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Is the Planted+ 24/7 a good fit for a moderate light 75 gallon tank?

3K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  KFantastico 
#1 ·
I want to have a tank full of plants including swords, dwarf sagittaria, and cabomba or limnophila sessiliflora/ambulia as well as some lower light plants like elodea, vals, crypts, and java ferns.

Not looking to do any crazy high plants or do a carpet or inject co2. Might add flourish if necessary but that's about it. Does anyone use a 48" 24/7 on a 75 gallon or a tank with similar height (20" before substrate's added)?
 
#3 ·
I have 2 of those but smaller sizes. A 20" and a 30" on a 20L. I bought it thinking that it will be good for a medium light tank. but then it was a huge algae city. I removed the 20", added a diffuser to 30", changed my CO2 from DIY to pressurized and even then, the top layer of plants had hair algae, green spots on the glasses and exposed substrate and BBA on Anubias(but this was due to DIY CO2). But the plants grew crazy. Now I am switching to EI dosing to eliminate fert deficiency issue.

Soto your question, IMHO yes but this is not based on a 75G with 48" :frown2:, it should be enough or it might even be more. Did you buy one already or are you looking at your options?
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the reply! I haven't bought it yet but I do need a light soon as I am expecting plants in a couple weeks. I currently use a regular Current USA Satellite (not the Plus...) and it was an awful choice but at the time I didn't have much choice. Super excited to upgrade the light and finally have some plants!

As far as algae is concerned, I've read that window screen does a good job of cutting down the par so I'm not too concerned with the prospect of the light being too much. I'm more worried about getting a light that isn't enough.
 
#5 ·
I think it is designed well. So I would think that it will do the job. Biggest complaint about the product is that you cannot control the photo period, the highest intensity is short and overall light on duration is too high. Dialing CO2 requires a lot of experimentation. but overall, amazing product.

I am working on raising the light with DIY acrylic stands this week. Hope it will work out.
 
#8 ·
I say go for it -- if you find that the output is too high on 24/7 mode, you can always dim it and put it on a timer instead. If you're dead set on using the 24/7 mode, you could also try to raise the light (a la plantetra).

I have a 36" on my 38-gallon low-tech (around 17" to substrate) and it's been great so far. I do dose (2x) Excel though, which could be mitigating algae issues I might otherwise have.
 
#9 ·
Yes and No. I have the 30" on a 36G bowfront and I'm at that depth. In my opinion it's not enough light. (I do own the 48" 24/7, but that tank is still dry)

My dwarf sag is now giant sag, the limnophilla sessiflora is very leggy and the leaves aren't fine. My temple hygro was red under a PC, but turning back to green under the 24/7.

My swords, crypts, java ferns are doing very well.
 
#11 ·
I'm using a 48" 24/7 on my 75 gallon. However, its only been up for two weeks, so its a little early to talk about results. I'm using pressurized co2 and pps pro dosing, and still using a standard dose of excel. Plants are growing and I haven't noticed any algae issues yet. The long photo period has me a bit nervous. I am hopeful that this setup gets me near medium light...I guess time will tell, but I haven't ruled out ordering a second fixture to run on a timer for the higher light portion of the day. ( although if I do that, I'm worried the long photo period of the 24 hr light will create algae)
 

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#13 ·
I went ahead and finally ordered the 24/7! I went back and forth a lot in my mind, but I guess in the end even if it isn't quite enough light , I'll just have to order an additional light to supplement. No big deal. I just don't want to stress over the lighting anymore. lol.

Huge thanks to everyone who gave their experiences and thoughts!

Bump:

Your tank is a beauty! Where did you get the nice round rocks at the base of your plants?
 
#12 ·
I have this light on my 75g tank. It is mostly anubias, and crypts and so far it is doing well. The tank has only been set up for a short amount of time but so far the only thing I have is diatoms which are sort of expected in a new setup. I did have a tiny bit of GSA but I added some floater and that quickly went away.

I am not injecting co2 and only dose excel on occasion.
 
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