Please help - Page 2

lordicon · #11 01-07-2014, 06:13 PM

yep tds out is always 0. i sometimes wonder if my led lights are the problem? i did my own from rapid led and wonder if i have the wrong color spectrum. i have cool whites royal blue, and uv and green

craigwmiller · #12 01-07-2014, 06:17 PM

What percentage is your Green of your total LED count, and what percentage are you driving it/them?

Same question with UV

lordicon · #13 01-07-2014, 11:11 PM

i have a total of 4 green and 4 uv and run them at 15%. and i run my whites for 8 hours and blues for ten. blues are around 80% and whites around 30%

craigwmiller · #14 01-08-2014, 06:18 AM

Okay, well I don't think that's it. (those spectrums in really high intensity can fuel some algae growth, and red also (let's just say that I had some 'fun' with some LED's in the past, and my snails had some work to do))

I have used cool white + royal blue leds from RapidLED a year ago on a smaller nano without issue, so you are likely okay there, and I ran 5 whites and 7 blues at 100%.

Bill · #15 01-08-2014, 03:30 PM

This algae looks familiar and shows up in my tank on occasion. In fact I have some in my tank right now but it's starting to disappear.

This might be a long shot but are you running a calcium reactor? If so, you may need to dial it back or better yet, just use kalk for a while. When running the reactor, effluent should go directly to the skimmer to remove excess CO2. This made noticable difference in my tank.

Get a silicate test kit and measure the fresh made saltwater. I don't think the TDS can detect silicates. Until you know your water is free of silicate, stop the water changes for a while to see what happens.

Use phosphate free carbon and replace it often. Also use GFO. Although your PO4 test shows zero, the rocks may be leeching some. I used lots of carbon - like 2 cups for 200gal. to remove dissolved organics.

Try to cut back on feeding - this one really helped me. Also, remove any filter socks or sponges from the system.

And, if possible, remove the rock and scrub algae off - in a separate container of saltwater. This way, when it dies, it wont add the nutrients back in the water.