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HO lights causing problems?

847 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Greggz 
#1 ·
I have a planted tank now. But it used to be only with fake plants. When I still had fake plants, I had to replace the lights. I went out and bought HO lights. I have two 55 watt HO for a 65 gallon tank. Ever since these new lights I have had major algae problems.

I have since planted my tank and hoped that it would tank care of the algae problem. However it has not. Are the lights just too much for my tank? Is it worth switching them out to non-HO lights?

I was keeping them on 12 hours a day and have cut them back to 8. Not really helping.
 
#2 ·
That seems to be a lot of light without any CO2 or fertilization.

12 hours was much too long, 8 is probably still too long, especially without the other two necessities.

If you don't want to dose fertilizers or inject CO2, then I would advise you decrease your lighting significantly.
 
#4 ·
thanks for feedback. I actually am going to start with CO2 after I get it figured out. I am already dosing with fertilizer (flora pride). would like to change to one that can be put in daily. I just got rid of the carbon in my filter hoping to keep the fertilization in the tank longer.
 
#5 ·
Blindly following the "you need to add ferts and CO2" advice is futile unless you have a healthy plant mass to use all those nutrients. I can run a bare tank with high light, high CO2, and ferts and I will have algae city by the end of the day. You need to stock heavily with plants to avoid that situation. Also CO2 is not a 'necessity'... There are many examples of tanks without CO2 that look fantastic and are algae free... People come in here with their first tanks all the time and receive such advice then blow $300 on a CO2 setup thinking that all will be well the second the magical CO2 is in their tank. A week later their situation is just as bad...

All CO2 does is help your existing plants live to their full potential. It will not cause algae to stop growing. Without the plants it does nothing.

Yes, excess nutrients, low flow, etc are all negative factors that you should always correct but none of that stuff will matter unless you have a solid amount of healthy plants to keep things stabilized.

Also you should always post pics of the tank when asking for advice. Without it you are more likely to get "blanket statement" advice like "oh just add CO2 and you will magically be fine". It's all about balancing all of these factors (light, plants, ferts/nutrients/CO2)... People largely ignore the 'plants' part when it is arguably the most important factor.
 
#7 ·
Are the lights just too much for my tank? Is it worth switching them out to non-HO lights?
Based on my experience when I was low tech, if you want to stay low tech, HO lights are too much for your tank. If they have reflectors, you might try removing them. And as mentioned above, limit the hours the lights are on. You could also remove one bulb.

If none of that works, get yourself some non-HO lights. Or even shop lamps. As you are experiencing, too much light in a low tech tank can equal algae farm very quickly.
 
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