Lighting question

[brittany_b415]

I have a 46 gallon I set up a little over a month ago. It was a second hand tank I purchased so I wasn't sure what light was in there. It's a powerglo 30w, wondering if this will make me have a algae bloom or overgrowth at some point. Is it too powerful? Should I switch to something new? My tank is resilient and my plants are growing awesome. I have brown algae growing on ornaments but I assume that's common in all new tanks (diatoms?).

This is my tank January 11


This is it yesterday January 27 (after some rearranging)



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[Caliban07]

I have the same tank and I would say that you have managed to do what many people find it hard to do when running a planted tank including myself, which is finding the balance between light, co2 and nutrients.

In other words, if the plants are healthy and are growing healthily why worry? They will tell you when something is wrong and algae tends to show up not long after. The brown algae you mentioned does sound like diatoms so I'm not concerned about that.

Do you use a co2 supplement?

My advice would be to keep a log of how the tank looks whilst it remains healthy, that way if something changes you can correct it. For example, your plants are growing well, if the plant mass becomes too large and you are not supplying co2 then co2 make become used up and plants begin to not do so well, lose their structure and induce algae.

Keep trimming plants and changing water. Be mindful of new plants that are added as they may grow faster, take all the nutrients, head to the surface and block out light to the rest of the tank.

More plant mass means more flow obstruction so co2 becomes less easily taken up by plants. At the moment the balance is sweet but it may turn sour. I you know your tank inside out the more likely you can rectify problems.

Lovely looking tank btw


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[brittany_b415]

I have the same tank and I would say that you have managed to do what many people find it hard to do when running a planted tank including myself, which is finding the balance between light, co2 and nutrients.

In other words, if the plants are healthy and are growing healthily why worry? They will tell you when something is wrong and algae tends to show up not long after. The brown algae you mentioned does sound like diatoms so I'm not concerned about that.

Do you use a co2 supplement?

My advice would be to keep a log of how the tank looks whilst it remains healthy, that way if something changes you can correct it. For example, your plants are growing well, if the plant mass becomes too large and you are not supplying co2 then co2 make become used up and plants begin to not do so well, lose their structure and induce algae.

Keep trimming plants and changing water. Be mindful of new plants that are added as they may grow faster, take all the nutrients, head to the surface and block out light to the rest of the tank.

More plant mass means more flow obstruction so co2 becomes less easily taken up by plants. At the moment the balance is sweet but it may turn sour. I you know your tank inside out the more likely you can rectify problems.

Lovely looking tank btw


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Thanks for the advice! I guess I kind of just got lucky because I'm not familiar with the plant species or their requirements. I just went to the LFS and picked out what looked nice. I'm only using seachem flourish tabs and lighting but that alone seems to be working for me. I did some research on the lighting and a lot of people recommended against powerglo due to algae blooms so I got a little concerned it would eventually happen to me!

I don't use a co2 supplement or system. They seem a bit complicated to me and I'm just a beginner in the fish hobby. All in all I maybe been in the hobby since October/November.

I keep up with my 25% water changes a week and I really need to learn how to trim plants because to me it looks like a crowded jungle in there, my fish love it but like you said they're starting to grow over the surface and I'm sure that will eventually block light. Im just amazed how fast it all grew in the matter of 15 days.


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[Caliban07]

Thanks for the advice! I guess I kind of just got lucky because I'm not familiar with the plant species or their requirements. I just went to the LFS and picked out what looked nice. I'm only using seachem flourish tabs and lighting but that alone seems to be working for me. I did some research on the lighting and a lot of people recommended against powerglo due to algae blooms so I got a little concerned it would eventually happen to me!

I don't use a co2 supplement or system. They seem a bit complicated to me and I'm just a beginner in the fish hobby. All in all I maybe been in the hobby since October/November.

I keep up with my 25% water changes a week and I really need to learn how to trim plants because to me it looks like a crowded jungle in there, my fish love it but like you said they're starting to grow over the surface and I'm sure that will eventually block light. Im just amazed how fast it all grew in the matter of 15 days.


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If your plants are growing then you have enough light.

As long as plants remain healthy and there is enough of everything they need algae tends to be kept at bay.

Just bare in mind the things I have mentioned when you come to make any changes to the tank and be prepared to make changes if plants become unhealthy.

You can get liquid carbon supplements if need be but at the moment all seems well and so there is no need. Keep up on maintenance and trimming. Let us know how you get on.


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