Hey

[Lonewolfblue]

No such thing as too much filtration. As long as the current isn't too strong for the fish, you are fine. I'd only keep 1 light strip on til you get things down, then you can try experimenting with full lighting from that fixture. Sounds like you have what I have. I have the Odessea 265W 4 bulb fixture and 3 switches, one for each row and the 3rd for the moon-lights. I have 2 of them on my 75G.

[Derek015]

awww i want moon lights but yea the current is blowing up against the glass and it all evens out the canister filters blow into each other and the HOB filters blow water against the glass and the plants dont show much current and the fish are fine, sometimes they just idle in one place in the tank other times they decide to chase each other

but all is well and the current appears to be non-existent

[fish_4_all]

Just my two cents but I think you are killing your light. With that much chop and current at the surface, you could be reflecting all your light or a majority of it. Also, that is gassing off CO2 if the water splashes at all against the glass. I honestly believe you can overfilter just for the fact that you have so much current, and with the bioload distributed between all those filters, it could lead to an ammonia spike if you take 2 of them out. 2 filters rated for 55 gallons or more should be fine, more than enough filtration.

I could be way off base here but undergravel filters running air stones supposedly not only gasses off CO2 but also cuts your light penetration but up to 75% depending on the surface agitation.

[Derek015]

it doesnt splash on the glass.... i have no air stones one of the filters is currently off and the light is fine and my plants are still healthy and green

thanks for the vote of confidence

[fish_4_all]

Sorry to make it sound like I was dissin ya, I didn't mean for it to sound that way. It just seemed like it might be a lot of current and that might be disrupting the light penetration. I know if I don't keep the water level right at the outflow of my AC my plants show the effects almost overnight. The red melon sword I have won't pearl if the water isn't high enough keeping the water waves to a minimum. Otherwise it pearls in continuous streams.

[Derek015]

my plants still pearl i just have some grasses and 2 java fern right now

[BillD]

Way too much filtration for a planted tank. Also do you have a lot of live plants, or "just a few grasses and Java fern"? Keep only the 404, and make sure there is no carbon in it. there are other things that need to be done, but I'll let the plant experts fill you in on that. That is a lot of light for a non CO2 tank.

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Alkalinity pretty high (how do i lower this?)
Hardness its pretty soft because we have a water softener

And here is a small problem.. Most water softeners that use salt are ion exchange, so they swap 1 molecuule for another, not that great for plants since that is typicaly not something your plants need. you'ld be better off bypassing the softener for your tank water.. (better the devil you know then the devil you don't) if you truely want to sften your water then look for a cation exchange unit/resin. Water softening pillow is one such beast, but I'm unsure of cost for a unit like this.