my lights

[|2AIN]

hey everyone, i recently bought orbit power compacts 196 watt and i am getting a lot of algae is this because of the new lights in the aquarium, i had a 40 watt light above it before these ones, how long is this algae going to last, i mean will it die down after a while?

[dmiannay]

Certainly additional lighting can cause this. Did you increase the photoperiod as well?

Also, have you checked your nitrate and phosphate levels lately? If they are elevated this will also contribute to increased algae growth.

[|2AIN]

what is photoperiod

[dmiannay]

Photoperiod is the span of time that you have the lights on. For instance the photoperiod for the VHOs on our tank is 7AM to 7PM daily and for the MHs it is 10AM to 5PM daily. The photoperiods for the VHOs and MHs overlap between 10AM and 5PM.

Does this help?

[|2AIN]

yes it does, thankyou , i currently have my lights coming on at 11 and going off at 9. does that cound ok??

[dmiannay]

Ten hours should be just fine. If you search around here at RC you'll find a large variety of photoperiods. The type of lighting, and corals you're trying to help grow, can have something to do with what photoperiod you use... but again you're likely just fine with 10 hours.

[|2AIN]

thanks