Have I got too MUCH light?

[dougz]

Am I past the point where I am meeting the lighting needs of the plants, and just encouraging green water and other pests?

I have 2 Current USA Nova Extreme 48" 2x54W T-5 (one tube 10,000K, one tube 6,700) x 2 for 220W or 2.9 wpg (I have a 75g, H=20")..

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/...000kfreshwater

I'll have pressurized CO2, filters will both be Eheim 2217 (probably going overboard here too, but you can never have TOO much filtration, and this way I can mitigate possible ammonia spikes by alternating on biofilter cleanings).

Now, I WILL have floating plants (frogbit) for my gourami and cardinals to lounge under..

That will encompass approx 1/4 of the total surface of the tank..

But here are the plants I have in mind for the tank..

Anubias barteri var. Nana (driftwood, rocks UNDER the floating plants)

H. zosterfolia(mid,background)

E. tennelus (foreground)

C. caroliniana (background)

L. laevigatum (floating plant)

Bioload:

25 Cardinal Tetra

10 Panda Corydoras

1 Bristlenose Plecostomus (L-144a)

1 male dwarf gouramis, 4 females

6 otocinclus


I can't say just how heavily planted this tank will be yet, but I want a "V" in the background made up of the Stragrass and cabomba, with maybe some A. reinekii behind THEM to frame it a bit.. and the focal points being 1 major and 1 minor rock formation, plenty of foreground coverage with the tennelus (though there will be an open substrate area for the corys to forage)..

Kinda like this, but not (see thumb)..

Anyways, enough blather..

Should I stick with just one light strip?

Would 2 be overkill? Would I just be feeding the waterborne algae?

Thanks for any and all comments, and if I haven't provided some other bit of pertinent info, please ask for elaboration..

[John N.]

When you're first setting up the tank, go slow with the lighting, especially with the T5H0. If you don't, you're going to be in algae hell.

Go with a noon burst setting with:

Fixture 1 on for 8-9 continous hours
Fixture 2 turning on for 4 hours in the middle of that time frame.

With your fixtures, you're in the moderate/high range which is perfect for your plant selection. Filtration wise, you're again, perfect with over doing it there.

-John N.

[dougz]

Excellent, thanks John!!

I'll have a Pinpoint pH controller for the C02, and it has a timer for lights..

Hmm.. Mind you it just has 2 outputs, one for the C02 solonoid, oone for a fixture..

Might have to get another timer..

HO stands for high output?

[John N.]

Yup, The H0 refers to High Output, which I realize now your Current Nova Extreme Fixtures are not. However, even still I think you have a good amount of light on the tank for your plant selection. If you notice your stem plants such as Cabomba getting lengthy at the nodes, then increase the noon burst light time. As the saying goes, "slow and steady wins the race."

-John N.

[dougz]

What's a noon burst?

The 2nd light going on about noon for 4 hours?

Also, the aquarium will get plenty of indirect light in the daytime..

It's in the living room with a large window on the North side of the house....

[John N.]

Right again. Noon burst refers to turning on the extra set of lights. Called a noon burst because in real life the sun is almost the hottest at noon (in actuality the sun/earth is warmest around 2-3 pm).

Indirect light will help, but I don't think it's needed, you have plenty of light even though it's not a T5HO. The fixture you chose is a decent one.

-John N.

[dougz]

Indirect light will help, but I don't think it's needed

Needed or not, it'll be there, unavoidably..

That's what I was getting at.. LOL

Thanks for the input!!

[ColeMan]

4x54w T5's is a fairly common lighting arrangement for a 75g; the key, as John said, is to not be too eager about turning the lights on "full throttle" early on. After your tank is more established, you can adjust the photoperiod (extend the time of the noon burst) to best suit your needs; if you're trying to grow more light-needy species like HC, 2x54w t5's will simply not meet lighting requirements. If you were not injecting CO2, 4x54w would give you a nice algae farm, but make it hell to keep healthy plants. I'll be running 4x54w t5's over my 90g and am confident i can grow anything...

[dougz]

I also plan on running some Chemi Pure for the first couple weeks, till everything is settled..

Boyd Chemi-Pure- 10OZ. at Big Al's Online

[ColeMan]

to be fair, most people I know won't use activated carbon in their tanks, let alone chemi pure, which is, from what I understand, like an overly aggressive activated carbon. As a matter of fact, they rarely use chemical filtration unless absolutely necessary (removing meds, etc). Chemi pure WILL take out ferts added to the water column. If you're wanting to use an extra filter media for water polishing, try Purigen

[dougz]

I won't be adding any ferts until the tank gets established, say 3 weeks to a month (which is when I'll be taking the Chemi-Pure out)..

Purigen I hear can cause mini-cycles..

But not from 1st hand accounts..

Chemi-Pure on the other hand I know DOES work, so....

Have this first hand, from an old hand at planted tanks..

So I guess that makes it 2nd hand.. LOL

[ColeMan]

Originally Posted by dougz

Purigen I hear can cause mini-cycles..

huh?

here's one of a number of good discussions on Purigen and it's lack of negative impact on planted aquaria Purigen! - Seachem - Aquatic Plant Central

[dougz]

Just what I said..

But again, that's third/fourth hand, and I'd like to hear from some people that HAVE used it..

All the same, like I say, I'll go with something I KNOW has worked fine for at least ONE person..

I'm sure Purigen may be just fine, but...

[ColeMan]

first of all: what are you going to be using the chemi pure for? polishing? removing ____ from your water column?

[dougz]

Just going to try and keep the organics/diatoms down for the first 3-4 weeks, to avoid any chance of an algae bloom..

I don't really have to worry about phosphates, as I won't be using soil, but..