Too much light

[Philly33]

Are 4 t5ho too much light for a 90 gallon? Lights are 1/2" above the glass. Using co2 and EI dosing. I thought I saw a thread or chart that may put me in very high light. I'm trying carpet plants and thinking I need 4 bulbs instead of 3.

 

[Tobykourtney]

Are 4 t5ho too much light for a 90 gallon? Lights are 1/2" above the glass. Using co2 and EI dosing. I thought I saw a thread or chart that may put me in very high light. I'm trying carpet plants and thinking I need 4 bulbs instead of 3.

I don't think it's necessarily to much light just going to be harder to balance. I used to have 4 t5ho over my 75 which is the same dimensions as a 90 but a couple inches shorter and after 3-4 weeks balancing I finally got it right. Patience is key with high light tanks and understanding that your gonna screw it up a few times before you get it right. It also depends on the reflector quality and ballast on how much par the fixture is actually putting out. What brand of fixture do you have?

 

[Philly33]

Hagen glo 2 bulb fixture and aquatic life 2 bulb fixture. I also have a single hagen if I reduce to 3 bulbs

 

[Old Scales]

IMO, For more advanced plants high light with shorter time on is better than medium light on for long periods. I have an Aquatic Life Quad T5 HO on a 29g. I run two bulbs first half hour, 4 bulbs for 6 hours and back to 2 bulbs for the last half hour. With my plant/fert combination this puts me right at but not into the algae forming point. You'll have to balance the triad of carbon, light and ferts by experimentation on a high light planted tank. Keep a small notepad to log what you do as you look for what works and what doesn't. Rivercats is a great mentor on balancing. She has helped me tremendously.
Good luck and have fun with the challenge. It's worth it IMO. OS.

 

[Jkeating8]

You're probably looking at medium light. Good news, though, because almost every plant can be grown at medium light it is provided with adequate gas.

 

[Philly33]

I found this. I wonder how accurate this is.

 

[Rivercats]

You are in the lower end of high light. Geisemann bulbs would be really good for your quad lighting. The general rule is the higher the light the shorter the photoperiod. I can only run my high/very high light tanks for 6 hours with high lighting. Then be sure your CO2 is changing your drop checker to a light green. It can take a while to find your exact running time and IMO your lighting is fine for your tank. You can start with running lights 6 hours for 2-3 weeks, then add 30 minutes and watch for 2-3 weeks to see if you have any signs of algae starting. If not then you can add 30 minutes again, etc. But the minute you see any algae you need to drop lighting back 30 minutes. This is the easiest way I've found to see how long I can run lighting daily.

 

[Philly33]

2 of my 4 are Aquaflora. Love them. Tough getting used to the midday.

 

[Rivercats]

2 of my 4 are Aquaflora. Love them. Tough getting used to the midday.

But the results of using them together gives you excellent spectrum light. I have a 2 bulb T5HO fixture with one of each bulb on my 55g and can grow anything but high light carpeting plants. The color on my non-green plants is excellent.

 

[Philly33]

I agree but my 2 others are 6700. Like that spectrum a bit better than the 6000 midday. I also like a 10,000 in the back for a crisper color.