# Lighting Amount



## BassMan (Jan 12, 2009)

Ok, I've got my 72 gallon bow front now running with the following: 216 Watts of T6 lighting for 12 hours a day, flourite substrate, java moss, java fern, xmas moss, anubis, narrow leaf java fern, plentry of driftwood, and fish.

I'm in a constant battle to limit/eliminate green algae and I believe it's diatoms forming right above my substrate (on the glass and rocks). I scarpe and use algae destroyer to fight this battle.

Am I using too much light? What should a good dosage be?


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

Hey Bassman,

First off, never use algae destroyer again. If you plan on ever having any invertebrates in the tank it will kill them.

You are definitely running A LOT of light for your tank. The plants that you have would probably do fine with only half of what you are running. Also I would reduce the lights on time to 8 or 9 hours. That's just to start with. BTW is it T6 lighting or T5 lighting?

How long has this tank been running? What are your tank and fert regimen specs/ water parameters? How often are you doing water changes? These answers will give a beter idea of where you are at. There is a certain amount of algae that can be expected at the initial set up of a tank. 

Pics of the algae would also help.


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## Avi (Apr 7, 2004)

okay, Bassman....first of all, discontinue use of the "algae destroyer." That stuff isn't what you want to put into your planted tank. You're experiencing some things like algae and maybe diatoms and that isn't unexpected. But, there are things that you'd want to do to correct the conditions in your tank rather than fight them the way you've been.

You don't mention any of the details of your tank's system other than the lighting you have. But...what kind of substrate....filtration...are you using CO2 and if you are, what kind of CO2 unit do you have? This info will help determine what you ought to do to make things right so you can enjoy that 72-gallon planted tank of yours.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Along with the above 2 comments, how are dosing ferts? If you had all other conditions correct, I'd also recommend cutting your photoperiod to 9 hours, especially with that high a light.


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## BassMan (Jan 12, 2009)

jmontee said:


> Hey Bassman,
> 
> First off, never use algae destroyer again. If you plan on ever having any invertebrates in the tank it will kill them.
> 
> ...


Ok, tank is three weeks old (plants added more recently). So, it is a new tank. It is a T6 fixture (thinner bulbs than a T5 but still 6700K each. I can certainly lower the usage. I will post pics soon. I don't however plan on having invertebrates, I have larger more aggressive fish that would devour such creatures.
I do water changes (50%) once a week, ferts 2X a week, and I have cichlids so my pH does tend to be a bit acidic for their benefit. 
Thanks for the quick response too.


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## BassMan (Jan 12, 2009)

9 hours a day it is.


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## BassMan (Jan 12, 2009)

side track----->
I have two plecos to help with the algae probs, but they sometimes get caught in the hairnets I've used to place moss on my rocks. Not a major problem though, for the most part they can free themselves and if they can't I don't hurt them when I remove them. Fun stuff.


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

Bass, I would still remove at least one of the bulbs in your fixture. Assuming that this is a four bulb fiixture with 54w bulbs, right?


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## BassMan (Jan 12, 2009)

Yes it is. I have now redone my timers to have all four bulbs on for seven hours, with two of them remaining on for an additional two hours. After such they cut off and my little blue LED's go on for my viewing pleasure.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Did you end up putting LM bass in there?
If you did, that's a lot of fish poop.


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## rich815 (Jun 27, 2007)

I had 4x54W of T5HO lighting over my 72 gal (2 Hagen fixtures each with 2x54W). I had green spot and green dust algae issues. Got a hold of one Hagen fixture with 1x54W and now run that and one of the other 2x54W fixtures = 3x54W now (total watts: 162). Plus I cut the lighting from 10+ hours to now at 8 hours straight (2pm to 10pm). Plants still grow very well and I'm doing a major trim every 2-3 weeks at least and all high light plants do fine too. I'd cutr down some on your lights and on your photoperiod.


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## BassMan (Jan 12, 2009)

LMAO. Nice Vancat, no lmb though. Just 3 Oscars, 2 African Cichlids, 1 Jack Dempsey, 1 Violet Cichlid, 1 Channel Catfish, 1 Upside-down catfish, 1 Royal Pleco, and 1 Regular Pleco.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

I could just picture you throwing nightcrawlers and crawfish in there!


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## BassMan (Jan 12, 2009)

lol! That would've been great! I had 2 crayfish and my Oscar tore them apart. Might eventually start a small refugium for snails and shrimp, we shall see.


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