I've had a 20g LONG set up for 8 days now. Everything in it (including 50% of the H2O) is from a previous tank. A friend was taking his down and donated what he had in it to me. Anyway, the tank is 30"x12"x12". I have a shoplight sitting directly on the glass cover with two 40w bulbs in it. I had been using a Coralife 50/50 and a Phillips Daylight (tag at HD said full spectrum 6700k). The Phillips seems to give off a bit of yellowish light...but that is compared to the 50/50. The last two days there has been a small buildup of brown algae around the tank, as well as a film of green algae on the glass that I've had to scrub off each day. I also have a Coralife 03 Actinic, which I've tried with the 50/50 but can't stand how blue the tank looks.
This is what I came up with that may be causing this:
--mini cycle...but everything is from an already established tank?
--Light is more intense...my tank is only 12" deep (with most of the LR only a few inches from the surface) while his was a 50g.
--The spectrum from the Phillips is encouraging algal growth.
Now, I've heard hear and there that corals don't necessarily use all that actinic light that we pump into our tanks, and that it's for our benifit so we can see some of the colors better. If this is true, I would like to go with two Coralife 50/50's. But if my corals (which I don't have yet, but plan to) do need the actinic, I will leave it in there. What do you suggest I do? Is there a good combo out of these 3 bulbs?
And please don't say get PC's, VHO's, or MH's....trust me, if I had the budget right now I would, but finishing off college and raising a brand new baby girl is a little higher on the list.
This is what I came up with that may be causing this:
--mini cycle...but everything is from an already established tank?
--Light is more intense...my tank is only 12" deep (with most of the LR only a few inches from the surface) while his was a 50g.
--The spectrum from the Phillips is encouraging algal growth.
Now, I've heard hear and there that corals don't necessarily use all that actinic light that we pump into our tanks, and that it's for our benifit so we can see some of the colors better. If this is true, I would like to go with two Coralife 50/50's. But if my corals (which I don't have yet, but plan to) do need the actinic, I will leave it in there. What do you suggest I do? Is there a good combo out of these 3 bulbs?
And please don't say get PC's, VHO's, or MH's....trust me, if I had the budget right now I would, but finishing off college and raising a brand new baby girl is a little higher on the list.
