I Have 75 Watts Over 10 Gallon. Too Much?

[lamthuyduong]

The glossos in my tank have started growing, but I noticed that they are growing vertically instead of spreading out horizontally. Seems like they want more light, so I added another 15 watts to the original 60 watts, a total of 75 watts. The bulbs are Coralife Day-Max Freshwater Aquarium flourescent bulbs.

 

[TankGirl]

You will find out very quickly if it is too much by the rapid onset of algae - that will be your indicator - so if you do not get algae and your plants respond then, no, it is not too much light.

 

[Guest]

So you have five tube over a 10 gallon tank and think you are getting 75 watts into the tank. I say you really need to figure no more than 40% of your light above the tank is getting into the tank. This is due to re-strike. And with 5 tubes in that small of a space you have a ton of re-strike. Do you have any type of reflectors at all?

 

[lamthuyduong]

I have shiny, metal sheets lining the sides, the top, the fron and the back of the inside of my homemade hood. This is not efficient reflector? How do I make use of all the lights?

 

[Guest]

A flat reflector over and around a round tube is going to tend to reflect most of the light back into the tube. This is called re-strike. Also when your tubes are close together as your's must be they cause re-strike. I'm not sure how you can make better use of the lights you have.

 

[brendan]

I've heard that a white background is a better reflector that metalic surfaces

 

[malkore]

A white background 'can' be better, but it's not so much a reflector as a diffuser. Since the light beams get diffused, you end up with a little less restrike, but nothing to write home about.

What you probably read was someone who didn't have angled reflectors (which would minimize restrike), and instead were gonna use mylar or something, much like lamthuyduong did. Someone then probably said, "dont' waste your time, paint the inside white, it'll be as good as your mylar 'reflector'"...which is true in that case.

But look at this link http://www.ahsupply.com/images/1x13b.jpg and you can see a polished specular aluminium MIRO reflector, angled to reduce restrike. This is a great reflector. If you don't; have these, save money and just use gloss white paint.

 

[lamthuyduong]

Is there anyway to buy the MIRO reflector from AHSupply? I heard their reflector is very efficient.