Lighting

[androo303]

Hi all,

I am beginning to wonder if my lighting is right for my size tank.

Tank size : ~24 gallon
Length : 36" long
Wpg : ~2.7
Current Light : 65w @ 6700k - Coralife Compact Fluorescent Straight Pin
Current Light Age : unknown at least 1.5 yrs

So I am unsure if I have too much or too light light. It is currently set to turn on from 9-4.

Is it on too long, too short, or just enough?
Do I need a smaller light? Larger light?

[exv152]

Hi Andrew, what are your tank dimensions in terms of width, length and height? The light intensity you have is somewhere in what's considered the mid-range, or less because the bulb is older. Your question about intensity really depends on what you're wanting to grow, what kind of plants do you want/have? You can go up to 8-9 hrs per day of photoperiod.

[androo303]

Hey Eric, thanks for the quick reply.

what are your tank dimensions in terms of width, length and height?

The tank is approximately 31" long x 11 tall x 15 wide .

The light intensity you have is somewhere in what's considered the mid-range, or less because the bulb is older. Your question about intensity really depends on what you're wanting to grow, what kind of plants do you want/have?

I currently have so amazon swords, blyxa japonica (I think), Carolina Fanwort, and pennywort. I'd like to add some more colorful stuff, but the reason why I think I don't have a good enough light is simply because I don't know what kind of light I truly need for growing with CO2 and EI dosing.

Some of my plants are darker in color and aren't the bright green that they should be.

You can go up to 8-9 hrs per day of photoperiod.

Done, extended my photo period from 8am to 5pm. No I can enjoy my tank.

[exv152]

...The tank is approximately 31" long x 11 tall x 15 wide .

That's a 22 gallon hagen rimless right? That's about 2.9 wpg which is quite decent.

I currently have so amazon swords, blyxa japonica (I think), Carolina Fanwort, and pennywort. I'd like to add some more colorful stuff, but the reason why I think I don't have a good enough light is simply because I don't know what kind of light I truly need for growing with CO2 and EI dosing.

The plants you currently have can be grown with or without co2, and are not particularly demanding or difficult. But if you wanted to keep plants with intense red colours like rotala wallichii, alternanthera reineckii or whatever, then you need high light intensity in the range above 3wpg, and HO bulbs preferrably, but know you're considerably increasing the maintenance and nutrient uptake. Or you can keep what you have (2.9wpg) and just add CO2 and ferts and slightly overdue the ferts and CO2 and you'll still get incredible growth and keep just about any aquatic plant.

[charlie]

I will add with only a11 inch deep tank, when you factor in your substrate bed that is a very shallow tank, the light you have now with a reflector & 65 watts is good enough to grow anything in that tank.
The issue is finding the balance between light intensity & nutritient supplementation, one way to control the light intensity is to raise the fixture & adjust as needed as the more demanding plants you seek to keep gets going, i should add that with that light as pointed out by Eric CO2 becomes a must have nutrient as well as NPK & Traces.
If you search the forum there is a post somewhere that i tried to explain the relationship between light & nutrient uptake , i borrowed the most common analogy of thinking of lights as the gas pedal in your car, see if you find it.
Errol

[Darth]

first off with bulbs at 1.5 years old you should change them that be the first step

[androo303]

I will add with only a11 inch deep tank, when you factor in your substrate bed that is a very shallow tank, the light you have now with a reflector & 65 watts is good enough to grow anything in that tank.

That's good news. So I think I may want to hang onto this light for another year or so since my dough is going to hte regulator build!!  

The issue is finding the balance between light intensity & nutritient supplementation, one way to control the light intensity is to raise the fixture & adjust as needed as the more demanding plants you seek to keep gets going, i should add that with that light as pointed out by Eric CO2 becomes a must have nutrient as well as NPK & Traces.

Great to know Errol. I think i need a more consistent feed of CO2 to my tank instead of this paintball setup. Then once that is set properly i can dose EI as required to get things moving a little better (and to sleep at night without killing the fishies!! I am probably also going to put an airstone in the tank on a timer as well to help the process when the photo period is off.

If you search the forum there is a post somewhere that i tried to explain the relationship between light & nutrient uptake , i borrowed the most common analogy of thinking of lights as the gas pedal in your car, see if you find it.
Errol

Great, I will have to do a search and try to find it for a bed time read one night this week. I truelly do need to learn more about how all these factors weigh against each other if i am really going to excel in this hobby!!!

first off with bulbs at 1.5 years old you should change them that be the first step

I really don't want to do this just yet, as mentioned above... I am going to spend about $100 on a CO2 regulator build in the upcoming weeks.

[exv152]

... I am going to spend about $100 on a CO2 regulator build in the upcoming weeks.

I'm counting on it to be approximately $130-140 plus the cost of the CO2 cylinder.

[androo303]

I'm counting on it to be approximately $130-140 plus the cost of the CO2 cylinder.

There ya go, so I really can't buy a new light until it dies.

[Darth]

its my understanding that after about 8 months the bulbs lose the spectrum they orgininally gave off, becoming less beneficial and more of a hazard for algae growth but I never kept a planted tank

[androo303]

its my understanding that after about 8 months the bulbs lose the spectrum they orgininally gave off, becoming less beneficial and more of a hazard for algae growth but I never kept a planted tank

Woah. Those get pricy after a while .

[exv152]

its my understanding that after about 8 months the bulbs lose the spectrum they orgininally gave off, becoming less beneficial and more of a hazard for algae growth but I never kept a planted tank

This is true, after 6 months all fluorescent bulbs begin to lose intensity as well as spectrum, but many don't bother changing the bulbs until they burn out. Algae is more of a concern not because of the lighting, but because of an imbalance of in your tank.  So adjusting your ferts and co2 regimen to your light intensity is a must when the bulb's intensity fizzles.