conditions. The die-off of the coralline is not going to have a significant impact on the biological assimilation of nitrate and phosphate. If you had good coralline growth before installing the new light, it's a sign you have relatively good water quality so you really shouldn't have an epidemic explosion in hair algae simply because the coralline has bleached out. If you had hair algae problems before the new light was installed, then there's a good chance it will get worse with the MH. The Reef Aquarium Vol. 3 book has a good analogy on this subject, it goes something like this: Consider hair algae as the sound coming from a stereo speaker. Nutrients are the power source and light is the volume knob. If the speaker isn't plugged in (no nutrients), turning the volume up (increasing light) will not make it louder (no increase in algae growth). __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

02/16/2011, 01:03 PM	#9
chimmike oxygen abuser Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Parrish, FL Posts: 5,089 Blog Entries: 2	I'd do 3 hours per day for the first 4-5 days honestly, slowly increase from there, as the halide is significantly more PAR than your stock lights were. __________________ -Mike Tankless wonder Geaux Noles!

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02/15/2011, 10:01 PM	#2
kfisc Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 2,020	You could expect to lose a fair part of your coralline, if not all of it; you can expect algae growth, but with excellent water quality and circulation, you can keep it well under control, and the coralline will come back, especially in more indirectly lit areas- but it depends on how intense the light is. You can use screen (as in window screen) in layers and take a layer away every other day or so if you're really concerned about light shock, but if you have no corals, there may not be much risk beyond losing the coralline in the near term. Give the light several weeks before adding corals- that way if there is any die-off, you can have time to improve water quality. Without corals, there's not much reason to run halides for any specific time-

02/16/2011, 08:38 AM	#3
Brian7002 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 126	Ok... so it's not the # of hours/day that I need to gradually increase, it's the intensity? With the loss of my coralline, I should expect an increase in nitrates yes? How long before I see my coralline recover?

02/16/2011, 12:34 PM	#5
Brian7002 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 126	.... or if the new light bleaches/kills algae, thus reducing the amount of algae, thus reducing the amount of nitrates the total amount of algae can consume yes?

02/16/2011, 12:55 PM	#7
kduen Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Panama City, FL Posts: 684	The main thing coralline algae consumes is calcium. There should be no increase in your parameters.

02/16/2011, 04:52 PM	#10
Brian7002 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 126	lfs said my calcium level was 380 last I checked... been dosing a squirt of CA every day. Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk