Prolonged lighting

[atrain5851]

i have a 14g biocube reef tank with stock lighting i have my lights set for 12 hours on and 12 hours off with moon lights i am getting this brown golden diatom growth and guessing that i have my lights on too long? just asking for your input.

[reefergeorge]

I only run my lights 9 hrs a day.
The algae needs more than just light to grow. So if you have zero nutrients you can run your lights as much as you want without problems.

[demonsp]

If this is a new setup then limit light time and bring up slowly.Helps prevent algea outbreaks. The i would aonly use 6 to 8 hours at first with low stock and whene stock increases MB add time.12 hours kinda long.Think of it as a real reef. Its bright 6 or 7 hours and dims then gets dark.This is why they use tinic lightin to reef tanks.My coral start closeing as soon as main lights out and tinics on then close fully after main lights.Moon lihgt are only for you and the reef appearance.

[atrain5851]

yea i set it up with ls, lr, and cycled reef water from my lfs... the guy there said it would be ok, i trust him... but i do think i leave the lights on for too long of a time... i leave all the lights on timers cause i am at school so i am not always able to dim the lights... thanks for the suggestions and use them if any more advice is out there i am here to learn

[dileggi]

I have the biocube myself...29. You should have actinic's on the 14 as well, right? When I started out, I ran my whites for 8 hours and my blues for 10. My blues came on one hour before and went off one hour after. I slowly, over the course of a month or so brought my lighting up to 12 hours with whites and 14 hours with blues.

As also mentioned, if the tank is new, you're probably seeing a diatom bloom which is normal for a new tank. Cutting the lighting time back and increasing over time will help it subside.

[dileggi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11743933#post11743933 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by atrain5851
yea i set it up with ls, lr, and cycled reef water from my lfs... the guy there said it would be ok, i trust him... but i do think i leave the lights on for too long of a time... i leave all the lights on timers cause i am at school so i am not always able to dim the lights... thanks for the suggestions and use them if any more advice is out there i am here to learn

Do the actinic's and white's have their own switches? On the 29 they do, I'm not sure of the 14. If so, you could put them on separate timers, if you haven't already.

Also...did you remove your bio balls or leave them? If you left them, I would remove them and replace the bio balls with live rock or live rock rubble in that chamber. The bio balls will lead to high nitrates. In my 29, it took 3 lbs of rubble.

You may also want to get a skimmer as well, if you have not already done so. To my knowledge there are 2 that fit the biocube. One is made by Oceanic, which is the one I have. The other, I believe is called SR3.

[atrain5851]

I just got the protein skimmer and took the bioballs out yesterday so maybe i will wait til the end of the weekend to see if that helps.
The lights do have their own switches this means i have to get another time strip or something. So do you ever use the moonlight leds? there is no real purpose for them is there?

[dileggi]

When I added my protein skimmer and removed my bio balls, I noticed a difference in about two weeks or so. I believe it took almost one week before my skimmer acclimated and started producing any skimmate.

I no longer have the stock lighting. I got the retro fit bio cube light upgrade from nano tuners. I'm now running 1x36w 10k white; 1x36w 50/50; 2x36w actinic and the moon glow.

My moons run 24/7, but you are right. There is no real purpose for the moons other than looks.

[atrain5851]

you run them 24/7? any particular reason, more glow? Ok just so i get this right i leave the actinics on all 24/7 and the whites on for 2 hours less than just the blues are on... i only have two bulbs in the 14 or is there no blue at all when the whites are running except for the one hour after and before they turn on and off? sry if this was confusing haha

[atrain5851]

ok forget the last part of my last post haha .... i was thinking about the whole lighting thing wrong... so after the 10 hours of light(10 hours blue and 8 hours white) all you have on are the moon leds? haha got it... wow i feel dumb

[dileggi]

No no no! I'm sorry, I think I confused you with what I said. You have a total of 3 sets of lights on your tank, right? You still have the stock lights. So, you should have

One daylight - 1 24w 10,000k daylight(whites)
One Actinic - 1 24w True Actinic03 (blue)
Moonglow/led. - 2 .75w lunar blue moon glow led.

I run my daylights for 12 hours per day.
I run my Actinic's for 14 hours per day.
The Led/moon glow stay on 24/7...by tank design.

[dileggi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11744324#post11744324 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by atrain5851
ok forget the last part of my last post haha .... i was thinking about the whole lighting thing wrong... so after the 10 hours of light(10 hours blue and 8 hours white) all you have on are the moon leds? haha got it... wow i feel dumb

yes, that's it. Forget my last post as well then. I was answering your first reply! LOL!

[atrain5851]

haha ok sweet thanks alot i am going to apply those settings to my tank/tanks!!

[atrain5851]

one more question sry haha... what kind of timer/s power strips do you use for this setup?

[demonsp]

Think of it as a real reef setting.Its not always sunny and its only brightest about 6 hours. Its best to adjust settings to fit your viewing scedule as they will adjust.They will adjust to amount of time and whene they come on and turn off. I use the 9:00 to 9:00 as i get great viewing after work. Just after you adjust just keep it constant.

[atrain5851]

yea ryt now i run them 12 to 12 will prolly change to 11 to 11 to decrease the algea bloom then back up to 12 to 12.

[demonsp]

I would cut in half.Sorry still havent seen your tanks age or water readings?
Whats the water source?

[dileggi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11744428#post11744428 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by demonsp
Think of it as a real reef setting.Its not always sunny and its only brightest about 6 hours. Its best to adjust settings to fit your viewing scedule as they will adjust.They will adjust to amount of time and whene they come on and turn off. I use the 9:00 to 9:00 as i get great viewing after work. Just after you adjust just keep it constant.

...and that's the same reason I use the settings that I use as well. No sense in coming home from work to a dark tank.

[dileggi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11744396#post11744396 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by atrain5851
one more question sry haha... what kind of timer/s power strips do you use for this setup?

No worries at all. I purchaed a digital timer and power strip from home depot to run the lights.

Again, if you want a 12 hour photoperiod, that's great. But, build up to it so that your tank acclimates to it. Maybe start with a 6 hour daylight and up an hour per week until you get to where you want to be. This will help control a sudden "spike" for the algae to feed on.

[demonsp]

Let your coral tell you. They would be fine with less lighting and you will save money on electric.Anything more then 8 hours will only cost much more.many forget about this cost and MH are not cheap to operate.
Lowering light time also helps control coral growth and means less trimming and fraggin. In your case lowering the light time is right and if new tank lower to 3 or 4 hours adding time slowly.

[atrain5851]

water source? i get ro/di water from the lfs i started the tank with cycled reef water from the lfs... last i checked the ph was 8.2 and 0 ammonia, no2 and no3. that was like 2 days ago...
i agree with the coming home to a dark tank class really intrudes on my tank starring time haha. was the timer and that at home depot expensive?
Really 3-4 hours? wont that be kind of a shock since i have been on a 12 hour photo time? or not matter when decreasing? i am not too concerned with over growth as most of my corals are smaller frags already

[demonsp]

If its a new setup then light only helps unwanted algea and isnt need for the cycle.
You need to know your Phosphate level,Calcium level ,ALK , and ect.. if its a reef tank then These maybe more important.