Atxpunx said:Yes, that would be medium light over a 55 gallon. That's kind of cheap, what website is that?
BBradbury said:Hello Tank...
It looks like a very good light. Those T5s are nice and plants really do well with them. Looks like you have a couple of 28 watt bulbs in the fixture. That amount of light should grow most low to moderate light plants.
Good choice.
B
BBradbury said:Hello Tank...
It looks like a very good light. Those T5s are nice and plants really do well with them. Looks like you have a couple of 28 watt bulbs in the fixture. That amount of light should grow most low to moderate light plants.
Good choice.
B
rkilling1 said:It's an Odyssea fixture. It also doesn't have individual reflectors. You get what you pay for.
Hmm okay. Off the top of your head, can you think of a better fixture that won't cause an alge bloom (I don't run co2) and that won't break the bank? I'm only 17.
Algae booms are caused by too much dissolved phosphates in the water. Phosphates are one of three main ingredients in plant fertilizers. So, if you use fertilizers in addition to those the fish produce, the plants may be getting too much and algae takes advantage of too much food. If you have a well stocked tank, just feed the fish a balanced diet. Long term, the ferts the fish produce are the best.
Just a couple of thoughts.
B
BBradbury said:Hello again Tank...
Yes. If I had an issue with algae, I would really start with the food source and leave the lighting alone. If you're dosing a commercial source of fertilizer in addition to what the fish produce, then review the dosing instructions on the container. Back off a little on the ferts for a couple of weeks and see how it affects it. Algae is only going to thrive if your complex plants don't use all the ferts.
In the meantime, make sure you're keeping up with your large, frequent water changes. This will keep the water chemistry stable. Algae, under control, isn't a bad thing. It's a sign of a healthy tank and it's a good food supplement for your fish.
Just a couple of thoughts, nobody walking around knows everything.
B
aqua_chem said:Nope, no chain yanking. I've ran 40+ ppm NO3 and 15+ ppm for weeks without algae issues. In my experience, it's very rarely excessive nutrients that cause algae issues, but rather almost always excessive light and/or insufficient CO2. The other major causes of algae that I see is insufficient nutrients, particularly phosphates (GSA) or nitrates (BGA).
Think about it like this: algae is an extremely simple single-cell organism. I needs minimal levels of nutrients (sub-ppm) to grow and survive. In that sense, it makes very little difference to algae whether there's 1 ppm or 40 ppm of any given nutrient, because algae has all the nutrients it can use in either case, so it's only limitation is light.