UV Lights on AI Prime 16HD during algae bloom

[kornface13]

I'm having a minor algae bloom and have some slightly cloudy water. I see plenty of people recommending a UV stabilizer so I'm considering picking one up. I run dual AI Prime 16HDs and I've already turned off the white/green/reds until it clears up, but it got me thinking..... if I cranked up the UV channel on these, would it be anywhere near as effective as a dedicated UV sterilizer?

 

[vcnt]

Im not sure, but according to this thread its just a color description, of the violet. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/q...prime-not-quite-for-reef.929767/post-10496602

 

[Spare time]

No. It is not the same wavelength that sterilizin uv is.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Agree, no. If it did, it would make the lights very dangerous to people, fish, etc.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

Us Prime users looking at our tanks when our UV suddenly cranks to 100%

Different UV OP, grab a sterilizer if you need the cleansing sort.

 

[kornface13]

Agree, no. If it did, it would make the lights very dangerous to people, fish, etc.

Haha yeah I said that in my head, but then asked the question anyways. Haha.

 

[vcnt]

Us Prime users looking at our tanks when our UV suddenly cranks to 100%

Different UV OP, grab a sterilizer if you need the cleansing sort.

To put it stupidly, woudlnt the primes give really bad sun burn?

 

[Salty_Northerner]

No the prime UV is totally different then the bulb in a UV sterilizer. In my opinion focus more on the white channel and don't screw around with the green or the red. Despite what some say about turning the green and the red channels off isn't beneficial since the coral needs spectrum and the green and red is part of the spectrum. My advice would be just to lower the white channel down for now.

How long is your lighting schedule? I run 12 hours total and I can see not so much the water getting cloudy near the end the lighting period but the water isn't crystal clear. It's algae starting to move around in the water column. And yes a UV sterilizer will definitely help avoid that issue. Also adding more pods to the tank and also dosing live phytoplankton will help a lot too.