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View Full Version : Lighting I have a 270litre tank( i dont know gallons ?) Need help



Sonicwar
12-10-2005, 11:51 PM
#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#I have a 270 litre tank. I used to have crapy lights before , but now i invested in a light hood with 3 pl 36w lights.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#1 6500k white + 2 6500k blue white.... ( seperate)+ 1 40w single tube im guessing 6500k... The lights are on 2 timers. #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#The 40w goes on first at 11:00 , then the 3 pl's go on at 1:00. the 3 pl's go off at 8:00 then the 40w at 9:30...#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#I have some live rock, a few fish ( 8 +_ 1 inch long) a cleaner shrimp + an anenome and some snails.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Question 1: Is this enough light ? Must i change the times?#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Question 2 : The tank is 3 months old and there is still brown algae on everything..... I change the water every #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#3 weeks +_ 20% water change...What must i do ?#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Please advise thx#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#

tigersax7
12-17-2005, 02:03 AM
#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Since the tank is fairly new its probaly still cycling....so it will gow through perodic algea blooms for a while to fix this you might try increasing the frequency of your WC's (water changes) to some thing like 10% weekly or bi-weekly. Also it may help us to know what your feeding regime is like...As far as the lighting gose????? normaly you want about 4watts per gallon as a minimum 6-10 is best more if you want SPS corals, Im not sure what this works out in leters....I dont have the conversion factor handy....Finaly to help with the algea bloom you might want to increase circulation, by the way what are you using for circulation? hope this helps.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#tigersax7#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#

tigersax7
12-17-2005, 02:10 AM
#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#FONT size=4#ed_cl##ed_op#STRONG#ed_cl#1 liters = 0.264172051 US gallons So 270 Liters=71.3 gallons#ed_op#/STRONG#ed_cl# so for your tank you want a minimum of 284watts of lighting (4 watts per gallon) you can get the easly from with 3-96 watt bulbs (PC or VHO) or some other combo of lighting (MH, PC, VHO ect.). hope this helps#ed_op#/FONT#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#FONT size=4#ed_cl##ed_op#/FONT#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#FONT size=4#ed_cl#tigersax7#ed_op#/FONT#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#

Sonicwar
12-17-2005, 02:28 AM
#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Thx for that #ed_op#IMG src="http://www.captivereefing.com/richedit/smileys/Word_Negative/10.gif"#ed_cl# Now i have to spend more money.....Dam#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#I feed my fish4 times a day .... 3 times a day with a timer ,very little food.(dried) #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#then 1 time with frozen brine shrimp.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#As for the pumps iuse a canister filter (18L)1200L/h then 2 ... 2000 L/h pumps + 1 2000 L/h pump for the skimmer...#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#

tigersax7
12-17-2005, 04:07 AM
#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Atypical flow rate for a reef tank is 10 times the volume per hour at a minimum so for you tank you would need at least 2700 liters per hour turn over rate so looks like you have pretty good flow just try shifting the outputs to change the flow paterns....for the fedding try just feeding frozen food twice daily, the flake food could be contributing to your algea problem, flake foods areknown for causing phosphate problems,also dont feed more then the fish can eat in 30 seconds or so over feeding can also contribute to algea blooms.hope this helps#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#tigersax7#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#