75 Gallon Tank Silent Cycling?

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Vindicare066

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75 gallon Tank overview:
Fluval FX4 Canister filter
Bio-Complete Substrate
15+ live plants (2 Swords, 6 Java ferns, 2 Anubius, 3 Green Crypts 6 Rosenthia)
3 pieces of malaysian driftwood
Assortment of natural rocks (lava rocks, black slate, dragon rock etc...)
100% RO water used
TSS+ added Day 4 with small school of tetras tank cycling for ~2.5 weeks

2 days ago I got the following test readings: (API freshwater test kit used)

pH: 6.8-7.0 (couldnt be sure)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrates: 20-30ppm
GH = 10 degrees
KH= 5 degrees

Not sure if this was correct retested.. got the same result..(did not add any new fish to tank as wanted to confirm and wait another day)

Yesterday morning got the following readings:

pH: 7.2-7.4
Ammonia: 1ppm
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates 20-30ppm
GH = 10 degrees
KH= 5 degrees

Yesterday evening test reading:

pH: 6.8
Ammonia: 0.10-0.25
Nitrites: 0.10-0.25
Nitrates 30ppm
GH = 9-10 degrees
KH= 4-5 degrees

After test results I added Seachem Matrix Bio-media and Seachem Seed at the advice of my LFS (they believe my tank didnt have enough bio-media to start with and stall may have occurred, Seed was added to help get new Bio-media populated)

Did a test this morning:

pH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0.10-0.25ppm
Nitrites: 0.10-0.25ppm
Nitrates: 30ppm

Can anyone tell me what is going on? Could my tank be doing a silent cycle due to all the live plants (15+plants) in the tank and not a true fish in cycle? Should I continue to hold off on stocking my tank even with such low Ammonia and Nitrite readings?

Thanks for your help!
 
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A so-called "silent cycle" means the plants are taking up much of the ammonia, and this produces no nitrite and thus no nitrate. The nitrifying bacteria will still appear and establish, but slower because of the plants using most of the ammonia. You should not normally see any readings for ammonia or nitrite with this method, because the bacteria is minimal. The "cycle|" still establishes but "unseen" in a sense. Nitrate may or may not be seen in tests, depending upon the fish load (the source of the ammonia) and the plant load. The more plants, and the more fast growing species, the more ammonia taken up and thus less nitrate. This is the process in general. Usually I see nitrate after a few months, due to my fish loads.

Most of the plants listed in post #1 are slower growing; exception is the two sword plants. I don't know what "Rosenthia" is, I did a search and came up with nothing; is the name correct? I always use and highly recommend floating plants in new tanks; their uptake of ammonia is very rapid, and extensive--many refer to them as "ammonia sinks." This would avoid any problems going forward.

Turning to your numbers...I cannot imagine where the nitrate is coming from, so early. If you are using only RO water, it would not contain nitrate (nitrate can be present in tap water, but this wouldn't apply here unless you are mixing). RO would also not contain anything else, including minerals, so that begs the question,m how are you getting a GH of 10 dGH and a KH of 5 dKH? These are very high numbers. That brings me to the substrate, the only likely source.

What exactly is "Bio-complete substrate?" I did a search for this too, and only CarribSea's Eco-Complete was the result...is that what you have? I believe some have said that this may contain minerals. But you also have rocks, and some of these probably are dissolving mineral into the water. Lava rock I believe can, dragon rock I do not know; slate would not as it is inert. If you intend soft water fish (tetras were mentioned), I would remove most of the rock. A GH below 5 dGH would be OK, but certainly not higher, depending upon species. My tanks are near-zero GH and KH.

The ammonia and nitrite test readings now are likely due to the bacterial additives you added. With live plants these are not necessary, and while they should not bee a problem, you might want to forget them at least until this is sorted out.

As for adding more fish, once you deal with the above, and tests show zero ammonia and nitrite, and should be next to zero nitrate, I would consider fish. The source of the nitrate needs to be discovered, as nitrate this high is not safe for most if not all fish, long-term. My tanks run in the range of 0 to 5 ppm.

Byron.
 
Hi Byron,

Thanks for the reply!

So it looks like a few things were cut out from my original post and I didn't catch it.

So in order to your questions.

The plants listed as Rosenthia are: Alternanthera Rosaefolia. Sorry I spelt it wrong..my bad there!

Regarding RO water. No I haven't been mixing the water, just pure RO. My tap water runs through a Sodium based water softener which I know is not safe for Freshwater aquariums. That said I have been contemplating mixing the RO water with Treated waste water produced from the RO system BUT I have NOT done this yet. Now I have added Seachem Equilibrium as a mineral additive to replenish the lost minerals from the RO system (this was accidentally deleted from Post#1). The GH and KH with Equilibrium in the water come out to GH 10 degrees and KH 4-5 degrees.

My KH and GH before I added Equilibrium to the tank was 2-3 for KH and I want to say 5-6 for GH (I am recalling this off of memory though... I know for sure GH was not 10). So I am assuming those readings are coming from the rocks and substrate as when the water comes out of a RO system they are both GH/KH of 0. Now I can do some water changes with just RO water and not add Equilibrium, my concern here is though will my plants and fish not suffer with the cutting of calcium and magnesium?

The Substrate: This was another typo on my end. I really apologize for it. It is the Eco-Complete Substrate from CaribSea. I have read online that this is one of the better substrates for planted aquariums.

Regarding species of fish I am looking to put in this tank: i am looking to transfer in a Galaxy Pleco, and Red Tail shark, as of right now they are fine in my 30 Gallon, however, I want to get them out of there as they are starting to get bigger.

I don't work to far away from my LFS so after work I can swing by and pick up some floating plants... last time i was there I don't know what they had in stock though... Will I need to adjust my filter heads so they aren't producing a lot of surface agitation?

Thanks again!

Sincerely,
 
Byron,

I may be getting Degrees of GH and KH mixed up. using the API test kit, it takes 10 drops for the results to show for GH and 5 drops for KH. It is my understanding that each drop equals 17.86ppm and is 1 degree correct? I may be doing the math wrong here.
 
The plants listed as Rosenthia are: Alternanthera Rosaefolia. Sorry I spelt it wrong..my bad there!

No problem. This is a stem plant and thus fast growing, though it does require very good light (being red, it reflects red light to appear red, and red light is the primary driver of photosynthesis). But regardless of all that, if it is growing for you, it is good for silent cycling as it needs more nutrients, including nitrogen (ammonia/ammonium).

I may be getting Degrees of GH and KH mixed up. using the API test kit, it takes 10 drops for the results to show for GH and 5 drops for KH. It is my understanding that each drop equals 17.86ppm and is 1 degree correct? I may be doing the math wrong here.

That is correct, each drop is one dGH or KH, whichever. You stop as soon as the colour appears, example, green for the GH. The change from orange to pale green is usually obvious, but you don't need to go further to get the dark green.

I don't work to far away from my LFS so after work I can swing by and pick up some floating plants... last time i was there I don't know what they had in stock though... Will I need to adjust my filter heads so they aren't producing a lot of surface agitation?

Maybe yes, maybe no. Plants that are substantial, like Water Sprite, Water Lettuce or Frogbit, will grow and spread across the tank width, or grow together, and usually stay put. The tiny ones like duckweed and Salvinia will get tossed hither and yon, but for your purposes I would stay with the substantial plants.

Regarding RO water. No I haven't been mixing the water, just pure RO. My tap water runs through a Sodium based water softener which I know is not safe for Freshwater aquariums. That said I have been contemplating mixing the RO water with Treated waste water produced from the RO system BUT I have NOT done this yet. Now I have added Seachem Equilibrium as a mineral additive to replenish the lost minerals from the RO system (this was accidentally deleted from Post#1). The GH and KH with Equilibrium in the water come out to GH 10 degrees and KH 4-5 degrees.

My KH and GH before I added Equilibrium to the tank was 2-3 for KH and I want to say 5-6 for GH (I am recalling this off of memory though... I know for sure GH was not 10). So I am assuming those readings are coming from the rocks and substrate as when the water comes out of a RO system they are both GH/KH of 0. Now I can do some water changes with just RO water and not add Equilibrium, my concern here is though will my plants and fish not suffer with the cutting of calcium and magnesium?

I completely agree on the water softener danger. But in my view you are using too much Equilibrium. I am assuming this is not a high-tech planted tank with mega light and diffused CO2, but a more natural method. A GH of 4 dGH is said by the plant authorities to be sufficient. If you have soft water fish species you want the GH as low as workable when you have that option (meaning, when you are starting out with zero and raising it artificially). This stuff gets inside the fish, and that we should always aim to keep minimal. Different species can manage with varying levels obviously, so \I am being general.

I used Equilibrium for two years, in three tanks, specifically because I have zero GH in my source water (actually it is 7 ppm, less than half 1 dGH) and I was noticing calcium deficiencies in the larger swords. For reasons too complicated to go into here, I stopped and instead tried a plan of more frequent Flourish Tabs next to the larger sword plants, and Flourish Comprehensive Supplement (liquid) once a week. [The liquid alone wasn't supplying sufficient calcium and magnesium, as these are minimal because Seachem assumes most people have moderately hard source water and don't need them.] Now after two years of this approach, I have yet to see any detriment in the plants, and the calcium deficiency is basically gone, with one slight exception in one tank. My 70g is full of Echinodorus (various swords) plants, and they are vibrant and thriving (see photo below). The GH and KH are zero, pH remains around 6. Ideal for the fish.

If the GH was 5 dGH without Equilibrium, that is fine and you could stop the Equilibrium. You need other minerals too, 17 in all, so the liquid Comprehensive would probably benefit. I've had good success wiith this product; make sure it is exactly Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium, not one of the other products in the "Flourish" line. And the Flourish Tabs for the larger swords.

The Substrate: This was another typo on my end. I really apologize for it. It is the Eco-Complete Substrate from CaribSea. I have read online that this is one of the better substrates for planted aquariums.

I tried Seachem's Flourite which is basically the same as Eco-Complete nutrient wise, and saw very little benefit. I still had to use substrate tabs and liquid fertilizer to keep the plants growing. The other thing is the sharpness; I chose Flourite over E-C because in my hand the E-C felt rougher. But the Flourite turned out to be bad too, and I had to move out my cories when they developed terrible barbel and mouth issues; one poor fish even lost 1/2 of its upper lip. They recovered over play sand, and are still with me, six years later. I personally would not use either product; the benefit is zero in my experience (other members have said similar), and the fish issue is serious.

You can grow plants in any substrate, but play sand is about the best. I have it in all 8 tanks now, only wishing I'd switched from fine gravel to play sand years ago.
 

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Hi Byron,

Thank you for this!

No problem. This is a stem plant and thus fast growing, though it does require very good light (being red, it reflects red light to appear red, and red light is the primary driver of photosynthesis). But regardless of all that, if it is growing for you, it is good for silent cycling as it needs more nutrients, including nitrogen (ammonia/ammonium).

So far they are growing although they are losing some of their leaves.. (wondering if it could be related to a phosphorus deficiency. I add Flourish Comprehensive every 5 days. I do have Flourish Tabs, but I never added them, I will need to pick up more though.

Maybe yes, maybe no. Plants that are substantial, like Water Sprite, Water Lettuce or Frogbit, will grow and spread across the tank width, or grow together, and usually stay put. The tiny ones like duckweed and Salvinia will get tossed hither and yon, but for your purposes I would stay with the substantial plants.

Okay I will see what they have, I shied away from these plants because I feared they would grow to much and block all my other plants. I am running a low tech planted tank, no CO2 injector, in terms of lighting I am running a Sun-Glo and Life-Glo from Hagen? (not 100% at moment)

(Flourite and Eco-Complete discussion) They recovered over play sand, and are still with me, six years later. I personally would not use either product; the benefit is zero in my experience (other members have said similar), and the fish issue is serious.

This is really good to know... and makes me think about the belly of my Pleco now. i do need to add more substrate, I have an inch right now in the tank... where did you pick up the sand? I can't say i have seen it in my LFS. Do you think I would have any problems if i did a layer of sand over the Eco-complete substrate?

If the GH was 5 dGH without Equilibrium, that is fine and you could stop the Equilibrium. You need other minerals too, 17 in all, so the liquid Comprehensive would probably benefit. I've had good success wiith this product; make sure it is exactly Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium, not one of the other products in the "Flourish" line. And the Flourish Tabs for the larger swords.

Okay so what i am going to do is not add any more Equilibrium and gradually ease it out through qater changes, and just start adding in pure RO water. I do have Flourish tabs, so I will get those planted in the tank and I will also continue my dosing of Flourish Comprehensive (I will cross check what Flourish Comprehensive I have with what you said up above though).

That is correct, each drop is one dGH or KH, whichever. You stop as soon as the colour appears, example, green for the GH. The change from orange to pale green is usually obvious, but you don't need to go further to get the dark green.

Okay so with this said I may be adding an extra degree to each of these. When i was testing the GH and KH i would note when i saw the colour change, but wouldn't count it until I saw the true colour appear. (so GH would be 9 as an example)


So I think my next step is to get a few more fast growing plants, add a bit more substrate (preferably sand), added Flourish tabs,and to do a 50% water change with no Equilibrium to see if I can bring the ammonia, nitrites down to 0 and my nitrates to around 20ppm. Now should I be concerned about the fluctuations with my pH? or will that be sorted out once the KH and GH are brought in line? Also please let me know if you can think of anything else I should do.

Thanks again!
 
Hi Byron,

Thank you for this!

No problem. This is a stem plant and thus fast growing, though it does require very good light (being red, it reflects red light to appear red, and red light is the primary driver of photosynthesis). But regardless of all that, if it is growing for you, it is good for silent cycling as it needs more nutrients, including nitrogen (ammonia/ammonium).

So far they are growing although they are losing some of their leaves.. (wondering if it could be related to a phosphorus deficiency. I add Flourish Comprehensive every 5 days. I do have Flourish Tabs, but I never added them, I will need to pick up more though.

It could be nutrients, but more likely light, or both. When you say losing leaves though, if near the bottom this is light, as stem plants grow towards the light source and put their energy into the growing tips, so the lower leaves are first to be lost. At the same time though, less light is reaching further down, so that can factor in.

Maybe yes, maybe no. Plants that are substantial, like Water Sprite, Water Lettuce or Frogbit, will grow and spread across the tank width, or grow together, and usually stay put. The tiny ones like duckweed and Salvinia will get tossed hither and yon, but for your purposes I would stay with the substantial plants.

Okay I will see what they have, I shied away from these plants because I feared they would grow to much and block all my other plants. I am running a low tech planted tank, no CO2 injector, in terms of lighting I am running a Sun-Glo and Life-Glo from Hagen? (not 100% at moment)

Yes those are Hagen tubes. The Life-Glo is the best single tube for planted tanks I have found, and I have tried lots over the years. I use this tube on all single-tube tanks; on dual-tube, I may mix it with a warmer or use two Life-Glo. I had a Sun-Glo on my 33g with a Life-Glo, but didn't really like it. The Life-Glo is more intense light, plus the spectrum is ideal. Adding some warmth is good though.

(Flourite and Eco-Complete discussion) They recovered over play sand, and are still with me, six years later. I personally would not use either product; the benefit is zero in my experience (other members have said similar), and the fish issue is serious.

This is really good to know... and makes me think about the belly of my Pleco now. i do need to add more substrate, I have an inch right now in the tank... where did you pick up the sand? I can't say i have seen it in my LFS. Do you think I would have any problems if i did a layer of sand over the Eco-complete substrate?

I use Quikrete Play Sand from Home Depot; i believe Lowe's carry it too. The one locally is dark grey when dry (it lightens a bit under water and tank lighting), other members have mentioned more buff-tone elsewhere. Very inexpensive, absolutely the safest sand for an aquarium in terms of non-roughness, plants grow well in it, and it is natural in appearance. Many streams in Amazonia have similar sand.

Aquarium-specific sand from a fish store will be very, very expensive by comparison, but otherwise useable. The darker the better, white is an absolute "no."

The problem with combining substrate materials is that they will mix naturally over time; also, sand being smallest will sink to the bottom. I would pull out the E-C if you use any sand. I kept my Flourite for two years, and seeing no real benefit, plus not being able to have substrate fish in the tank, I pulled it out and dumped it in the back garden.


If the GH was 5 dGH without Equilibrium, that is fine and you could stop the Equilibrium. You need other minerals too, 17 in all, so the liquid Comprehensive would probably benefit. I've had good success wiith this product; make sure it is exactly Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium, not one of the other products in the "Flourish" line. And the Flourish Tabs for the larger swords.

Okay so what i am going to do is not add any more Equilibrium and gradually ease it out through qater changes, and just start adding in pure RO water. I do have Flourish tabs, so I will get those planted in the tank and I will also continue my dosing of Flourish Comprehensive (I will cross check what Flourish Comprehensive I have with what you said up above though).

The tabs only benefit larger plants rooted in the substrate, like the swords. I also use them for Aponogeton, and red tiger lotus. My tanks with smaller plants, like chain swords and crypts, only get the liquid, once a week. Algae can be an issue with too much, something the substrate tabs to not cause as the nutrients do not get into the upper water column.

That is correct, each drop is one dGH or KH, whichever. You stop as soon as the colour appears, example, green for the GH. The change from orange to pale green is usually obvious, but you don't need to go further to get the dark green.

Okay so with this said I may be adding an extra degree to each of these. When i was testing the GH and KH i would note when i saw the colour change, but wouldn't count it until I saw the true colour appear. (so GH would be 9 as an example)


So I think my next step is to get a few more fast growing plants, add a bit more substrate (preferably sand), added Flourish tabs,and to do a 50% water change with no Equilibrium to see if I can bring the ammonia, nitrites down to 0 and my nitrates to around 20ppm. Now should I be concerned about the fluctuations with my pH? or will that be sorted out once the KH and GH are brought in line? Also please let me know if you can think of anything else I should do.

The pH is likely the minerals from the rock, and possibly the E-C. Water chemistry is complicated, and I will leave it for some of our more expert members to spell out. But pH should not go up from Equilibrium. If memory serves me, I saw a slight increase in pH with Flourite substrate. I avoid any calcareous rocks as I do not want "out of control" GH/KH/pH issues. I've not seen pH issues with any of the Seachem "Flourish" products, other than the substrate (maybe).

Thanks again!
 
H'm... you need to click "expand" in the above post to see my comments, in blue text.
 
Hi Byron,

To give you an update.

So I wasn't able to get the sand you recommended, I live in a small town and the Home Depot in it, isn't well stocked... I was only able to get King's Premium Play Sand, it is very soft and its not White sand so i am hoping it will work. I can't believe how much cheaper the play sand is compared to the LFS sand!

Anyways, I think my project for this weekend will be to slowly remove the E-C substrate from the tank and replace it with the sand, however, I am not sure if its a good idea. I don't want to remove to much substrate from my tank is now cycling again...i also don't want to stress the Tetras. Should I wait a week to see if the tank cycles or do you think i could do a water change and remove some of the substrate?

Readings from this morning:

pH 7.0-7.2
Ammonia: 0-0.10
Nitrites: 0.25-0.50
Nitrates: 30ppm maybe 40ppm

On to good news!

I added a few flourish tabs around my swords to ensure they get enough nutrients, and I added a few more tabs around my other plant clusters I didn't go over the top though. I also picked up some Seachem Iron and Phosphorous.. With my red leaf plants I know I will need to add a bit more Iron, and the Phosphorous is just for emergencies.

I was able to pick up some Water Sprites (2) and Water Lettuce (5) from my LFS, I think I actually might go again and grab a few more later this afternoon (they are on sale), I did end up adjusting my power-heads and filter jets a bit, as my poor Water Lettuce were just getting blown across the surface. Any ideas how I can keep them in one place?

Now quick question about lighting. Right now I have a 48in Single tube (Life-Glo) and a 24in Single Tube (Sun-Glo) currently lighting my tank.. The Life Glo is situated over the back portion where most of my plants are and acts as the main source of light it runs from 6am (when I leave for work) to 6pm (when I get home). The 24'' Sun-Glo I run on a timer which turns on around noon and goes till about 3pm. (Simulate when Sun is highest and most direct in sky). I then also use the 24'' light to simulate dusk. (6-8pm) I switch off the main light and only have the 24'' light on. So my question is should i keep this set up? i.e 1 48'' and 1 24'' as well as the bulbs I am using? Or should I switch to 1 Double 48'' light and mix the lighting (Life-Glo and... recommendations?)

Thanks again!
 
So I wasn't able to get the sand you recommended, I live in a small town and the Home Depot in it, isn't well stocked... I was only able to get King's Premium Play Sand, it is very soft and its not White sand so i am hoping it will work. I can't believe how much cheaper the play sand is compared to the LFS sand!

Anyways, I think my project for this weekend will be to slowly remove the E-C substrate from the tank and replace it with the sand, however, I am not sure if its a good idea. I don't want to remove to much substrate from my tank is now cycling again...i also don't want to stress the Tetras. Should I wait a week to see if the tank cycles or do you think i could do a water change and remove some of the substrate?

That play sand should be OK. Play sand is the most refined of commercial sands, to make it safe for children to "play" with. I contacted Quikrete about this a while back. And yes, it is inexpensive; I spent $180 for Flourite for my 70g; when I took it out and used play sand, the sand cost me $14 (two 25 kg bags). Aquarium sand might not be as expensive as Flourite, but it is still expensive.

I prefer changing substrates completely at one go, and I have done this many times over the last several years. I now have play sand in all 8 tanks. Remember that with live plants, and some fast growers, you do not worry about "cycling." I would however remove the tetras, so you can do the whole tank at one go in less time. A spare 20g (or 10g here) is worth having for emergencies, and you can use water fro the existing tank, and use the filter/heater in the spare (depending, heaters can overheat small tanks).

Readings from this morning:

pH 7.0-7.2
Ammonia: 0-0.10
Nitrites: 0.25-0.50
Nitrates: 30ppm maybe 40ppm

The high nitrates bother me. With new substrate and fresh water the ammonia and nitrite will (or should) be zero. Nitrate will be zero too, presumably, if the substrate and bacterial substances are the cause. You have tested your source water on its own for nitrate? Though if RO there should be no nitrates there. So it is the other, but I would test it just to be certain.

I added a few flourish tabs around my swords to ensure they get enough nutrients, and I added a few more tabs around my other plant clusters I didn't go over the top though. I also picked up some Seachem Iron and Phosphorous.. With my red leaf plants I know I will need to add a bit more Iron, and the Phosphorous is just for emergencies.

One Flourish Tab next to each of the large sword plants is all you need; Seachem says to replace them every 3-4 months. In my experiment mentioned previously I have been replacing them every 6-8 weeks, but I recently discovered that they are about half dissolved in that time frame, so I have extended the time. They are not inexpensive.

Seachem Iron might be useful; I use this in one tank for my red tiger lotus, and crypts. The crypts do not have root tabs. I tried this when doing two doses of Flourish Comprehensive weekly caused brush algae to increase dramatically. The iron alone seems to help the tiger lotus, without causing algae. But iron overdosed can do this.

You will never, ever need phosphorus. There is more in fish food than plants in a low-tech setup require. This is certainly a cause of algae problems, and in a new tank things are not balanced for a few months so it is even more important to go minimal with additives. I have learned over the past couple of years (in solving a problem in one tank) that we generally use too much of plant additives, in thee mistaken view than more will mean better plants. Not so. Plants' requirement for nutrients is less than we might think (high-tech setups are different obviously) and this is driven by light [I'll come back to this]. And all these additives get inside the fish, and that should be a concern of any aquarist.

I was able to pick up some Water Sprites (2) and Water Lettuce (5) from my LFS, I think I actually might go again and grab a few more later this afternoon (they are on sale), I did end up adjusting my power-heads and filter jets a bit, as my poor Water Lettuce were just getting blown across the surface. Any ideas how I can keep them in one place?

Once the Water Sprite and Water Lettuce are settled, you will have more plants than you can handle. I toss out both every water change. Water Sprite produces daughter plants on the alternate fronds (fronds rather than leaves as this is a true fern) and you can gently pull them off when they are a couple inches as new plants. I usually toss out the huge older plants as the daughter plants grow.

Sounds like you may have too much surface movement. I have my canister filter returns (spray bar on one tank, spigot on another) at one end, opposite the intake, aimed into the end wall so there is some surface disturbance at that end but not elsewhere.

Now quick question about lighting. Right now I have a 48in Single tube (Life-Glo) and a 24in Single Tube (Sun-Glo) currently lighting my tank.. The Life Glo is situated over the back portion where most of my plants are and acts as the main source of light it runs from 6am (when I leave for work) to 6pm (when I get home). The 24'' Sun-Glo I run on a timer which turns on around noon and goes till about 3pm. (Simulate when Sun is highest and most direct in sky). I then also use the 24'' light to simulate dusk. (6-8pm) I switch off the main light and only have the 24'' light on. So my question is should i keep this set up? i.e 1 48'' and 1 24'' as well as the bulbs I am using? Or should I switch to 1 Double 48'' light and mix the lighting (Life-Glo and... recommendations?)

Both lights should be on together, for the photoperiod. Reducing the light is not helpful to plants at all. For one thing, this is minimal light over a 75 gallon (which I will assume is a 4-foot tank much like my 70g); light intensity drivees photosynthesis, primarily red but also blue. The green in the red/blue mix of the Life-Glo does improve plant growth, probably because in nature this mix is present in sunlight and it is stronger. So the only time you are going to have good response from the plants is when both tubes are on; this means plant photosynthesis will slow at other times, and algae may well take the advantage.

"Daylight" being the photoperiod of the full light over the tank can be any duration; six hours is usually the minimum advised, with 8-10 hours suggested. But this depends upon thee tank. I have found that my tanks do best with 8 hours of tank light; my 70g has only seven hours. Any more and I see brush algae increasing significantly. See how your present tubes work, both on together for maybe 8 hours; algae is the key. Changing the SunGlo to another Life-Glo may bee helpful, or maybe it will work as is; twiddling with the duration may be needed, or may not.

You could change to two 48-inch T8 tubes (this is T8, not T5, correct?). This would allow you to change to Phillips or Sylvannia tubes, one 6500K and one 5000K. I use these on my 70g and 90g; they are much, much less expensive, around $12 for a pair at Home Depot, compared to $40 for one Life-Glo at a fish store. I use Life-Glo on my smaller single tube tanks, as it is the only one that works, but with dual 4-foot tubes you have the option of the commercial tubes and they are ideal. I've been using Phillips or Sylvannia on these tanks since 1996; two 6500K or one 6500K and one 5000K for a bit more warmth (red) has a good spectrum and very good colour rendition.

On the dawn/dusk issue, this is a good idea if you can operate the tubes individually, but provided there is ambient light in the room when the tank lighting comes on and when it goes off, you are OK. Sudden light changes are highly stressful on fish, but good ambient room light solves this. The room light should be on for about an hour following tank light ending. And both fish and plants must have a period of total and complete darkness, several hours, each 24-hour period. This means no room light, but pitch black. The circadian rhythm of fish is seriously affected otherwise, and plants have a similar botanical process.

You can adjust the photoperiod to be on when you are normally home to enjoy the tank. When I was working and left here at 7 am, getting home at 6 pm, my tank lights came on at noon and off at 8 pm. Now I am retired, they come on at 10 am (11 am for the 70g) and go off at 6 pm. The latter means I can use daylight instead of room lighting at the on/off times, except in winter when I have a room light coming on at 5:50 for an hour to deal with the "dusk."
 

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