Too much light?

[hockeyhead019]

hey everybody,

just curious as to whether or not you can give too much light to plant or have a bulb that's "too intense" i guess the correct terminology would be...

thanks

[robflanker]

I assume this is for your 20g, what do you have for lighting?

It is possible to burn some plants. From your pictures, it didnt look like it was a problem. One typically aims for 1-3 watts per gallon (WPG). So for your 20g, 20W to 60W.

[hockeyhead019]

i'm lovin the fast help here haha...

and ok what would a burnt plant look like just so i'm aware because i'm using about 50 watts... but if you don't think it'd be a problem then that's a good thing thumbs2:

[robflanker]

about 50W? what do you have? The type of light in K matters as well.

I've never burnt any plants, so I can't comment. I would imagine the leaves just wilt and die as they get closer to the source

[hockeyhead019]

ok and honestly i don't know what the K value is... it's not an aquarium light lol i thought i could just get away with a normal florescent light... so if i can't just do that what would you recommend?

[MonkeyPox]

K is the Kelvin rating of the light- the temperature. There are multiple spectrums of light.

Yes, you can very much have too much light for a tank. Not just as a burn factor for plants, but as you increase light, you increase the need for additional food for plants (CO2, trace elements)

[robflanker]

Ok no biggie, technically mine isnt aquarium lighting either.

1) how long is the bulb?
2) whats the setup? How do you have it overlooking the tank?
3) what type of bulb is? the more specific the better

Lots of people dont use true aquarium lighting, but its important that it has the right features

[hockeyhead019]

ok here goes...

the bulb is three inches long and maybe you got the wrong idea when i said florescent light bulb... it's one of the little spiral ones

i have it in a desk lamp which over looks the tank and the bulb is 8 inches from the water surface

the make of the bulb is n:vision soft white, and it says that 14 watts of this bulb is equivalent to 60 watts of a regular light bulb so i guess i'm using more of a 60 watt bulb then?

[MonkeyPox]

You're not going to have too much light, but its very likely too low in temp to provide much benefit.

[Algenco]

ok here goes...

the bulb is three inches long and maybe you got the wrong idea when i said florescent light bulb... it's one of the little spiral ones

i have it in a desk lamp which over looks the tank and the bulb is 8 inches from the water surface

the make of the bulb is n:vision soft white, and it says that 14 watts of this bulb is equivalent to 60 watts of a regular light bulb so i guess i'm using more of a 60 watt bulb then?


no, your using 14w, that equivalency is compared to an incandescent bulb

[robflanker]

Ok - 8 inches is a bit far from the water. You might want to move it closer, but if you've had no problems then dont worry about it.

I have similar CFL bulbs in my set up - I use 2x 10W (40W equiv) CFL bulbs in my 10g.

See if you can find the packaging for the bulb. It often says on the side what the K value is. Ideally you want 6500K, which is typically referred to as "daylight" but its all to do with the manufacturer

You are on the right course tho

[hockeyhead019]

ok and the box has normal day light and it's a click below that at soft light so should i look for something more powerful? and i'm really now looking for my plant to grow crazy fast... just something to keep them alive

[robflanker]

No thats fine - its most like daylight.

You could add water additives like Seachem Flourish or Root Tabs if you arent already