108 watts on 29gallon?

**sweeneyc** · 01-07-2013, 01:15 AM

I have 108 watts on a 29gallon. They are both 6.7 watts. Is that too much? I mean to keep swords, cabomba, hemianthus baby tears, and possibly some rotalas.

My water is green, pea soup green. I think it is because I had 10,000K bulb on there for the majority of the time, which gives off a lot of blue light. Will the removal the bulb make the problem better?

**Cliff** · 01-07-2013, 01:26 AM

You are at high level of light, even with 6700K bulbs. But I would certainly recommend switching to 6700K bulbs

Are you using ferts or CO2 in this set-up as well ?

**biotsrama** · 01-07-2013, 02:02 AM

Agreed with Cliff--with that amount of light (assuming it's compact fluorescent), additional fertilizers and carbon sources will likely be needed, or algae will take over.

**sweeneyc** · 01-07-2013, 02:26 PM

I haven't used any ferts yet, except for once last week I dosed with a plant supplement from API.

Right now, I have two smaller swords in there and a few bunches of cabomba, separated. Should I start dosing with that API again, weekly? My water is green green. I can't get it to go away.

**sweeneyc** · 01-07-2013, 02:27 PM

also they are not necessarily compact fluorescent. they are T5s.

**biotsrama** · 01-07-2013, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by sweeneyc

Right now, I have two smaller swords in there and a few bunches of cabomba

I think before you start dosing fertilizers, I suggest having more plants in the tank. Otherwise, all the nutrients will just feed the algae.

In the meantime, limiting how much time the light is on per day will help with the green water somewhat. (How many hours/day is it on usually?)

There are more intensive solutions--like getting daphnia or a UV sterilizer. But I would first try getting more plants, of the relatively undemanding, fast-growing type, and cutting back the light, and see if that fixes the problem.

**Taurus** · 01-07-2013, 04:16 PM

This is why I aksed in sweeneyc's other thread on the subject just how many hours per day the lights are on. I also suggested a black out of tank lights for for a few days with several big water changes during the black out period.

sweeneyc is going to need to limit the amount of time the lights are on until he does plant some plants in the tank.

High lighting will require high light plants, co2, ect.

Originally Posted by biotsrama

In the meantime, limiting how much time the light is on per day will help with the green water somewhat. (How many hours/day is it on usually?)