Lighting Question

[KreativJustin]

So, I upgraded my light to see if I could get better/faster growth out of my plants. My question will be length of time, bc of on this light there is a ramp-up & down cycle. IT has a 15min warm-up process so it doesn't go just lights full on. Then an hour of sunrise brightness (not sure of the exact percentage) then 15 more min of ramp up to full brightness (100%). It has the same ramp process but going dim in the evening.

Here is a link to the photo from Amazon.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71KYucns9WL._AC_SL1200_.jpg

So by this understanding, I lose 1.5 hrs in the morning and 1.5 hrs in the evening of full brightness. So on an 8 hour day I only have 5 hours of full brightness.

Am I thinking of this the correct way? Should I add 1, 2, or even 3 more hours to accommodate the ramping up and down of the brightness? I have no algae problem at the moment, I'm adding ferts twice a week (SeaChem Flourish) at the recommended dosage. My plants are growing slowly, and staying smaller for some reason. For instance, my Val is barely growing, which is mind blowing to me.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Aiken Drum]

The only way to see if you need to increase the lighting period is to see what happens over an extended period. I only have my lights on full for 5 hours a day and i get lots of healthy growth from low demand plants.

You arent looking for fast growth, you want healthy growth. Most of the low demand plants kept in aquariums simply arent fast growing no matter what you do. Fast growing plants need CO2, specialist lighting and lots of nutrients. Youve only had the new light a very short time, i think you are expecting too much in too short a space of time.

 

[KreativJustin]

The only way to see if you need to increase the lighting period is to see what happens over an extended period. I only have my lights on full for 5 hours a day and i get lots of healthy growth from low demand plants.

You arent looking for fast growth, you want healthy growth. Most of the low demand plants kept in aquariums simply arent fast growing no matter what you do. Fast growing plants need CO2, specialist lighting and lots of nutrients. Youve only had the new light a very short time, i think you are expecting too much in too short a space of time.

Ok, I will leave it where it is at now. Sorry if I seem impatient, I just do not want to ruin/kill anything.. I have a bit of money invested into this so it makes me nervous when my expectations are not being met (though my expectations are probably unreasonable lol)

Just FYI, these are my plants:

Red Flame Sword (poor growth, new shoots stay short)
Amazon Sword (trying to give it a longer life, was at the aquarium store dying, all new shoots look terrible)
Water Wisteria (The only plant that actually grows great so far)
Guppy Grass
2x Anubias Nana
Vallisneria (plenty of shoots, very poor vertical growth)
Sagittaria
Moss Ball

 

[pauldadams1984]

On that timescale, you get quite a lot of blue light to compensate for any loss of hours on full light.

I read somewhere that blue light is best for plants anyway as it's one of the spectrums that helps plants the most but doesn't make algae grow (bare in mind you need other spectrums too, so their preset settings should be as close to perfect as can be for natural lighting)

I haven't got a timer/dimmer but I usually have blue lights on from 9am - 12. Full until 6pm and then blue til bedtime. I have more algae than I want but not problematic algae.

I also bought some fertilising capsules that I bury in the substrate to make sure roots are as strong as possible. It helps a lot (especially as I have sand). Although tbf, most plants take nutrients in their leaves so one of the most important things I find is removing any dieing leaves.

I do find the substrate plays a big part in its growth. I have a Betta nano tank that has gravel and that grows plants really quickly. Whereas my 300 ltr has sand and lots of room to grow yet takes years.

Plants can be very trial and error. Some might not like your substrate, some might not like your water hardness or pH. Some get knocked about too much by your livestock (especially if you have a plec).

Generally anything with a rhizome are easy to keep (not in substrate) but can be slow growers no matter what you add.

I remember buying a set of 5 Amazon swords that are supposed to be really easy. 4 died but the one that was closest to the capsule I placed survived and is now huge.

 

[Aiken Drum]

On that timescale, you get quite a lot of blue light to compensate for any loss of hours on full light.

I read somewhere that blue light is best for plants anyway as it's one of the spectrums that helps plants the most but doesn't make algae grow (bare in mind you need other spectrums too, so their preset settings should be as close to perfect as can be for natural lighting)

Take a read through this thread.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f60/new-light-night-time-question-381411.html#post3586486

If you look at OPs link in post #1 the light spectrum of the white LEDs is typical of a 6500K light and the spikes of blue and red in the spectrum of white light is where the useful lighting comes from. The RGB LEDs are just features so you can adjust the colour appearance of the white (eg. add the blue to give a more actinic appearance), or have them on alone as some kind of effect. They are such narrow wavelength and low intensity they offer little practical benefit to plant growth. Its just a gimmick really to sell light fixtures.

 

[pauldadams1984]

Ahhhh right ok. Thanks for clarifying that for me I have previously read somewhere else that having the blue light on helps grow plants and limited algae due to only using the blue spectrum.

I'm guessing limiting algae on the blue light is still true but only because you are limiting the actual light rather than being strongly on the blue spectrum.

 

[Colin_T]

The Echinodorus and Vallis like lots of light. The Anubias only needs a bit of light.

Yes, by having 1.5 hours ramp up and down, you do lose 3 hours of max light. You can increase this over the next few weeks.
Monitor the algae over the next few weeks. If you don't get any algae then increase the lighting time by an hour and monitor for a couple more weeks. Keep increasing the lighting time by an hour until you start to get some (a little bit) of green algae appear on the glass. Then you should be about right.

Some plants will close their leaves up when they have had sufficient light. Ambulia, Hygrophilas and a few others close their top set of leaves first, then the next set and so on down the stem. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem and then turn lights off.

You can check the light for intensity by looking for streams of tiny bubbles coming out of the plant leaves when the light is on. These are oxygen bubbles produced by the plants when they get bright light and is referred to as pearling.

You don't need the moonlight on at night. Fish and plants need 8 hours of continuous darkness in every 24 hour cycle so they can rest.

 

[KreativJustin]

The Echinodorus and Vallis like lots of light. The Anubias only needs a bit of light.

Yes, by having 1.5 hours ramp up and down, you do lose 3 hours of max light. You can increase this over the next few weeks.
Monitor the algae over the next few weeks. If you don't get any algae then increase the lighting time by an hour and monitor for a couple more weeks. Keep increasing the lighting time by an hour until you start to get some (a little bit) of green algae appear on the glass. Then you should be about right.

Some plants will close their leaves up when they have had sufficient light. Ambulia, Hygrophilas and a few others close their top set of leaves first, then the next set and so on down the stem. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem and then turn lights off.

You can check the light for intensity by looking for streams of tiny bubbles coming out of the plant leaves when the light is on. These are oxygen bubbles produced by the plants when they get bright light and is referred to as pearling.

You don't need the moonlight on at night. Fish and plants need 8 hours of continuous darkness in every 24 hour cycle so they can rest.

Ok, thanks for the tips! I do not use a moon light, only daylight. In my last tank my Sword took off like a bat out of hell and never stopped, that is why I was concerned about this one bc the growth is just not there. I love the sand for my Peacock Eel and Banjo Cat, where my last tank had Eco-Complete, and I want to stay with sand on this tank.

I do already get tiny spots of green algae (usually on the side of the tank that gets light from my glass door (during the day time after noon) and the other end where my return pump flows right at that also gets hit by a window during the later part of the morning. This takes weeks to build up, I only clean my inside glass every 3-4 weeks. I have a sump with an 800gph return pump (3.5ft of head height so I will lose a bit) and 2 double sponge filters that are meant for 50 gallon tanks. This tank is a 75 gallon tank and I believe a 15 gallon sump.