Too much wattage?

[ryant1110]

Ok, so I have recently gotten the bug to grow plants.. I have a 55g tank, but I have had cichlids in it for years so plants were never really an option.

Recently, I got a 20gish bowfront tank and decided to go african free so I could have all the pretty fish that were never compatible before. Well, once I got it established and cycled, I began adding fish... After about a week I decided my tetras would be happier in a planted tank and one thing led to another and I got the plant bug.

So I suppose your wondering how this post ended up in the algae section of the forums.. Well, Because this 20gish bowfront is a bit odd shaped, a proper wattage setup was indeed difficult to find. Anyways, I ended up settling for more wattage than I know I am going to need. ALOT more. 96 watts to be exact. A 4 bulb quad lighting system was pretty much all I could find. Anything else was grossly under-watted.

So my question is this. How can this overpowered lighting system still work out without making my tank an algae fest. Would lowering the amount of time the lights are on makeup for the fact that theres too many watts in the tank? I really hope this lighting system is not going to ruin my tank cause a 20inch light strip with plant wattage was so difficult for me to find.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am new to the plant world and hope for success. Thanks in advance for all advice as I am looking forward to reading it.

Thanks all,
Ryan

[Lady Hobbs]

It'll work but you'll need all high light plants, CO2 and ferts. If you think it's too much light you could remove a bulb.

[xoolooxunny]

the amount of light you have on that tank is suitable for an advanced aquascaper, and thats about where it ends. Can't you take out 2 bulbs and save them for replacements?

To keep algae at bay in that tank, you need fast growers, a lot of injected c02 and precise fertilization, and plenty of time for water changes and trimming/pruning. Not good light for a beginner.

[ryant1110]

Unfortunately the bulbs are connected to one another, so its all or none. As of now, there are two amazon swords in it. If you can suggest other plants to add to win the battle for food vs the algae than it would be greatly appreciated. All things considered, the two plants take up a good amount of room, so its not as unplanted as my description may have sounded.

The name escapes me, but theres a plant that grows like thick grass.. I will scour the internet to find a picture, but when I saw it in a tank at my lfs, I was breathtaken.

edit: oh, as of now I have a small bottle of seachem flourish. I wasnt sure when to begin adding it since my substrate is 40lbs of eco-complete with undergravel heating element (the guy at big al's couldn't stress the importance of warmer substrate enough). Does that change any parameters? I also have 4 otos' in it currently, dont know if they will fight the good fight against algae or not since the tank has not been active quite long enough to get algae.

[Animal Chin]

If you're really set on that lighting system, then as people have said, you're going to need CO2 and fertilizer supplementation. Simply put, you have more light than your plants can currently use. They will grow well, up to a limit and then all the "extra" light, unused by your plants, will be available for algae. The way to prevent that is to increase your plants ability to utilize light by providing them with CO2 and proper ferts. Once you've established a balance of light, CO2 and ferts, your plants will be able to use all of the light (and other nutrients) you're providing, and there will be none left for the algae. In other words, by getting your plants to grow aggressively all the time, they will out-compete the algae. good luck,

ac

[smaug]

I get away with high lighting and no injected c02 by using seachem excel,it is a liquid co2 inducing agent that works wonders for me and I'm not alone.It has a few drawbacks that I have found on my own and some I have been informed of.One is I know that you cannot keep mossballs with this stuff and some members here have informed me that vals will not tolerate its use either.I suffer no algae trouble using 4.6 watts per gallon for many reasons other then the excel,I have a huge cleanup crew including 2 insatiable Siamese algae eaters and 2 plecs.I also am overstocked leading to plenty of fish induced c02 in the water [debatable] and nutrients for the plants.I use faster growing plants such as the ones you can find in my sig.I have a tight fitting glass lid that allows the recycling of any out gassed co2,I have minimal water movement at the surface to keep as much co2 in as possible.It has been pointed out to me by many that they feel certain if any of my params go out of line that I will be algae choked in a heartbeat,could be!As has already been mentioned the key is to keeping your plants in a state that they are out competing algae for nutrients,one sure way to do that is to use fast growers and alot of them.Plants that do not fit this bill or your high light tank are ferns,moss,anubias and crypts.They will be the first hit with algae and once it gets a foothold it is terrible to eliminate.You will want to fertilize with the NPK elements,that being nitrogen,phosphorous,potassium you will also want iron.Plant tabs and those 4 items from seachem are a good place to start.Dosing every other day with the appropriately reduced dosing is better then weekly dosing.Im sure I have forgotten something and someone will be along shortly to fill in my blanks.Good luck with your plants!

[MandyL]

Just wanted to quickly comment on Smaug's post. There are lots of people who say that Excel melted their Vals, but I have had great success with it. My vals are super strong and healthy, and I use Excel every day. So your mileage may vary with this one.

[smaug]

Thx for the info Mandy.