Is This Enough Light For High Demanded Plants?

[s007]

Ello... i now doubled my light and have 4x 39W T5HO in 260 liters which is exackly 68.6 US Gal

39*4=156W / 68.6 = 2.27WPG not counting that the light units have mirror reflectors.

I use presurized co2 and drop checker on both ends of the tank to check the ammount of co2. I hope now my plants will get enough light as the Lilaeopsis Brasilienis was dying with 2x 39W lights

Also as a suggestion what spectrums you guys use ... are there any examples online to what spectrum mixes create in aquarium? (like to see if i mix life-glo with Power-glo what will it look like)

Serg

 

[Dave Spencer]

You have way more light than you will ever need. At those levels, on a tank that size, make sure you have a large plant mass and sufficient fert regime to see you through the current disturbance caused by the ramp up in lighting. Perhaps you could use the extra lighting for a two hour mid photoperiod burst.

I am currently growing some L. brasiliensis under 2 X 39W T8 lights, so it can be done.

Forget the spectrum, and just go for the colour you prefer. The K rating etc. gets done to death at times on this forum. All that matters is intensity (which you certainly have plenty of) and CRI (what looks good to your eye). Couple this with controlling the lighting from here on to hold back the algae, and give you a feel for how much nutrient demand from your plants is going to increase. Remember that plant mass, too.

The whole "some plants require high lighting" thing is being moved away from in aquascaping, as it essentially isn`t true. It is the ferts and flow aound the tank that will need addressing in your tank. For flow on my 240l with 2 x 39W T8s, I use 2 X Tetratec EX1200s and 2 X Koralia 1 powerheads for a theoretical turn over rate X 22.5. Anything less in my heavily planted tank and I start to see staghorn algae, which is a sure sign that the nutrients aren`t getting to everywhere they are needed.

Hope this helps.

Dave.

 

[s007]

wow thanks very much Dave!
Sorry what did you mean by "Perhaps you could use the extra lighting for a two hour mid photoperiod burst" i didnt quite get that i have my light on for 9.5 hours per day from 8am till 6.30pm and after that i have blue LED's 6 strips of 24 LED's as moonlight on till 10pm

Sergey

 

[Nick16]

9.5 hours is to long.

1. install the original lights first with just the 2 bulbs running for 8 hours.
2. you want to slowly add more light, not just wack it on. have the new bulbs on for 2 hours in the middle of the day, say 12-2pm. this creates a mid day burst. however you wont really need te new lights.

is your co2 levels correct.
are you dosing ferts?
what substrate do you have?

 

[SuperColey1]

I agree with all of the above. 8 hours at minimum and gradually increase the lighting each week even if it takes a couple of months.

People need to start to see how much more efficient a light T5HO is over the T12s that the WPG is calculated on. Not just in converting power to light but more a case of they tend to have better reflectors and much better penetration.

2 full length T8s will be enough for virtually anything. More is user preference really but no need to go to extremes

AC

 

[s007]

9.5 hours is to long.

1. install the original lights first with just the 2 bulbs running for 8 hours.
2. you want to slowly add more light, not just wack it on. have the new bulbs on for 2 hours in the middle of the day, say 12-2pm. this creates a mid day burst. however you wont really need te new lights.

is your co2 levels correct.
are you dosing ferts?
what substrate do you have?

co2 is light green as shows in bothe end of the tank in drop checker, im dosing easy-life profito every day
i didnt add any fert substrate - i have black moon send and added florenette A tablets to the plant roots and do that every 6 month.

so if 9.5 hours is too long ud suggest to have them on for 8 instead?

and from what i understood i have my normal 2x 39W on for 8 hours a day and those extra 2x 39W on for 2 hours only beetween 12-2pm ?


Thanks

 

[Nick16]

there is no deffinate time for lighting. i have mine on from about 2-10 as im home in the evenings andlike to see the tank.

your new lights will be overkill if you run them alongside your original T8's for the whole photoperiod (however long you have your lights on for). so what i suggest doing is running the new lights for 2 hours in the middle of your photoperiod to simulate a mid-day burst of light.

 

[s007]

humm dont know where you guys took it from but i dont have T8's i only have T5HO 4 tubes of 39W
2 on one hood and 2 on the other.

Regarding photoperiod as some of you say you switch on the light at 2 pm till 10pm i'd like that but for some reason when i tried that but because of a day light from the side window (not directly on the tank) the plants open up at 7am and by the time 10 pm arrives they all close up lol

I think ill have mine from 12pm till 9pm 2x 39W T5HO and another 2x T5HO 39W to go on with existing light from 4pm till 6.30pm as you said a burst of light - will that work with out causing algae?

The other problem is that i have discus in my tank 7 of them and as far as i know they dont like high light and can go blind. Dont worry my new light wont come till this wednesday that why i ask all this questions first.

 

[Nick16]

right sorry i must have read daves post and assumed you had T8's. yeah run two for the whole 8 hours and then the other 2 for a burst. well you should be fine with 2 really, i dont know why you need to get more light.

as long as you keep the co2 at the correct levels and dose the correct ferts daily you should be fine.

 

[s007]

thanks Nick! will try just what you said ans see how it goes.

Cheers,
SERG

 

[SuperColey1]

Do Discus go blind in the wild? I mean from the sun!!!

We were using 2 x T8 to give a good idea of what is enough light for all plants.

ProFito dosen't have N and P in it. However with discus being associated with heavy feeding this may add the N and P for you

http/www.easylife.nl/usa/index.html?id=40

AC