[lilserb953]

How often do you have to change bulbs on a fixture. Also ive had my fixture for about 3 months with stock bulbs. Ive been getting alot of ha. Could old bulbs be a factor in excessive algae growth? Tank is 5 months and a few days old. :fish:



:beer:

 

[JErrodbuffington]

i would say the bulbs are ok, but yes bulbs can contribute to algae growth, however in your case with 3 month old bulbs probly not, even if they are cheap bulbs.. in any case replacing bulbs will not take away the hair algae..

to get rid of hair algae you must first find the source of what is feeding the hair algae.. you use ro di? how much you feed, how many fish you have, how much flow, how are your rocks set up? all this plays in to the hair algae.. how is your maintenance been, has your sand bed been siphoned reg...

also its a newer tank and this happens in newr tanks, dont give up you can get it under control.

 

[lilserb953]

I use 0 TDS RO/DI water. I feed every day and some times every other. I feed a few falkes or pelets. I have 1 clown, a pep shrimp and a hermit crab. I have a koralia nano 225 and a koralia nano 420. Rocks setup like the profile pic. Fixture is a odyssea 72watt. I do a 30-40% water change every week and vacuum the gravel well.

 

[JErrodbuffington]

well seems all should be well with that maint. schedule.. maybe you are changing too much water and not having enough stability.. this would be a hard one.. there could be trapped phosphates and nitrates keeping the fuel for the hair algae.. and it is a natural process.. hair happens, i would take rock out and scrub that off and put it back until eventually i replaced my substrate and i have no issues.. not saying the same is for you, but something is going on to feed the algae.. get rid of it, keep to a regular schedule, use good salt, maybe cut back on the water changes.. to a lesser amount.. you could be removing to much stuff... just a geuss tho.

 

[lilserb953]

but then algae growth just gets worse if not cleaned and scraped.

 

[Jadinop]

Bulb life(output) will depend greatly on bulb quality. It's not uncommon for the cheap brands to lose output in just a few months.

 

[lilserb953]

So, Im guessing becuase its an Odyssea fixture the bulbs are garbage.

 

[lilserb953]

Where do you guys get your bulbs? Any good deals out there?