# How long should I have my lights on for?



## jschall (Apr 13, 2009)

I have 40w of CFL over a 10 gallon tank, how long should I leave them on?


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## Travis.808 (Apr 2, 2009)

I think you need to post more information on your tank IE plants, co2, new setup etc.


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## Crispino Ramos (Mar 21, 2008)

8 hours average


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## jschall (Apr 13, 2009)

Travis.808 said:


> I think you need to post more information on your tank IE plants, co2, new setup etc.


May've been a bit of a hasty post.
The reason I ask is because I'm having major brown algae/diatom issues. This is a new 10 gallon refugium on a 6-month old established cichlid/turtle tank. I'm not using any CO2 because of pH concerns, and I'm working on getting flourish excel.

~30ppm nitrates, I've added potassium and iron. Substrate is unenriched silica sand. Plants are hygrophila, anacharis, micro swords and amazon swords.
temperature 78F, pH 7.9, haven't tested GH or KH, but I plan to.
I don't really want to put any algae-eaters in the refugium.
Any other information you want?


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

I personally think you could get away 1/2 the lighting you have now


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## jschall (Apr 13, 2009)

supersmirky said:


> I personally think you could get away 1/2 the lighting you have now


Well a lot of people encouraged me to go with 40w.


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## Travis.808 (Apr 2, 2009)

Seems like the plants you have right now are fairly low light plants if you decided to go with more plants and move into the higher light requiring plants the 40w will come in handy. I don't know what ph levels are acceptable for turtles but, I think co2 would really help with the plant growth overall. The plants grow through photosynthesis which requires co2 so flourish will help but, after all the research I've been doing it seems like it will be a cheaper more consistent fix with pressurized co2. If you are planning on doing more/ larger tanks in the future which you probably will, the pressurized system will be able to transfer over. You can also later get a multi-manifold for your system to work on more than one tank so you you could stick with the setup as long as it is quality. Anyway, I'm definitely not a pro on the subject just figured if you put more info on here people could tailor a lighting config. for you. It seems like you could probably start off on the lower end 6 hours or so and increase or decrease lighting as needed. Also, I've heard that it's good to have down times between lighting cycles to deter algae growth. Hope this wasn't long winded and does help you.:blabla:


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## jschall (Apr 13, 2009)

Travis.808 said:


> Seems like the plants you have right now are fairly low light plants if you decided to go with more plants and move into the higher light requiring plants the 40w will come in handy. I don't know what ph levels are acceptable for turtles but, I think co2 would really help with the plant growth overall.


Its not the turtles I'm concerned about, I have mbuna in that tank. Anyway, I think I'm going to dose excel. I'll probably turn the pump off for a day so I only have to dose it for the 10 gallon.
Apart from that, I'm planning on buying a 10 gallon tank, taking the hood from this one, and doing yeast-generated CO2 in it. I'll have a lot more options then, and I'll be able to use a phosphate-adsorbing resin in my turtle/cichlid tank to lose the brown algae.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Silica = brown algae


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## Travis.808 (Apr 2, 2009)

jschall sounds like u got it taken care of ppst some pics not too many planted turtle tank pics here. Also, newt, will silica be a prob if only part of the substrate is and the rest is AS?


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Brown algae (diatoms) is typical in new tank set ups and is typically caused by high amounts of silica/silicates. Otos will gobble this stuff up and it usually wont last after several big water changes.


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## Travis.808 (Apr 2, 2009)

Coolio! Thanks newt! and jschall sorry for jacking your thread.


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