Can there be too much lighting for freshwater?

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Yellow Eye Tang

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 5, 2002
Messages
212
Location
Springfield, MO
I was just curious if too much lighting could be bad for a standard freshwater tank with tropical fish and plants. I just bought a new current 65w power compact 24 lighting system and was wondering what effects (good/bad) it would have. Thanks :)
 
Yes, I run my FW non planted at 6-8 hours a day, alot of light messes with the chemistry of the water, the fishes habits and promotes algae growth, the slimy kind.
 
Could be bad if you leave on all the time and you grow lots of algae. Could be good if your plants grow well and you dont have lots of algae.What size tank do you use it on?
 
Well, it's just a 20g high and the reason i purchased the light is I may convert this to a small reef. But that aside,.. i'd like to use it for the freshwater lighting and wouldnt mind useing it for smaller amounts of time. It has the lunar LED on it so 6 - 8 hours a day wouldn't bother me. What do you think?
 
Is tough lighting a for a smaller amount of time bad for the fish? Once again this is 65w 10,00k / 460nm actinic with the lunar LED. How would you use it on a 20g freshwater for best results?
 
um... yes and no. on the light question. no its not like light is going to kill the plants but too much light on a tank will make it hard to balance thus making algae out breaks and all that fun stuff. i use 55w on a 20 long fine. on that tank it should be no problem since the plants dont use much in the way of the 460nm side. basic your looking at closer to 35-40 watts over the tank. try 8 hours and go from there.
 
Thanks guys,... just didn't want to over-do anything. I'll try for a few days at 8 hours timed and see how everything reacts. The old light I was using just wasn't a brilliant lighting effect. Any more opinions of any kind would be great. Thanks again :)
 
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