# My light is correct?



## Victor (14 Dec 2013)

Hi! I have a 360 L tank lit by 11 x 25 w PL lamp (275 w). They stay lit by 7 hours a day. I've put the plants 4 months ago but there are na algae infestation! I dose EI regularly and CO2 controlled by ph computer. I've increased the water flowing some weeks ago. There was only two canisters (700 L/h each) working. Now I've put a 1200 L/h powerhead and I plan add more 2 (will be 5000 L/h total) and spread the water flow by a large spraybar at all lenght. My aquarium has 2 meters length. The illumination are too high? Which I need to do? Thank you.


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## darren636 (14 Dec 2013)

Its a lot if light. Maybe too much


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## kirk (14 Dec 2013)

I 2nd that, the lighting around my house plus the tank didn't come near to your wattage.  I'd remove at least 4 bulbs. any pics that's a big tank How far from the water are your lights?


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## darren636 (14 Dec 2013)

225 w over 360  litres needs good flow and co2. Ph computers can cause issues


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## foxfish (14 Dec 2013)

PH controllers can give fluctuating Co2, I would turn it off to see if things improve.


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## Victor (15 Dec 2013)

Hi, Guys! Thank you to your feedback. I got some pictures. Here you go:


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## Victor (15 Dec 2013)

As you can see my plants are unwell. They are infested of algae! The water flow is now very strong 5000 L/h (my tank has 300 L). The plants are moving a lot. The flow is too high or it's good? My bulbs are about 5 cm from water surface. I'll try to keep the CO2 on every time from now. I'll wait a new feedback your. Thank you.


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## foxfish (15 Dec 2013)

Definitely to much light for the amount of C02 available... you can either increase the Co2 or reduce the light, best of all - increase Co2 & reduce light.
Do you have any fish? if you don't have any live creatures in the tank, just turn up the gas really high.
To be honest I don't think you have the best lighting, two T5 tubes might be much better.


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## Victor (15 Dec 2013)

foxfish said:


> Definitely to much light for the amount of C02 available... you can either increase the Co2 or reduce the light, best of all - increase Co2 & reduce light.
> Do you have any fish? if you don't have any live creatures in the tank, just turn up the gas really high.
> To be honest I don't think you have the best lighting, two T5 tubes might be much better.


 

 Thank you, Fox. How about my water flow? It's too Strong?


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## Victor (17 Dec 2013)

Hi, guys! I'm thinking to put 6 X 28 w T5 tubes (168 w total) on my tank. It has 200 x 40 x 45 cm (360 L). What do you think about?


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## steveno (17 Dec 2013)

Victor said:


> Thank you, Fox. How about my water flow? It's too Strong?



Rule of thumb 10x changes per hour, but I have a 120l tank with an 1200 ex which provides 1200l changes an hour, but I recently had to to add a power head to improve flow, as substrate is backed up high at the back which was restricting flow. Looking at you set up there dose t appear to be anything restricting flow so perhaps reduce your flow a bit and see how you get on.

As foxfish suggest if you battling a lot of algae something is out of balance... Reducing light and If you not got livestock blast it with c02... Too much c02 never hurts plants but too much lights causes a lot of algae.

Amano shrimp are great at combating algae, but will need to dial down c02... 

You suggested keeping c02 on all the time, IMO it prob better to switch of at night as plant won't need c02 at night and this will help bacteria growth in you filter. Suggest increased c02 level an hours or two before lights on and off an hour before lights off.


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## foxfish (17 Dec 2013)

Victor, happy Christmas.
We try to match our lighting to match the maximum amount of Co2 we can add without harming any fish or shrimps we might keep.
It is not always easy to get this right so we tend to start with low light ... less than half a watt per litre with a PH drop of one point seems to work well for most people.
A single strip of T5 lights would be good or a double strip of T8 but what is more important is the correct amount of C02.
If you don't have very hard water then try to get your PH level to drop one point, measure this with a PH pen.
For example if you have a PH reading of 7.5 use enough C02 to get it down to 6.5 at the same time your lights come on.
However always be carful not to add to much gas in case you fish get stressed or even die.


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## Victor (17 Dec 2013)

foxfish said:


> Victor, happy Christmas.
> We try to match our lighting to match the maximum amount of Co2 we can add without harming any fish or shrimps we might keep.
> It is not always easy to get this right so we tend to start with low light ... less than half a watt per litre with a PH drop of one point seems to work well for most people.
> A single strip of T5 lights would be good or a double strip of T8 but what is more important is the correct amount of C02.
> ...


Happy Christmas, mate! I've renew my lighting today. I've put 6 x 30 w T8 tubes (180 w total) My aquarium has 200 x 40 x 45 cm, 360 L total but nearly 300 L of water. It's too high illumination or it's good?


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## foxfish (17 Dec 2013)

Light is good now test your PH.
Take test before light on & mid light on & when the lights go off.


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## Victor (17 Dec 2013)

foxfish said:


> Light is good now test your PH.
> Take test before light on & mid light on & when the lights go off.


 But I use a ph controller. The ph is always between 6,7 and 6,9 and water hardness at 5 dº. I need to off the ph computer?


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## darren636 (17 Dec 2013)

Ph computers can be a problem. They tend to fluctuate co2 levels.  You need a nice , constant co2 injection rate. With good co2 flow - but not a tornado!


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## foxfish (17 Dec 2013)

Yes, you don't need the controller because it allows the gas to come on & off all the time & causes the amount of available gas to fluctuate.
You would be better off using a timer & solenoid valve so the gas comes on two hours before the lights come on & turns the gas off two hours before the lights go off.
This way your plants will have continuous supply of Co2 when they need it.


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## GHNelson (22 Dec 2013)

Victor
Should be able to set the PH controller to switch off when it reaches 6.5.
If it moves above that setting it should switch back on.
hoggie


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