Alright, this is something I have been combating for a long while now.
A breif input on my setup.
Tanks: 4x 120 gallon and 2x 75 gallon tanks. Each tank has its own 40 gallon sump tank. Sand, silicate and pool filter sand.
Now for the tricky part. The lights. Right now as I sit, my setups for the most part are 4x 40W 6500k CFLs ( the 150w equivalent ) with 10 inch reflective domes. The lights are sitting about 4 inches off the top of the tank.
As for Ferts/CO2: PPS. Using the GLA formulation. As of right now I have cut back the dosing on these to half. So about 7.5ml macro/micro per 120 gallon and 5ml per 75 gallon. I do have DIY root tabs, though I went with the brand of Dynamite select, All purpose indoor/outdoor. Purple bottle. I use glut, the 2.6% formulation, dose 10ml per 75 gallon and 15ml per 120 gallon.
Now with that said, is this amount of light good, not enough, or too much? Personally, I dont care what the outside of the tanks look like, its what is inside is what matters. Now, I did make the mistake a while ago and bought way too many anubias plants, failing to realize these are slower growing plants. I have finally bought online from a shop of more of the stem plants. Cabomba, Bacopa monnierii, Rotala indica...these kind of plants.
I guess what leads me to this question is the fact I need the plants to out compete the algae. Now, its just that dreaded diatoms stuff.... and it covers leaves, glass, just about everything. I realize that light is the driving force behind plant growth to help keep this in check, but on the other hand when the plants get covered its no good.
A breif input on my setup.
Tanks: 4x 120 gallon and 2x 75 gallon tanks. Each tank has its own 40 gallon sump tank. Sand, silicate and pool filter sand.
Now for the tricky part. The lights. Right now as I sit, my setups for the most part are 4x 40W 6500k CFLs ( the 150w equivalent ) with 10 inch reflective domes. The lights are sitting about 4 inches off the top of the tank.
As for Ferts/CO2: PPS. Using the GLA formulation. As of right now I have cut back the dosing on these to half. So about 7.5ml macro/micro per 120 gallon and 5ml per 75 gallon. I do have DIY root tabs, though I went with the brand of Dynamite select, All purpose indoor/outdoor. Purple bottle. I use glut, the 2.6% formulation, dose 10ml per 75 gallon and 15ml per 120 gallon.
Now with that said, is this amount of light good, not enough, or too much? Personally, I dont care what the outside of the tanks look like, its what is inside is what matters. Now, I did make the mistake a while ago and bought way too many anubias plants, failing to realize these are slower growing plants. I have finally bought online from a shop of more of the stem plants. Cabomba, Bacopa monnierii, Rotala indica...these kind of plants.
I guess what leads me to this question is the fact I need the plants to out compete the algae. Now, its just that dreaded diatoms stuff.... and it covers leaves, glass, just about everything. I realize that light is the driving force behind plant growth to help keep this in check, but on the other hand when the plants get covered its no good.