Marine lights over Freshwater tanks

[Carol]

We have an Evergro Pro bought in 2015 , as far as I can remember its 3w Cree, 102 LEDs with the end lights on a spread and the main ones punching straight down. This is a marine unit, it has moonlight ,blue,white channels ,the white has green,mauve,red, and it looks like two different intensity whites.
The PAR was always enough in a 2 foot depth to grow hard corals .
My problem is this, Ive tried to research the suitability for it over a freshwater tank.I have read so much conflicting information, too much blue causes algae,too long a photo period causes algae, then you get the complete opposite view.
To say I am confused is putting it mildly.

I think I made a mistake setting the DT up whilst reconfiguring the sump. All I had was a circulation pump , I had blue and white lights with the blues 10% and the whites 40%. The substrate is black manado with a JBL slow release substrate under that. Theres Spider wood and of course its gone grotty. And….I have algae ,in fact I even have cyano 🙄Waters still not as clear as it should be but sump has only been going a week .

The sump is now running and its looking better , right now it has ten hours of light ramped up and down to three hours max white 70% and the blue is always 50% of the white.

Any advice would be gratefully received .

 

[Nick potts]

Marine lights will work fine, especially the ones with a controllable spectrum like the evergrow. Light spectrum can be ignored as far as algae is concerned, just go for a colour that looks good to your eye.

The main issue with them is they are usually very powerful to grow stony corals, which just isn't needed for planted tanks, I would be running a unit of this power at around 20-30% to start off with, with a 7hr photoperiod (less in a non co2 injected tank)

Algae is a common issue in new tanks, and very powerful lights will just make it worse.

 

[zozo]

Algae has only one cause, they are always and everywhere omnipresent... Then proper conditions make them flourish... This could be among others light intensity and duration. Decreasing one or both could help and is a trial and error concept.

Regarding light, as long as it is white light it contains the full spectrum plants can utilize and thus they will grow. If it looks good to you then who's to argue it doesn't?...

 

[Gorillastomp]

I was using Aquaillumination Vegas light prior my Prime Freshwater and the plants were growing just fine. The Vegas was the prior version of the Hydra which are meant for coral. I just had to reduce a lot of the blue spectrum because it was looking weird for freshwater tank. The color LED i liked from the vegas that is missing in the prime freshwater is the Royal Blue. This color was something like purple ish like some T5 light. It was bringing up the plants/fish color. I feel this spectrum is missing a lot in "freshwater" light.

 

[MichaelJ]

My problem is this, Ive tried to research the suitability for it over a freshwater tank.I have read so much conflicting information, too much blue causes algae,too long a photo period causes algae, then you get the complete opposite view.
To say I am confused is putting it mildly.

Hi @Carol As long as you can set up the light with proper intensity (being dimmable) and a color mix that makes the plants and fish look good to your eyes then its all fine... It's not really the color constituent of the light that cause problems with algae, its the intensity.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Nick potts]

@Carol

You wouldn't happen to be the same Carol from marinefishforumUK back in the day would you? The dogs look familiar

 

[Carol]

@Carol

You wouldn't happen to be the same Carol from marinefishforumUK back in the day would you? The dogs look familiar

Its very possible I am, over the years Ive wandered thru a lot ,ReefsUK being my first , I cant place the one you mention,but being a Carol with Chows is possibly not too common a combination.

 

[Carol]

Hi @Carol As long as you can set up the light with proper intensity (being dimmable) and a color mix that makes the plants and fish look good to your eyes then its all fine... It's not really the color constituent of the light that cause problems with algae, its the intensity.

Cheers,
Michael

Thank you, yes they dim right down on a scale of 1-100. White channel consists of more than the whites with some fetching greens reds and mauves. Moonlight I never use.

 

[PARAGUAY]

I use the Nano Fw from APS on my small tanks its 10 to 12000 kelvin suppose it puts in the Marine light spec. No trouble growing plants and looks good to the eye

 

[Carol]

I use the Nano Fw from APS on my small tanks its 10 to 12000 kelvin suppose it puts in the Marine light spec. No trouble growing plants and looks good to the eye

As far as marines go the blue light is as a rule 21000K and the whites ideally a mix of 6500 and 10000K .
These days its all nm, I used to use full spectrum 10k halides with T5 blues and whites 2 of each . As far as I know 6500 to 10000 is more or less natural sunlight, the sun as I see it is the same its just how far away we are or tilted from it in any season,unless of course your on the equator.
Seawater is thicker to put it simply, so light has to work a bit harder.
When asked for advice over new tanks by novices to marines I always explained about time and patience. Its some of my own advice I should take ,however I would like to get the lighting about half right before I mess it up totally.
Thank you for your help and to everyone ,it is appreciated,

 

[oreo57]

There really is no messing up w/ color really ( where there are a couple of uncommon ways, most regarding saltwater lighting).
Just too much or too little depending on other factors.
Now one catch ..not all lighting with the same calculated k temp (CCT for non- continuous black body light sources ) looks the same.
Like 2+4+ 6= 12 so does 1+ 4 + 7
Point a 10000 tube may not give you the same " look" as a 10000k led. Will ignore for now the metal halides and the fake ratings on high k bulbs.
If you have just 2 channels ( newer pros have 6)
just run the white channel almost full ( what your tank can take, another subject)..add blue to taste.
There are things one can do with high percent blue light that affects the plants but... another story