# >5wpg for a small tank



## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Is it advisable to put a 65watt light over a 10 gallon tank? I have been looking for something that's around 40 watts to give me 4wpg but haven't been able to find anything affordable except the 65 watts of pc light. That being said, would such a high wpg have any negative impact on plants? Thanks


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Yes. Algae.

You might have plants growing horizontally and not vertically since there's so much light.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

To combat the algae problem, should I dose less than the recommended and/or have the lights on less than 8hrs/day, say 4hrs/day? 

Horizontal growth wouldn't necessarily be too bad of an effect would it?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

To combat the algae problem you need to dose more, not less. But, you especially need to provide enough CO2. Then you need to make sure you never run out of any of the other nutrients. Algae are not a result of too much fertilizers in the water.


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## NoSvOrAx (Nov 11, 2006)

Lots of ferts and co2, with less light time. Like 6-7 hours and less if you get an algae problem. 

Personally, I love it when plants creep sideways.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

I have that light on a 10g currently. The plants are growing great, but in my opinion you must be religious about water changes, dosing, high co2 levels and keeping lots of plants in it and yes the light duration shouldn't exceed 8 hrs and you should work up to it from 5 or 6hrs IMO. I'm not getting any unusual horiztional growht by the way.


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## deepdiver (May 30, 2006)

Mount the bulb to the ceiling, and grow some terrestrial plants near the tank.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Thanks for all the input guys. If the co2 needs to be at a high level, would that mean I wouldn't be able to keep fish in the tank? Considering that it is somewhat a small tank, would I be able to just get by with dosing Excel for co2?


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

lildark185 said:


> Thanks for all the input guys. If the co2 needs to be at a high level, would that mean I wouldn't be able to keep fish in the tank? Considering that it is somewhat a small tank, would I be able to just get by with dosing Excel for co2?


In my experience excel is worthless in a tank wit that kind of light. You really need to maintain good co2 levels and yes you can have fish it kept in the 30-40ppm range.


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

Haha, wow, I was about to ask if the 2x 40 watt was overkill. Ahsupply said that a 2x 36 watt would fit over a 10 gallon, so I assumed they thought it was good, so hey, why not a 80 watt non ahsupply one. 

I guess I'll stick with a 1x 40 watt. Thanks~!


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## Church (Sep 16, 2007)

I have 80 watts over my ten gallon, but I only use the full 80 for about 2 hours a day. The other 8 hours are just one single 40 watter. But when all 80 watts are kickin', the pearling goes into overdrive. It's obvious that the plants are photosynthesizing more during these 2 hours. But I do believe that I would have problems if I left both lamps on for the entire 10 hours of light in this tank.

But I firmly believe that 80 watts is the perfect amount of lighting for a HIGH light ten gallon, using compressed CO2. As soon as I go compressed, I will have both lights on all day long.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Wouldn't that put your plants in overdrive all day, forcing you to add lots of nutrients?


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## Church (Sep 16, 2007)

Yes. It would. But that's why I have nutrients to add, I guess. On second thought, I still think I like the idea of having a dusk and dawn effect (for lack of a better phrase), so i think I would have only one light on for the first and last hour of the photoperiod. But the rest of the time, yeah, I _want_ the photosynthesis to be in overdrive! I like the way it looks when everything is pearling! It's like someone replaced the water with champagne!


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## Larsen (Dec 17, 2007)

I have 2*80 over a 16g tank and compressed CO2... Ones I cut my stems they start creaping along the bottom! In the long rung it becomes boring! Not to mention the amount of time you have to spend cutting and trimming! But the champagne effect IS cool!


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## tom91970 (Jan 22, 2008)

I've been thinking about buying a Dual Satellite 20" for my 14 gal. That would give me 5.7 wpg. I have a DIY CO2 system and will be dosing ferts, too.

I read in the post about about running both lights together for just two hours, with just 40w the rest of the time. I'm interested in how that worked out. Sounds like something I might want to consider.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

I wonder if the DIY CO2 would hold up in a case where the lights exceed 5wpg. Let us know if this works.


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## onyx (Sep 14, 2007)

I have a 130W Dual Satellite on my 20g (6.5 WPG) and I'm having no algae issues. Both lights are on for 4 out of 8 hours of the day. I have pressurized CO2 at 1 bps. Growth is superb with no visible stunting. I haven't increased my fertilization above the standard amount because of the high wattage. If you do go with >5 WPG, just make sure you don't have both bulbs on all the time.


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## tom91970 (Jan 22, 2008)

lildark185 said:


> I wonder if the DIY CO2 would hold up in a case where the lights exceed 5wpg. Let us know if this works.


I think that with the DIY and with doses of Excel it should. And I will only be running both lights together a portion of the time. I'm thinking about running 80w from 8:00 or 9:00 pm to about 11:00 pm and 40w from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am.

Currently I have 2.5wpg with the CIY CO2 and I can see a big difference in the rotala and wisteria. The cabomba looks like crap, though.


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