Too much light for a 30 gallon tank?

[bell7797]

Hello, this is my first post at this site, and I am looking forward to the advice I receive. I have a 30 gallon tank that is moderately planted. Fish wise, it contains 8 harlequin rasboras (only 3 are adult size), 1 bristlenose, 2 ottos, 2 amano shrimp, 2 zebra loaches, and 2 Schwartz's corys.

About 2 months ago I upgraded my lighting to a "Glo" T5 system with two 24 watt lights. Since then I have been having a battle with algae (Mainly cyanobacteria or BGA). I started using RO water for my changes, increased circulation with the addition of a power head, and started a DIY CO2 system. So far I have not seen much improvement, so I was wondering if I have too much light for my size of aquarium? I guess I should also mention that I have also reduced the light cycle to 9 hrs/day. If anyone has any advice I would love to hear it and let me know if any other information would be useful. Thanks in advance!

 

[abiddle]

I would study up on the natural environment of your fish. I keep a Jaguar cichlid in a tank with very low light because in his natural environment he lives in murky water with limited light.

 

[Adhlc]

I wouldn't say you have too much light at all. However I would try cutting the lights back from 9 hours to 6 or 7.

 

[yikesjason]

That can be a little on the high side at 9 hr or more and little or no co2. A couple of options are-
- be very diligent with the diy co2, it is a lot of work to keep it constant.
- reduce the time the lights are on, you can even cut time out of the middle of the day while no one is around, just a few hours in the morning, and then again in the evening.
- Look into Flourish Excel as a carbon source. large bottles on line can be a good choice for a tank as small as a 30 gallon. Excel also has some anti-algae properties.

Hope it helps, good luck

 

[Adhlc]

That can be a little on the high side at 9 hr or more and little or no co2. A couple of options are-
- be very diligent with the diy co2, it is a lot of work to keep it constant.
- reduce the time the lights are on, you can even cut time out of the middle of the day while no one is around, just a few hours in the morning, and then again in the evening.
- Look into Flourish Excel as a carbon source. large bottles on line can be a good choice for a tank as small as a 30 gallon. Excel also has some anti-algae properties.

Hope it helps, good luck

That's interesting, I've never thought of doing that before. Are there any pros/cons to having the light come on twice a day like that?

 

[t0p_sh0tta]

BGA isn't really an algae. It's usually due to stagnant water or a lax cleaning regimen. Manually remove what's there and keep up with water changes. You've already addressed the water flow issues, so it should be gone in a week or 2.

Also, how long has the tank been setup?

 

[yikesjason]

That's interesting, I've never thought of doing that before. Are there any pros/cons to having the light come on twice a day like that?

From my limited experience and from what I have read, breaking the lighting period into two parts does not negativity affect the plants or fish, but it does affect the algae. I don't remember where I read it, but it said that algae can not turn on its photo synthesis as quickly as plants do.

I like it most because I can see my tank when I am around instead of showing it off to no one.

 

[WyldFya]

Putting a dead time in the middle is not effective IME. The problem being your plants will lose a lot of time to grow, still allowing excess nutrients. When the lights go out, ambient light will still allow the algae to grow. This method is sub par to getting a couple good algae eaters. You aren't fixing the problem, just adding another.