Question about lighting and T6 lamps

[Kramer]

Hello, I am not satisfied with my 55W 24" power compact strip light that is keeping my plants alive in my 36" long 33 gal aquarium.

The problem I am having is that 55W is 1.67W/gallon but since its powercompact, that works out to about 2.4 watts/gal when compared with normal fluorescants. Plus the light is only 24" long and so it is much more intense in the middle of the tank so the watt/gallon is not uniform. I am getting too much algae in the middle of my tank and a lot of BGA. The BGA is really taking over, and has always been a problem for me.

I had a problem with a leak in my co2 reactor last week and had to disconnect one of my 2l bottles, leaving one that is due to be replenished. This caused a sudden algae infestation because of the co2 drop. I am so fed up about the algae problem, mainly with the BGA. If everythings
running properly, my co2 is somewhere between 20 and 30 ppm. I also dose with potassium and iron. I have 0 nitrates in the tank, I think I overfeed my fish and have excessive nutrients. I do 10% water changes per week.

While this blackout is going on, I want to purchase a 36" strip light at a lower wattage than what I have now. I am looking to have a wattage that is no greater than 2 WPG. I am hoping the light will be more spread out, and lower wattage will make managing algae a little easier.

I want to get this light:
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA.../allglassfluorescenttwintubestriplight36black

What do you think of it? I think its expensive but im willing to bight the bullet, I need a proper light.

It says its for T8, T10 and T12. The highest wattage I can find at bigals for it with those types is 25W. There is a T6 lamp that is 30W on there.

This is the T6 lamp
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...622/cl0/quantum30wattcolorintensifiert6lamp36

Can I use this T6 lamp even though the strip light says its for T8,T10, and T12?

There are no strip lights on there that say they can use T6 lamps.

If you have any other suggestions Id be glad to hear them

Thanks for reading

 

[rkilling1]

The Zoo Med's and the Coralife bulbs (T8 ) are 30 watts.

T-8's put out more light then a T-12 just like the CF does. With the fixture you have linked to (twin tube), you are acually putting MORE light into your tank then with the CF one.

If you have excess nutrients like you say, then why only a 10% PWC?

You need to dose NO3's and probably other ferts. Having 0 NO3's is a bad thing in a planted tank. BGA is associated with having little to no NO3's.

 

[Purrbox]

I would recommend upping your water changes to at least 20-25% if not higher. This will help to remove an DOCs that are building up and replenish the trace nutrients that are in your tap water.

Like rkilling1 state, you don't want 0 Nitrates in a planted aquarium. It's one of the Macro Nutrients that plants need to grow. When it bottoms out there are several algae that will take advantage of the situation as well as bluegreen algae which is actually a cynobacteria.

Fluctuating low levels of CO2 will also lead to a variety of algae. Definately make sure to fix your DIY as soon as possible and consider adding an extra bottle to the system. Ideally you want to keep your CO2 levels above 30ppm at all times. This helps to prevent BBA.

While you're fixing your CO2 you'll also want to get ahold of a full range of fertilizers (Nitrates, Phosphates, Potassium, and Traces) and start dosing. The reason that you're seeing more algae in the areas where the light is more intense, is that the nutrients are getting used up in those areas first, and your water flow probably isn't enough to keep them evenly distributed.

 

[Kramer]

I cant change much more than 10% at a time because my reverse osmosis water drains after only about 4 gallons. I could cut back on how much im feeding them. Though I feel like I am getting much more matter out of this tank than I am putting into it!

I didnt know the T8 were more efficient than T12, does anyone know roughly how much light you can get from a T8 in comparison to a T12 or PC?

If I got the single lamp striplight instead of the dual do you think that would be ok? Like if I used a single 30W T8, how many watts per gallon when I factor in the lamps efficiency with respect to say T12.
Would I be able to use 1 lamp on the dual one while the other is disconnected?

Next time I goto the LFS ill make sure to buy some NO3 for dosing. I improved the circulation a bit when I moved the location of my power filter to one end and the power diffuser on the other end.

Sorry for all these questions and if this is in the wrong forum
Thanks for helping me

 

[Purrbox]

You're in the right forum.

Your tank is big enough that you might want to look into dry ferts instead of the liquid ones at the LFS. They're a lot more cost efficient.

Check out the Read This First Sticky at the top of the forum. There's a link to threads on both lighting and fertilization. I think both would be very helpful you. Be sure to check out Wizard of Ozz's linked lighting article as it's got a ton of great info summarized in an easy to read format.

Any particular reason you're using RO water instead of Tap Water? In most cases tap water is great for planted aquariums.

It doesn't sound like you need to cut back on feeding. If you had a snail explosion or skyrocketing Nitrates, that would be another matter. With nutrients bottoming out if anything you would want to increase feeding, but only if the fish seem like they could use more food. If they're well fed then you're probably feeding just right.

 

[Kramer]

alrighty, Ill check out the sticky and the links!

I dont know anything about dry ferts, with the iron/potassium stuff I should be able to get about 5 months on a 9 dollar bottle, so its not bad. I dont know about the NO3 though.

Im using reverse osmosis water because I have it for drinking water instead of the softened tap water, and its chlorine free. The only time i used dechlorinator was when i got my aquarium and filled it up with tap water. All I know is with dechlorinator i would have to let the tap water sit for a while before i can add it. Unless im mistaken.

Oh and about the snails, I had snails once. they spread like locusts, but I was feeding more than I am now. And the campaign to irradicate every one of those nasty brown poo leaving everywhere invertebrates was an epic one let me tell you. It took several months. When I thought they were finally gone, I would lift some wood and find massive egg laying operations going on. If I had snails again they would probably be all over the place again.

 

[Purrbox]

You wouldn't want to use the water that's being treated by your water softener, but if you have a bypass you could use that water instead. The salts that are used to replace the hardness really aren't good for fish or plants. If you use a quality dechlorinator like Prime there's absolutely no reason you can't add the water immediately after treating it.

There's info on dry ferts in the fertilization link, so if you still need more information after reading that let us know.

 

[newfound77951]

Im using reverse osmosis water because I have it for drinking water

Not sure why you'd want to drink RO water instead of tap, unless your tap water is really nasty....drinking a lot of RO water isn't good for you or your fish and plants. You could get a Brita filter for drinking but except for the chlorine your plain old tap water is probably just fine for the tank. most of us would kill to have some reasonably hard tap water with the micronutrients already in it that we have to add manually (I have to add Ca and Mg to my tank to help with plant deficiencies!)

 

[Kramer]

My tank hardness is around 4 dkh. The RO by itself is around 1. my tap water is about 12 dkh last i checked which was a long time ago.

I am now looking at this light I think I will get:
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...895/cl0/allglasssingledeluxestriplight36black

With that I should have around 1.4 WPG. So Ill have a low light tank. From what I've read on here, you can still grow a good amount with that wattage and not have to worry much about algae. Ill still keep up the CO2.

 

[Purrbox]

If you're going to continue using RO Water for your water changes, something you might want to try is setting up a larger holding container. I've seen pictures of fish rooms where the owners have setup a 33 gallon trash can with a float switch to turn it off when filled. This shouldn't be too expensive to setup and would allow you to do much larger water changes.

 

[Kramer]

right now i use several jugs to hold extra water

im sure everyone but me must know this, when you use tap water how long do you have to wait for it to dechlorinate before adding it to your tank?

 

[rich311k]

If you use a dechlorinator you can add the water right away. If you want to dechlorinate with out a water treatment, the water would need to sit out for 24 hours this only providing that your local water supply does not use chloramines to treat the water, if they do then you have to use a dechlorinator.

 

[Purrbox]

What Rich said. Short form is:

Water with chlorine + sitting = 24hrs
Water with chlorine + dechorinator = immediately
Water with chloramines + sitting = never
Water with chloramines + dechlorinator = immediately

If using a dechlorinator, it's best to use one of the high quality dechlorinators like Prime which handle both chlorine and chloramine, treat for heavy metals, and detoxify Ammonia and Nitrite when dosing extra per instructions. This way if the way your water is being treated ever changes you aren't stuck with an aquarium full of dead fish if you weren't notified of the change, or having to run out and get a different dechlorinator (possibly at the last minute) if you did receive notification.

 

[Kramer]

Thanks,

I have one last question

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA.../allglassfluorescenttwintubestriplight36black

do you know if a dual strip light can work with only 1 bulb instead of 2 if the strip light can only turn both bulbs on at the same time?

I got the single strip light but I'm thinking if I ever wanted to up the WPG a then it might be easier to get the dual where I can just add another light if I wanted to.

 

[Purrbox]

I'm not entirely sure on the light fixture. I think most of the newer fixtures will let you run just one bulb, that way you don't loose both if one burns out. Since you've already got a single bulb fixture, which probably has the same wattage as just running one bulb in the dual fixture, I don't see a lot of point in buying the dual fixture. I'd wait until you're ready for more light and then order a new fixture, that way if you decide that the dual fixture isn't enough light you haven't wasted your money.

 

[SparKy697]

Just reading through your thread and a couple of things come to mind.

You are currently having problems with algae in your tank as it sits. Adding more light before you resolve the issues you have with ferts and circulation will likely make matters worse. I would like to suggest getting things straight and algae free before you upgrade to more light.

I'm running the same lamp over a 29 gallon tank. I agree with the fact that the ends of the tank are a bit under lit, but not enough to be a problem. I just plant accordingly and it makes a nice contrast. The bright spot in the middle is not actually the problem, it's just the place where conditions are perfect for the problem to grow. If you raise the light level on the ends of the tank and do not correct the other issues, you will likely just spread the problem to the rest of your tank.


As far as dechlorinator goes, since you have a well you would not likely have a chlorine level in your raw water. I understand using the R/O system to remove the sodium and other minerals from your drinking water, this is done quite often. The R/O will also remove any traces of chlorine too. This being the case, I'm not sure why you would need the dechlor?

Like purrbox said, if your raw water is not crazy high in iron or hardness you might consider using it before the softener. You would be the envy of the forum if your raw water is usable right out of the well.

 

[Kramer]

as it turns out we have 1 unused tap that exists before the softener sitting idly by the furnace

I dont think there would be a whole lot of iron in it, but its a lot more hard than the RO. The only concern I have is of a buildup of calcium and stuff in along the tank walls.

I finished the 5 day blackout on Thursday, did a thorough cleaning on Friday and the tank looks completely transformed with no algae. I trimmed a couple plants and replanted the trimmings, and changed the layout a bit. Everything looks a lot better but now with this low light its so much dimmer than before. 8O. It has a lot on the Red and Blue spectrum. Appears more red than anything.

Would it be possible to use a dual fixture with 1 light for plant growth, and then use another light that has no value for plants but would just illuminate the tank, or would that light still facilitate algae growth?


Here is what my tank looks like now after the blackout and a big algae cleanup and new single strip of lighting.

The plants have lost some colour from the blackout but they will recover. I'm not so sure about my riccia like plant on the right though.

 

[Purrbox]

Increasing the amount of plants in the aquarium would help immensely in preventing algae. Currently your tank is rather sparsely planted. More fast growing stem plants would help to take up the Nitrates, etc before the algae can take advantage of it.