TOO MUCH light?

[brooklynfishman]

I have a 125 gal tank 48 x 24 x 24.

Everything growing well, some issues with CO2 and now some algea, hair and cyno.

I use 220 watts for 10 hours with a 440 watt burst for 3 hours. According to HOPPY's diagram I have 200 Par at the bottom of the tank for 10 hours and 320par for the 3 hour light burst.

What do you guys think? What PAR are we striving for?

[Hoppy]

220 watts of T12 bulbs, in shop lights, would not be high light. 220 watts of PC bulbs in Coralife PC lights would not be high light. 220 watts of Cree XM-L LEDs sitting right at the top of the tank would be extremely high light.

If you have 40 micromols of PAR at the substrate, and use pressurized CO2, you can grow almost anything, but slowly enough that you aren't forced to prune every few days. That could be considered an ideal light level. 200 micromols of PAR at the substrate is such high light that it wouldn't be possible to keep enough CO2 supplied to the plants to allow them to grow as fast as the light is forcing them to. And, algae, especially black brush algae would soon be the only healthy growth in the tank.

[brooklynfishman]

OOPS... I should have said it was T5HO lights.. A bit tired...

So Hoppy are you saying that 3 - 54 watt T5HOs are all I need for my 24 inch deep tank with the light 4 inches above the tank?

[Hoppy]

Not all T5HO lights are equal. Those that have very good reflectors, preferably individual reflectors for each bulb, and which have a real HO ballast that drives the bulbs to full HO power, are far better than FishNeedIt quality lights, which have neither good reflectors nor real HO ballasts. One T5HO bulb, with a very good reflector and real HO ballast, will light the area under it to about 40-50 micromols at a distance of 24 inches. But, a single bulb won't give uniform intensity in a tank more than about 12 inches front to back depth. For deeper tanks, you need two bulbs, separated by 6-8 inches to get uniform light. If the two bulbs are located close together, they produce twice the intensity as one bulb, so you would need to raise the light about 6 inches higher to get only 40-50 micromols of PAR, but the light would also spread out more and might cover the whole substrate well enough.

[cordero01]

so 40-50micromals is a mid light but enoughto grow a carpet plant?

[brooklynfishman]

So what would you say about the light I have.

It is the 48 inch Current USA Nova Extreme T5 Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 8X54 Watt, 48 inch 1123. tHE LINK TO THE LIGHT IS:

http://www.directaquarium.com/Curren...in-p/10468.htm

oF COURSE NOW THEY SAY... {DirectAquarium.com Note: This fixture has been discontinued by the manufacturer. The manufacturer is advising us that Current USA CU01081 actually has a higher output - thanks to its specialized reflectors - despite being 6x54. Additionally, it's very affordable to add the equivalent LEDs to the 1081. Simply purchase Current USA's TruLumen LED Light Module with power supply.}


I have Geisseman mid day and Aquaflora bulbs in there that you reccomended about 6 months ago to me.

When I got home this morning, I took out three bulbs. So now I have 3 bulbs, evenly spaced out on for 10 hours and then I have the burst of an extra two lights on for 2 hours.

Now with all the lights on, it looks so much more dim. The light is on top of the tank with the supplied legs, so I am guessing about 4 inches above the top of the tank.

According to your chart it is HIGH light.

All the plants are doing GREAT, but just getting cyno and long hair algea. Dosing EI now, but NO PO4 as my tap contains 2ppm.

Let me know if you think this lighting would be ideal, or if you have a better suggestion. This light does not come with anything to hang it with but if needed I am sure I can wrap some heavy picture wire around it to suspend it from the ceiling.

THANKS HOPPY for ALL your help!!