# too much light?



## scream-aim-fire (Oct 20, 2009)

is there such thing as too much light over a planted tank? i have 3 24 watt compact florecent bulbs over my 20 gal planted tank, 2 are 6,500 k and the other im not sure a little more in the red spectrum. i have diy co2 and add diy ferts (got the recipe off the internet) about every week, and i do about a 50% water change every week, and the tank is well cycled its been up and running for around 6 months, but i keep getting green water that is the only kind of algae i have in the tank. so im wondering if it may be too much light. not sure my co2 level and there are not nitrites or anything, also ph is around 7.0.


----------



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

There is DEFINITELY a possibility of having too much light over a planted tank. Everything has to balance out (light , ferts, (including carbon source), plant mass, metabolism). 

How densely planted is this tank (a picture would help)? You might be dosing everything just right, including light, but if the plant mass isn't there to gobble it all up, there may be a need to reduce the light and ferts a bit.

-Dave


----------



## scream-aim-fire (Oct 20, 2009)

its pretty heavily planted ill try to get pics of it up later today.


----------



## jeremy1 (May 6, 2007)

If if possible, you can raise the light higher to cut the intensity or use one less bulb. Observe your plants/algae with every change in parameter and adjust accordingly.  It takes some time to get things dialed in just right. I have noiticed with higher light intensity, things become much more complicated to maintain balance. Make small changes and observe closley.

Cheers,
Jeremy


----------



## aquatic_clay (Aug 17, 2009)

a UV filter will help get rid of the green water. But... that would just treat the symptoms and not the "disease".

You're best tool against algae is using proper dosing with ferts and co2. If anything is out of balance then algae will be able to grow. The margin of error usually gets smaller with more lights and higher wattage.


----------



## jdigiorgio (Jan 29, 2004)

I recently replaced my PCs with T5HO. I purchased the Nova extreme 48 inch 8 x 64watt for my 120. the tank was VERY BRIGHT. I noticed the plants getting more leggy and leaves were begining to get reabsorbed. I uped the ferts but just to relaize I got more algae. After speaking with folks on here I decided to run 4 x 54 for 10 hours with a burst 0r 2 x 54 for 3 hours. Since then I have had to dose less and the plant growth has slowed down, but what is growing now is shorted and more compact and just looks better. I guess I can say there can me too much light, especially if you dont want to does 2x a day and trim very weak plants.


----------

