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I'm not new to the hobby as I've been in it off and on for 40 years but I am NEW to a planted tank. This tank is over 5 years old. 60g Marineland FW with a pool filter sand substrate. I just got a 48" Finnex Planted+ 24/7 (running in 24/7 mode right now), pulled the plastic plants in favor of real ones. Amazon Swords, Jungle Val, Wisteria, Java Fern, Anubis, Rotala, Dwarf Sag. It's a start.
I quite like the 24/7 mode but with my 24" depth I may not have enough light on long enough, although it sure seems pretty bright from about 9am to 5pm (although I understand that 'max' isn't really achieved until 3pm). I felt it stayed too bright during the night so I put it on a timer to come on at 6am and off at 11pm, which still gives me the sunrise to sunset/moonlight ramp up/down. The beauty is when the power goes off (timer) it starts back up in 6am feature time so that's where I set the on time. It's coming up on a week and the plants look okay, although I don't see any major spurts, I'm seeing hints of growth. Time will tell.
Footnote: I'm using some Flourish root tabs and dosing with Fresh Trace (because I have it) and Flourish Comprehensive following a weekly 10g water change.
Edit: Suggestions Welcomed.
I quite like the 24/7 mode but with my 24" depth I may not have enough light on long enough, although it sure seems pretty bright from about 9am to 5pm (although I understand that 'max' isn't really achieved until 3pm). I felt it stayed too bright during the night so I put it on a timer to come on at 6am and off at 11pm, which still gives me the sunrise to sunset/moonlight ramp up/down. The beauty is when the power goes off (timer) it starts back up in 6am feature time so that's where I set the on time. It's coming up on a week and the plants look okay, although I don't see any major spurts, I'm seeing hints of growth. Time will tell.
Footnote: I'm using some Flourish root tabs and dosing with Fresh Trace (because I have it) and Flourish Comprehensive following a weekly 10g water change.
Edit: Suggestions Welcomed.
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