Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover

[SantaMonica]

If they are mixed with some blue.

[Sea Turtle]

actinic?

[SantaMonica]

No. You need reds.

[Sea Turtle]

[SantaMonica]

Some blue is required, but mostly reds.

[Sea Turtle]

copy that. thanks!

[SantaMonica]

This is an experimental fix for brown/black growth, and also for extending the life of the bulbs past 3 months:

1. Use bulbs with twice the wattage as recommended; so use 2 real watts per square inch (6.25 sq cm) of screen. Thus a screen 10 X 10 inches = 100 square inches would get 200 total real watts of light instead of 100 watts.

2. Run the lights for half as many hours as recommended; this would be 9 hours instead of 18.

3. Around 3 months, when the growth starts to get darker (because the bulbs are getting weaker), start increasing hours until it grows green again. When you reach 18 hours, it's time for new bulbs.

This does a few things: The first is obvious; you will get longer bulb life as long as you remember to increase the hours when you get to 3 months. But stronger light can also turn black/brown growth into green, no matter how high the nutrients are, if the light is strong enough. The trick is just to not burn the algae; thus the hours have to be less.

When the light is strong (compared to the nutrients), more of the growth is physical algae, and it's also more green (less proteins). When the light is weak (compared to the nutrients), more of the growth is DOC and dark physical growth (more proteins).

[yokkohmorata]

can use 150watts in a 10x10 screen?..
how long will i turn on the lights?

can i put its pump in the first chamber of the the sump where the skimmer is place and put its return to the last chamber of the sump tank where the return pump is located?

[SantaMonica]

Yes if the light is spread even across the screen.

100 watts is normal for 100 square inches, for 18 hours a day. So you can try 150 watts for 14 hours.

[pepperghost]

for me its better that you do that the other way around... that way if there are any micro bubbles produced it will also go through the bubble traps you set for your sump...

[yokkohmorata]

[SantaMonica]

From a nutrient-reduction point of view, it does not matter.

[Sea Turtle]

you mentioned before that the light in the dt should alternate with the light of the ats to avoid ph swings. so with your experimental fix, does this mean you have to extend the lighting time on your dt?

[yokkohmorata]

[SantaMonica]

I don't think you should. And if you top off with kalk water drip, your pH will be high anyway.