Stephen's 120L tank log

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fr499y
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Was going to say in a two tube setup you want the whiter light up front 🙂
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Stephen
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fr499y wrote: Mon Nov 16, 2020 13:40 pm Was going to say in a two tube setup you want the whiter light up front 🙂
Thanks Matt, that's how I have it. ;]
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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Stephen
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Stephen wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:58 am
I will contact Juwel and post the reply here.
I had a reply from Juwel which is basically a rubbish reply.

I wrote:
Stephen to Juwel wrote:I have purchased a Juwel Lido 120 LED less 2 months ago. The LED lighting is causing a lot of unsightly algae. Algae is covering the glass, filter box and live plants. The lights are only on for 6 hours a day. I am a well experienced and knowledgeable fish keeper and have other aquariums. The Juwel LED lights are much brighter than my other lights on my other aquariums. Is there anything I can do to lower the light intensity? Will a dimmer switch work? Thank you
reply from Juwel wrote: Dear Stephen

Thank you for your e-mail. Sorry your having algae issues. The light unit will not work with a dimmer the only options you have is to reduce the hours of lighting or else get refectors and position them to reduce the amount of light going into the aquarium.

Yours
Gordon Alexander
In my opinion that reply was a waste of time.
There was no mention in replacing the Juwel LED Day light tube or any other alternative except to reduce the hours of lighting.
What's a "refector"? I am sure he means "reflector".
I am glad that I made the conscious decision to replace the Juwel LED Day (9000k) to the less intense Juwel LED Colour (4425k) and combine this with the Juwel LED Nature (6500k).
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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Andys temperate tank
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At least your smart enough to sort the problem yourself Stephen.

9000k is ridiculous. Even my twinstar s is only 6700k.
64l kitchen tank: 16 golden tetra.
5ft 425L: 7 blue angel fish, 30 rummie nose tetra, 20 black neon tetra, 1 longfin bristlenose plec, 2 corydoras sterbai, 2 SAE.
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SPACKlick
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Can I ask why 9000K is ridiculous?

He says, side eyeing his 10,000K and remembering his 14,000K previously...
250L: Tank Log
2 female Bristlenose Pleco, 24 Cherry Barbs 7M:17F, 4 Reticulated Flying Foxes, 17 Neon Tetra, 15 Lemon Tetra, 11 Yellow/Orange Cherry Shrimp, 1 Zebra Nerite Snail, 3 Olve Nerite Snails, 4 Horned Nerite snails, 25 Amano Shrimp, Many Malaysian Trumpet Snails - AqAdvisor
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Stephen
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@SPACKlick
SPACKlick wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 15:47 pm Can I ask why 9000K is ridiculous?

He says, side eyeing his 10,000K and remembering his 14,000K previously...
I know the question was referring to @Andys temperate tank comment.

As previously mentioned.
Stephen wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 13:03 pm (As I understand it)
The Juwel LED Day at 9000k is pushing more towards the blue light (great for marine tanks) but blue light or too much blue light can cause algae growth and stunted plants.
Plants require light more from the red spectrum for photosynthesis, the Juwel LED Colour will also enhance any red or blue colours in the aquarium (plants and fish).
Plants in a tropical aquarium only require minimal blue light, blue light regulates the opening of stomata, which are the tiny openings on leaves that control both water loss and the uptake of carbon dioxide, only a low intensity of blue is needed in a light spectrum for fully functional photosynthesis.
Plants do use the whole spectrum of light (day light), both blue and red light are important but getting the balance of light right is also important.
The light from the Juwel LED Day is far too bright and intense, I do not have a high-tech aquarium with CO2 etc..
The Juwel LED lights are positioned only 4cm from the water surface by default.
This is why algae is forming very quickly. Reducing the intensity of light (changing the LED Day 9000k for a LED Colour 4425k) will reduce the light intensity.
Ideally in a tropical planted aquarium you need light in the range of 6000k-6800k with minimal blue light whilst in a marine aquarium this would be much higher with more blue light.

When my new plants arrive to replace the badly algae covered plants (caused by the lighting) I will clean the aquarium of all visible algae and do another big water change and also clean the filter sponges.
I will then monitor the aquarium to see if the algae situation improves, if it does improve then my theory is correct, if it does not improve then my theory is wrong.

Fingers crossed
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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Andys temperate tank
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Nice one Stephen. You said it alot better than I would have.
64l kitchen tank: 16 golden tetra.
5ft 425L: 7 blue angel fish, 30 rummie nose tetra, 20 black neon tetra, 1 longfin bristlenose plec, 2 corydoras sterbai, 2 SAE.
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Stephen
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I am hoping that my new plants will be here tomorrow (Wednesday).
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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Suse
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Sorry if you mentioned this already, but what about a layer of floating plants to effectively dim the light getting to the rest of the tank?
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Stephen
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Suse wrote: Tue Nov 17, 2020 19:07 pm Sorry if you mentioned this already, but what about a layer of floating plants to effectively dim the light getting to the rest of the tank?
Thanks Suse
Ben (BigBen) mentioned floating plants earlier in my tank log.
I have considered some floating plants but would be afraid that the plants below would be deprived of light.
I am quite pleased on how well my Alternathera reineckii 'mini' is growing and would not want to upset this plant by partially blocking light.
The thought of floating plants will remain in the back of my mind if everything else fails. So thank you for the suggestion.
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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