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Thread: algea moved from screen to display

  1. #11

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    pics

    here is the screen after a deep cleaning yesterday and a few shots of the display algae. The display was covered in this stuff but I removed most of it by hand.
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  2. #12

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    this is how much new life spectrum I feed. I do this 3 times per day. MY screen is 6" x 9" I will measure flow rate later but It used to be around 300gph (gravity fed from return of overflow)
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  3. #13

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    o yea and the display....sorry about the blur my camera has been dropped several times lol That dark gravel you see at the bottom is not gravel its bubble algae!
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  4. #14

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    here are some pics of the one year old led grow bulbs I was using. They contain twelve 1.7 watt leds each. Here you can also see how well the light the bathroom (no flash) They each contain 8 660 red and 4 royal blue. I bought them on ebay last year for $40 ea. and they grew algae like mad for the longest time.(maybe they still will?)
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  5. #15
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    So I take it that you took out the LEDs and put in the CFL floodlights to take the pics on post #11?

    Honestly I don't know if this lamp "went bad" or what. Typically, LEDs do not shift spectrum. LEDs, at least the red ones, are element based instead of phosphor based, and the elements simply don't change composition. What they can do is lose intensity, and that is why they have a rating called the L70 date. This is the timeframe in which the LED output drops to 70% of it's initial output, and is typically about 50,000 hours. So this lamp should still be good for years. Not sure what is going on here.

    If you switched to the CFLs thinking that the LEDs went bad, and wanted to try that theory out, I would only change one of them - leave one LED lamp on one side. That way you 1) can see if one makes a difference and 2) there might be a slightly different strain of algae that is preferably grown by the LED vs CFL, and switching both over at the same time might create a different issue also.

  6. #16

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    floyd: I swapped the LED's for CFL's thinking that the LED must be bad ,,that was only a day ago. I am now doubting myself. I will try one of each like you said. While I am working on the system does everything look ok? size? flow? number of/watts of lighting? I would like to make sure everything is up to snuff while I have the time!

  7. #17
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    Yeah, everything does seem OK. When did you clean the pump last?

  8. #18
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    The lights are fine. Just brush out the screen with a wire brush to remove all the stuff from the holes, and let it grow for 14 days.

    You are probably cleaning it too soon.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica View Post
    Just brush out the screen with a wire brush to remove all the stuff from the holes, and let it grow for 14 days.
    I don't agree with this, doing a hard cleaning will only allow for tank algae to have longer crack at the nutrients while the scrubber recovers. As best I would do this to only 1/4 of the screen on each cleaning.

    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica View Post
    let it grow for 14 days.
    This I agree with this

    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica View Post
    You are probably cleaning it too soon.
    Growth can change over time and screens should really be cleaned when they need it, not when it is necessarily X number of days. This might not be the only reason, but probably is one. Did you notice the growth shifting over from one type to another over the last few months, or did you notice the growth not being as thick, etc?

  10. #20

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    well the growth started out as what I called "yellow paint skin" a year ago but quickly changed to nice light green fluffy hair algae. Then I'd say about 2-3 months ago the algae turned to dark green "turf" algae. The "turf" was VERY hearty and hard to remove hence the "sawzall blade" . The turf started to get a yellow spot in the center of it about a month ago. The yellow spot grew and grew as the display got more and more algae..


    by the way guys...thank you for all your help!!!!

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