Going from 130 to 260

[Ag]

I'm gonna buy a coralife 260 watt freshwater lighting system and was wondering if I can expect any problems from changing to double the wattage I am currently running.Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[2la]

If that's all the information you're going to provide, I'll guess yes. Or maybe no.

[Ag]

Sorry,I guess a little more info might be helpful.Cryptocoryne wendtii,corkscrew vallisneria,java fern,dwarf sagittaria,anacharis,Cryptocoryne retrospiralis and ludwigia repens are the plants I have and I guess I'm wondering if any of these will melt,or if I'll get a case of GW from switching to a higher wattage of light or what types of algae problems in general that I may encounter. And I'm sure there is more issues that I just dont know about. Feel free to enlighten me.

[Georgiadawgger]

With a huge jump in light from 1.8 wpg to 3.65 I had massive amounts of green spot algae on my slow growers like Java fern and all my Anubias spp. (I had a ton of them). At the time I also invested in a good canister filter and a UV sterilizer so no green water outbreak, but that green spot algae was really starting to take over the broad leaved plants and they seemed to "choke" them. Needless to say I've completely rescaped my tank with fast growers and things are well. If you don't have your nutrients in check (phosphates and nitrAtes in particular) you may have algae growing like mad. I also added CO2 to my tank to a pretty constant level of 25-33 ppm and so far so good (knock on wood). This is just what I did when I did the massive wattage jump...and I'm going up to 4.4 when my new light comes in next week!!

[2la]

How big is the tank? Are you injecting or planning to inject CO2? Do you fertilize the tank at all? What are your water parameters (pH, dKH, nitrates, phosphates, etc.)?

And yes, your C. wendtii will in all likelihood melt after the change (possibly C. retro as well), but it should bounce back strong.

[Ag]

Well its on a 55 gal. so I have almost 2.4 wpg now,but with 4.7 wpg I wonder if this may be a bit much for a 55 gal.

[Ag]

I have a 55 gal.I'm running pressurized co2 and I add 5 ml flourish 2xweek, 5 ml potassium 2xweek,2 ml iron 2xweek all from seachem and dose kno3 dry from (green light)stump remover1 tsp. 1xweek. with a 50% water change 1xweek.
pH:7.0
dKH:9
nitrates:10 ppm
phosphates:1 ppm

[Georgiadawgger]

I think you'll be fine. Just monitor your nutrients. Like I mentioned, I'm about to make the jump again from 3.65 to 4.4 wpg. You may want to invest in a UV sterilizer, but if you're diligent with your nutrients, you shouldn't get a suspended algae outbreak. (I got mine for both algae and disease prevention)

[Ag]

Well I got my light today,plugged it in and within an hour the plants started pearling like I've never seen them pearl.I really hope doubling my wattage is what it takes for my plants to really take off,but I suppose time will tell.

[geodiscus]

They will grow fast....