Lighting Specs—Do I Have Any Chance?

[Byron]

Sand is not going to cause diatoms. The diatoms are normal in new tanks during the first few months (sometimes, not always) because the biological system is not yet established. I would not gho to extremes concerning the diatoms, just have lots of plants and this problem should disappear.

However, the sand here is problematic, first for being white which will stress fish, and second for its possible roughness. You mention loaches...which species? Some like to dig and bury themselves or they dig to excavate their personal "home" usually under a chunk of wood. Sand is preferable for loaches just as it is essential for cories.

 

[FranM]

On the light, there appears to be a misunderstanding about Kelvin. Kelvin is the colour temperature of light. This has nothing to do with heat, light temperature is a different thing. All light is produced by colour wavelengths (think of the rainbow or a spectrum) and these can be measured, one way is by Kelvin. "Warm" light is higher in the red/yellow wavelengths, and "cool" light is higher in the blue wavelengths. Sunlight is around 5000-6500K midday, it varies throughout the day though most of us do not see that. So "warm" light will be lower Kelvin numbers, while "cool" light will be higher. Artificial light that has a Kelvin range from 5000K to 6500K is the best light for aquatic plant growth according to scientific studies. The 5000K will have more red and be a bit warmer, while the 6500K has less red and more blue so it is cooler.

The K for your light as posted in Post #1 is 5500K to 8000K. The 8000K is getting a bit high in the blue, and this can assist problem algae, so if you can adjust the light to have the K between 5500K and 6500K, it would be better. Plants need red and blue to drive photosynthesis, and red is the more important of the two. Adding high green to this combination greatly improves plant growth. Plants appear green because they reflect green light, so you need more of it. Just as red leaf plants reflect red so you need higher red for these, or a more intense light collectively.

Sand is not going to cause diatoms. The diatoms are normal in new tanks during the first few months (sometimes, not always) because the biological system is not yet established. I would not gho to extremes concerning the diatoms, just have lots of plants and this problem should disappear.

However, the sand here is problematic, first for being white which will stress fish, and second for its possible roughness. You mention loaches...which species? Some like to dig and bury themselves or they dig to excavate their personal "home" usually under a chunk of wood. Sand is preferable for loaches just as it is essential for cories.

The sand is silica based so isn’t that contributing to the diatoms? Are phosphate and silica related? I have clowns and yo-yos. They don’t dig much at all. And yes, after purchasing, I realized that the light sand may was not the best option.

 

[Byron]

The sand is silica based so isn’t that contributing to the diatoms? Are phosphate and silica related? I have clowns and yo-yos. They don’t dig much at all. And yes, after purchasing, I realized that the light sand may was not the best option.

The silica sand is not going to cause diatoms on its own, I had Quikrete Play Sand which is silica sand in all my tanks for 8-9 years and never an issue of diatoms in any of the tanks.

Silica is a rock type, phosphate is a salt, best way I can describe it, but nothing to do with silica.