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Too much light?

18K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  Sharkfood 
#1 ·
Is there such a thing? I just set up a 65 (36x18x24) with dual 150W MH. not sure how its going to go. what is the most light you've ever put over a freshwater tank?
 
#2 ·
That's an ungodly amount of light IMO.

I run 2x39W T5HO on the same tank and have never had an issue with lighting being too low.

I'd suspend those lights several feet over the tank so you don't boil the fish. I grow eggplants and peppers under about 2/3 of that light.
 
#3 ·
I agree with Sharkfood; that is too much light for your aquarium. Unlike saltwater reef aquariums, planted aquariums do not need that much light.

If you use that much light, you will have algae problems for sure.
 
#6 ·
Actually I have a 55 gal tank and am useing 2 54 watt T5HO bulbs, one 10,000 k and one "grow" they are both about 6 inches above the top of the tank. I use DIY CO2, and can't currently get ahold of a decent price Pressure set up. (I have 10 2 liter bottles going, 2 changed per week) I have very little agae , but have my lights on a timer and moniter feedings.
 
#10 ·
currently i'm slowly staging the lights in and keeping my old 20g with 54W 2xt5HO going as a reserve tank in case things go bad. currently one light runs 6 hours and the second comes on for 2 hours for a mid day burst. temps haven't changed much, 1-2 degrees if that. its a bit of an experiment, as i don't have the space for 100+. i'm going to bump both lights up to 8 and 4 hours soon, continually monitoring the temps. i'm prepared to sell these off and purchase a 6 bulb t5 fixture if its not going to work. once i'm in a house this tank gets converted to a reef tank. lol
 
#11 ·
People get a misconception when they use the WPG rule. The WPG rule is grossly outdated.

Not all t5 lamps put out the same amount of light. (lumens) And besides that 300W MH over a 65 is getting into reef lighting territory, IMO.

I'm now running 1 bulb of 24W t5ho on my 20G and I'm still able to grow pretty much any plant I could possibly want.

On my 75G I'm going to run 3-4X54 t5ho and I should have plenty of light to grow most any plants. Besides that, 4 t5's will put a ton less heat out than MH.
 
#16 ·
Im running 2 150w MH on a 75g.

I am fighting an odd brown hair algae that supposedly flourishes in low light according to what I can find. Some say its also caused by excess Iron (which I find easier to agree with). My lights hang about 14" over the tank.

I have a small amount of green spot algae, but any less would make me paranoid. I have had algae in every tank I have ever had in my life (30+ years). It should be there. Its supposed to be there. If someone says its not, I think they are lying or their water is toxic (and it should still be there if its toxic).

Back to the Halides...

I came very close to getting 70w fixtures. If I had it to do again, I would have gone with my gut and bought them instead of the 150s.
 
#17 ·
Brown hair algae will grow in high or lower light. I've kind of come to the conclusion it's an inevitable part of change. I see it show up sometimes when a tank is new, or the gravel gets torn up in a rescape. Curiously I've only ever seen it on my glass, much like GDA, but even uglier. Usually it goes away as quick as it shows up.

There's always going to be some miniscule amount of algae, or spores at least, but it shouldn't be on your plants, and it shouldn't really be noticeable without looking for it (unless you're growing it on purpose for some weird reason). I always figure if I have to actually clean it off something, or magfloat the glass more than once every month or two, then it's an algae problem.
 
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