Too Much Lighting

[Wonderboy]

Is it possible to have too much lighting?

I am debating whether to buy one of these two things:

65 Watt light fixture or a 130 Watt light fixture

It is for a 20 Gallon tank, so the 65 would be apr: 3 wpg, and the 130 would be 6 wpg... is 6 wpg good, is 6 wpg over-kill, or is it better to be at 3 wpg??

Thanks for the help!

~ Wonderboy!

 

[RYO]

Don't know if you can have too much light but at 6wpg any mistakes you make will turn your tank into an algae party.
I had 72w on a 60L tank and it was real high maintenance. Plants grow like there's no tomorrow but so did algae.
3wpg is more than enough imo to grow just about anything. Even with this wattage make sure you have plenty of quick growing stems to fight off the algae monster.

 

[ChrisP]

You can have too much light, I have seen Cabomba distort at very high light levels. Also you have to remember fish do not have eye lids, that amount of light may not be plesent for them.

3WPG will be more than adequate I would not bother with 6WPG.

 

[Themuleous]

I have just under 8WPG on my nano, and haven't noticed any problems as yet, although heat would be my only concern, but I've got an open sided hood so that keeps it in check.

 

[George Farmer]

I'd recommend 3 WPG. You can still grow all plants and the risk of algae will be reduced. Less maintenance and cost too.