Par vs Run-time
Hi All,
I've been playing with my Lighting, Fertilization etc etc etc for the last few months (moved to a new Dosing Method)
60" x 20" x 20" rimless aquarium
No Lid
Fluval FX6 and Fluval 206 filters
Eheim 350 Surface Skimmer
5" of Eco-Complete substrate (Root tabs used)
C02 Injection (Reactor)
3 Ecotech Radion XR15 FW Gen 1 (hung ~8 inches above water line)
Fairly Heavily Planted:
- Background - various stems requiring high and medium light
- MidGround - various stems requiring high and medium light
- Foreground - dwarf hairgrass (not a full carpet), tiger lillies, crypts, anubias, madagascar lace
- Java and Weeping moss on rocks
Although I'm not running into any severe issues, the tank doesn't look great yet as I am battling pesky cyno here and there and a bit of hair algae on some of the stems (which I cut it off when I see it) and also a bit of green spot algae here and there (clearly still working on the fert dosing schedule). As mentioned... I'm playing with both fertilization and lighting changes at the same time (which probably is not smart).
That being said, I am looking for some thoughts/advice from you experts out there regarding light intensity vs runtime.
My question is: How intense vs how long should I run my lights to get the best plant health & color?
I am currently at about 100 PAR for the high light planted sections & 50-70ish for the rest of the tank at the substrate level (I rented a par meter from BRS to do the measurements). I currently have my lights run @ 77% intensity with 100% Red, 80% green, 100% cool white, 20% - 40% blue (depending on the time of day), 0 Royal Blue, 0 UV. I run them at 77% for 7 hours with an additional 1/2 hour ramp up and 1/2 ramp down at both the beginning and end of day
Would you recommend less runtime/higher light or less intensity/longer runtime or ......is the answer just keep playing with it and there is no right answer. I hear light runtimes from anywhere between 5-12 hours.
Very interested in what you all are doing. Want to get this tank perfect. Once I do.... it of course is an excuse to buy another tank...LOL