How much light is too much with excel?

[Laser]

I have a 10 gallon tank with two 10 watt 6500k cfl bulbs. I dose excel everyday and keep the photo period around 7 to 8 hours. After a few weeks my plants always manage to get algae growing on them and it's really hard to get off the plant without harming it. I usually try to spot treat it with hydrogen peroxide first.

Is 20 watts of cfl lighting too much? I dose the recommended dose of flourish comprehensive as well. I also have a 55g with 2 watts per gallon of cfl lighting, but the situation is not as severe.

 

[bud29]

Do you know what your phosphates are? I have 23 watts of CFL lighting over my 10 gallon, and I have no algae issues whatsoever. This leads me to believe there is a nutrient imbalance of some sort.

 

[Billbug68]

Do you know what your phosphates are? I have 23 watts of CFL lighting over my 10 gallon, and I have no algae issues whatsoever. This leads me to believe there is a nutrient imbalance of some sort.

+1. I agree with bud. Can you tell us what your nitrates and phosphates are?

Also, since you are already dosing excel, you can just spot treat with that rather than the peroxide. I've actually found it works better. Just count it as your daily dose. Make sure the lights have been on for at least an hour and turn filters off when spot treating.

 

[Laser]

Whenever I test the nitrates they are usually very close to 0 or 5. I usually try to dose a little nitrogen if the nitrates are low. I don't have a phosphate test kit, I suppose I could get one if it's needed.

 

[Rivercats]

How much Excel are you dosing daily?

 

[Laser]

5ml in the 10g

 

[Rivercats]

Well that is enough Glut so try cutting your lights down to 6 hours or try doing 2- 4 hour lighting periods with a 2 hour siesta with lights off in between. Also I would suggest changing over to dry ferts, which will be way cheaper for a tank that size in the long run, so your dosing a balanced macro and micro regime.

 

[Laser]

Ok thanks, I'll give that a try. I love having real plants in my tanks, but having to pull sludge algae off of my plants is enough to cure me of that.