Hey everyone....I am having a bit of issues with lightning my planted tank. It is a 36 Gal Bowfront....the tank itself is about 18inches deep and I have the lights about 2 inches above that, so 20inches above the substrate. I am currently running 2 24W bulbs and 2 39W bulbs (all lifeglo bulbs from hagen). I am currently running the lights from 9-1 and off from 1-4 then on from 4-10. I am using pressurized CO2 with about 2-3 bps. I am fertilizing as per EI Dosing....I am wondering if either my lights are on too long, or they are just too strong as I am having a bit of an outbreak of algae. I have posted some pics below....let me know what you think.
T5HO Lightning issues
1 - 20 of 65 Posts
Joined
·
263 Posts
How long is the 39 watt fixture? Id go with that cause thus 2 24's would be low light but if you're fixture is 36" its gonna look ghetto.
Joined
·
1,956 Posts
I'd cut down to about 6 hours of light all at one time using 2 bulbs.
That should give the plants enough to stay healthy and go from there.
That should give the plants enough to stay healthy and go from there.
Joined
·
263 Posts
78 watt fixture*
it hangs over the edge of the tank....tank is 30 1/2 wide and the fixture is 36 inches...so 2 inch overhang, which I dont really care about
so you think the 4 bulbs is too much then....you think the 78watt x 6 hours is good?
Joined
·
2,585 Posts
According to Hoppy's great chart he put together in the sticky at the top of this forum 2 T5HO bulbs is high light. So you definitely can go down to 2 bulbs. You will most likely be fine with the 48W fixture. Spot algae is supposed to be a sign your phosphate is low. You probably need to boost your fert dosing to get your system in balance. Test your PO4 is should be between 2ppm and 3ppm. Test your NO3 which should be between 20ppm and 30ppm.
I find that when I get my phosphates above 1.0 I start to see some BGA...not sure if it is just a coincidence but.......you think I could manage with the 48W set?
Joined
·
1,956 Posts
Not sure what your foreground plant is but it doesn't look like anything else in your tank "needs" all that light.
I've all but given up on ground cover type plantings in my 90g. Not having to concern myself with their needs makes the tank so much easier to care for.
I've all but given up on ground cover type plantings in my 90g. Not having to concern myself with their needs makes the tank so much easier to care for.
Joined
·
1,956 Posts
I run 2 54w on my 90g for 7 hours and one of the 54w is actinic. If I run full spectrum on both bulbs I have a harder time keeping the tank looking good.
I also run an added 54w along the back wall for 2 hours with only a 1 hour overlap. That's mainly used to get good light to the stems on the back wall so they don't reach towards the front so much.
I'd go with the 78w but in my case I can't stand the light splashing outside the tank.
I also run an added 54w along the back wall for 2 hours with only a 1 hour overlap. That's mainly used to get good light to the stems on the back wall so they don't reach towards the front so much.
I'd go with the 78w but in my case I can't stand the light splashing outside the tank.
so you think run the 78W for 8 hours would be sufficient?
so the thought is the it doesnt matter how many "watts" you have...its the type of light...meaning I could probably get away with the two 24's (48watts of T5HO) in this tank?..ill be honest, that seems so silly to me....but if thats the case I wasted 159 dollars on that new ballast haha
1 - 20 of 65 Posts
Join the discussion
