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Thread: Freshwater ATS discussion

  1. #51
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    So, more light actually turned it dark.

    I think it's important to note that you still had a lot of green growth. The "black, oily" growth that has been referred to in the past as the indicator of high nutrients, needs more frequent cleaning to avoid shading of algae underneath it, etc, may not be what you are seeing here.

    When I first fired up my UAS test box, I got a lot of dark stringy growth - like dinoflagellates (SW). I noticed that once I got a base of growth (green) going, if I increased the photoperiod, there was a point where the dino growth took off, and if I lowered it beneath that point, it was not as much of an issue. Still there, but not an issue.

    I would agree that you want to clean off the dark growth, but if you're still getting the green growth, then it's not nearly as much of a concern - just let it be. I do. I still get the dark slimy growth on some of my screens. I think there is a relationship between how much of this growth you get and how much flow and light you have.

    You may have had the right balance of flow and light with the LEDs and diffusers, so you didn't get the dark growth, but you didn't get enough of the green to filter to your liking.

    Add more light by removing the diffusers and lengthening the photoperiod without increasing flow, and you now set conditions for the dark growth to fill in.

    It is just a theory that fits the facts, but this isn't the first time I've seen it - personally. It is however the first time I've seen it happen in FW.

    Let's see how the CFLs do though. I am interested in that result as well. But if it's no better, then I would plan on going back to LEDs, no diffusers, and increasing the flow.

  2. #52

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    Not really a solution to your immediate problem... but anyone tried growing java moss in a FW algae scrubber? Once it gets going It clings to a roughed up screen pretty well and hair algae, or hair algae like epiphytes, can grow directly on it.... I am not saying it would be the primary nutrient export, but you might get more surface area for hair algae growth. At the very least you could toss some of it in the bottom of your scrubber below the screen.

    Just a thought.

  3. #53

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    I think I kinda know what went wrong. Upon removal of the diffuser, the led chip produces light concentrated in the middle of the screen. The reduction of light at the sides caused the algae to either die off or taken over by dino. The diffuser not only dims the light on central zone down, it also disperses light to the peripheral. With the even lighting, green was able to grow everywhere.

    I will start a new thread to chart the growth of my screen with the new lights.
    - Andy

  4. #54
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    Hmmm...could be, but then I would have expected a ton of center growth. Did you see that area increase a lot?

  5. #55

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    The central zone didn't get much thicker but it's noticeably green.

    Anyway, I've tested my nitrates today and it's around ~30mg/L. Shocking because its in the mid of the week, 3 more days to weekly water change. And for the past 4 days I've been feeding more. Arowana gets one additional 1.5" bullfrog per day. Shall do a test again on Monday night before the Tuesday water change.
    - Andy

  6. #56
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    The plot thickens

  7. #57

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    Hello.
    I just wanted to put in some input comparing your results to mine as far as growth is concerned. I have been running a freshwater scrubber for about three months now, originally it was a uas with cfl lighting, about a month ago i changed it to a submerged (about 5 inches) horizontal with cfl lighting, and about two weeks ago i put a kessil h150 red led light on it. One thing I noticed is that the cfl produced mostly green hair algae, and since changing to the red kessil it has turned into a much darker form of algae. True the algae was the vivid green hair algae that everyone says is great with the cfls, but even though the algae has turned very dark with the leds i am getting nearly 3-4 times more harvest growth and what I harvest seems much more dense. I cannot really compare water parameters at this time because nitrate and phosphates are leaching out of my decor, and probably will be for a very long time. I hope this might have been some help in finding some sort of solution or insight.

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