Good enough lighting?

[TipStylez]

Running a 55gal.

With TWO quad bulb coralife 65wats.

I know that WPG dosnt really tell you if thats enough lighting, but anyone want to chime in so i can know if i need to add more?

Thanks

 

[dragonfish]

What type of plants do you want and what is the rating on the bulbs?

 

[TipStylez]

Dont know the rating on the bulbs. Is it on the bulb?

And right now i just got abunch of amazon swords, water sprite, madagascar lace.

Got abunch of other plants coming but dont know what yet.

Pretty much trying to have a good setup without going over and cause alage.

 

[dragonfish]

You're looking for the k rating of the bulb. 10,000k or less will work best. My 50 has 130 watts of pc lighting and the plants did very well. They also got
CO2 and fertilizing. Swords are heavy root feeders and the tabs worked best for them. Good luck with it. Look forward to seeing pics.

 

[WyldFya]

Are you running 8 65W bulbs or 4? The kelvin rating is going to be important, and regardless of 4 or 8 bulbs you will need a lot of plants, co2 and ferts to keep yourself from getting enormous algae outbreaks.

 

[TipStylez]

Kinda got confusing.

This is the lighting i got. I have two of these sitting ontop of my 55gal.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...coralife2096wattquadaqualightcompactsquarepin

Each one is running these bulbs.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...alife96watt50504tubepowercompactlampsquarepin

And im kinda having a brown alage problem. Growing on my glass, and on some leaves of my amazons.

And green alage on the tip of my driftwoods thats closest to the surface.

P.S. I ment 96w, not 65. =]

 

[WyldFya]

Your problem is your lights. Get rid of the 50/50, they will do you no good. You really should get 6700K or 6500K bulbs. You REALLY need to have co2 and good ferts/substrate for that tank. With that much light you will only be inviting algae in. Either cut the lights back to 1/4 the amount of wattage, or add WAY more plants, while using co2 and ferts. The actinic adds to algae growth, while doing very little for your plants. I highly recommend that you read this sticky

 

[WyldFya]

One thing I forgot to mention, WPG is designed around the compact fluorescent light, so it is valid to an extent in your case.

 

[TipStylez]

My co2 been off since i was waiting for the glass diffuser to be shiped out. At first i was using a air stone.

I just got it today, and will be hooking it up to a 1liter bottle.

I also plan on adding alot more plants.

I think i will deal with the lights for about two more weeks. Them bulbs are expensive.

So, even if i switch to 6k bulbs, the ammount of lighting is too much still?

 

[WyldFya]

You should definitely consider pressurized co2. When you are talking that many watts over a tank that size, algae will be present. Reaction co2 will not yield much production, and you will likely need 3-6 2 liter bottles running of reaction co2 to get the needed amounts of co2. The lights you have would be better off sold, and a standard 65W straight pin setup purchased. I only pay $20 for each 65W 6700K straight pin bulb, and $24 for each 65W 6700K square pin bulb. The actinic is the biggest problem, but your 10,000K part to the lights will not provide the optimum growth for plants. Think of it this way... 96 watts of your bulbs is applied to algae growth (actinic) the other 96 watts will be applied to both algae and plant growth. The odds are stacked against you with the bulbs you are using.