lighting colours and nuisance algae

[microbius]

greetings TR

i am using dual 36w power compacts 50/50 daylight/actinic in my soft coral nano reef, the daylight side being 6500k -does this spectrum favour nuisance algae growth compared to a higher spectrum tube of say 10000k for example

many thanks microbius

[Amphibious]

It has been my experience that nuisance algae simply favors light and is not particular to color temps. If we light our tanks with it, and the nutrients for algae are present, it will appear.

Dick

[THEJRC]

pretty much on par! Even corals actually thrive better under lower spectrum lighting. The higher spectrums are more to bring out and accent the colors for our viewing. Algae's are simple creatures with amazing adaptability. Some can grow with 0 light. While there are different "preferred" spectrums (3400k vs. 4100k, etc.) lighting itself is just one of the catalysts for growth. If the other conditions fit algae's will photosynthesize under almost any light including the ambient light your tank gets in the room

Focus your time on keeping nutrients in check and run whatever lighting fits your needs for the rest of the tank, once ya find something that works for you... use it!

[microbius]

many thanks dick and j that has cleared things up a bit for me

[THEJRC]

he he in retrospect all I did was reinforce an idear dick was on top of it and a lot less long winded!

[PhotoJohn]

in my opinion 6500k or lower k bulb will more readliy grow algae than 10-20k bulbs. People that grow plants often use 6500k bulbs. A 6500k bulb is considered a grow bulb where as a 10k or higher bulb is considered a blooming bulb. The 6500k make plants long and gangly where as the 10k make plant more dense and bushy. I am not sure but I am guessing that the 6500k spectrum transfers more energy. I had a 6500k 400w MH and everything grew like crazy, but it was all yellow and that wouldnt do. What are your lvls in the tank, espically nitrates/phosphates? Having measurable lvls of these will promote algae growth and may negatively effect other life in the system. In a small nano tank I would suggest making a small refugium. I would place the fuge above the nano tank and use a small pump/powerhead to pump water up to the small fuge and gravity feed the water back to the nano. You dont want high flow so a small power head would do.

[microbius]

Greetings photo john

my nitrates phosphates show as zero same for ammonia and nitrite i supose the phos and nitrate would show as zero though if the algae are utilising it
i also do 25-30% water changes weekly(all change water also shows zero readings) with this amount of change water IMHO i would have thought the tank should be fairly nutrient free, i do feed daily but lightly