Blue Actinic Lighting Can Cause Algae Growth?

[sushiray]

I have been using my actinics light more than the white lights this past week. So, instead of having a brown algae bloom (I still have some after cleaning), now there is this film like covering spreading on the glass & on the bare bottom. I have cleaned this film off the best I could but it has come back.

Is this another type of algae bloom? just very light in color (like an off-white gray like color). when I cleaned the glass it was a very light brownish-green.

In either case, how can I eliminate the brown algae & now this new light colored growth?

pics would be hard to show this growth - it just makes the glass look cloudy.

thx all

 

[247Plants]

Sounds like BGA to me. Usually caused by high nitrates and low water movement.

 

[sushiray]

Sounds like BGA to me. Usually caused by high nitrates and low water movement.

hey there, what is BGA, sorry I am not up to my acronyms!

also, 1/2 cool avatar/pic. be 100% cool if we see both shoulders!!

 

[sushiray]

hey there, what is BGA, sorry I am not up to my acronyms!

also, 1/2 cool pic. be 100% cool if we see both shoulders!!

[/QUOTE]

 

[MonsterMinis]

nitrates 20pp or better likely... old tank, new tank?... bust out the elbow grease.. or be lazy like me 'n invest in a magnetic scraper... cutting the lights on time should help. Depending how much you dislike it cleaning the whole glass regularly ime is the only way to keep a "clean glass" personally I just scrape the front glass, and let my pleco graze the rest.. of course he also gets other num nums.. but he keeps it from getting out of hand on the sides and back. Good news is though annoying.. it's utilizing the nitrates in your tank, so if left be helps keep nitrates regular. more frequent WC's should also help to control it.

 

[sushiray]

nitrates 20pp or better likely... old tank, new tank?... bust out the elbow grease.. or be lazy like me 'n invest in a magnetic scraper... cutting the lights on time should help. Depending how much you dislike it cleaning the whole glass regularly ime is the only way to keep a "clean glass" personally I just scrape the front glass, and let my pleco graze the rest.. of course he also gets other num nums.. but he keeps it from getting out of hand on the sides and back. Good news is though annoying.. it's utilizing the nitrates in your tank, so if left be helps keep nitrates regular. more frequent WC's should also help to control it.

thks, I have resigned my self to scrub a dub dub. I have been doing daily w/c & have reduced my white light usage a lot, but use my blues cuz it's soothing & have not had any brown algae/diatom bloom in awhile now.

have to interrupt my US Open viewing to do a w/c now!

 

[sushiray]

tonite I did a 80% w/c & I scrubbed all the glass & the bare bottom - it sure did get cloudy! cleaned one AC110, the sponge filter, heaters, thermometer, the intake tubes.

so I vac-ed & vac-ed & vac-ed. my new algae sponge wizard pro did the job. so water looks crystal clear now. let's see how long I can keep it this way.

 

[FishNCash]

The only way I have been able to keep algae away is to feed ONLY twice a week. If you feed daily it will come back around 8-10 days. I hate scrubbing but a task that must be done to give the tank a million dollar shine look.

 

[sushiray]

The only way I have been able to keep algae away is to feed ONLY twice a week. If you feed daily it will come back around 8-10 days. I hate scrubbing but a task that must be done to give the tank a million dollar shine look.

my discus tank was started back in june. so yeah, gotta feed frequently. but

my API Master Test readings yesterday were pH6.6 AM/NI=0
NA=0, now this had been 5 prior to july 19th but thereafter zero & that's with no plants!

I did have an AC110, fluval204 & sponge filter running, mostly w/o carbon till yesterday.

I now run 2-AC110 (one has carbon) + sponge filter.

I really disliked the fluval & canisters in general because it's not really that easy to clean - taking into acct you must clean the coiled ridge tubings also (crud gets stuck to the inner walls & elbow part to no end!)

so it must be my w/c's that have kept NA = 0 for awhile? I don't think I did anything else differently to get this reading.

so day1 and counting, after yesterday's full cleaning - still clear! again I am using more blue actinics than my brite whites!

 

[sushiray]

day 5 & no signs of brown algae/diatom bloom. using more blue actinic lighting for viewing (dang! 1 of the 2 bulbs is burning out! so it's true they don't last long, not even 6-8mos!)

so now only getting spots here n there of the whitish/greyish cloudy film that I had all over but scrubbed away.