Hi All,
Have a heavily planted, Excel and EI fed tank. I've researched lighting for such a set-up and everything I've read suggests somewhere around 2 wpg or a bit less, but I've been unable to find any advice on how many hours/day light should be on. Seems to me watt-hours/gal/day is the issue, not merely watts/gal; for example, if I ran 4 watts/gal for only an hour a day, net effect would presumably be an under-lit tank.
Currently I'm running 48 watts of T5 HO lighting with reflectors on a 26 gal, tall (21"), bow-front tank, for a total of 9 hours/day (4.5 hrs on, 3 hrs off, 4.5 on). Plants are doing fine and no algae other than reasonably minimal green-spot growth, or at least nothing that my Otos and Crossocheilus don't eat before it becomes visible.
Can I push the hours of light up a bit, (shorter plants are pretty slow growing, presumably due to depth of tank) or should I leave well enough alone?
Thanks!
Have a heavily planted, Excel and EI fed tank. I've researched lighting for such a set-up and everything I've read suggests somewhere around 2 wpg or a bit less, but I've been unable to find any advice on how many hours/day light should be on. Seems to me watt-hours/gal/day is the issue, not merely watts/gal; for example, if I ran 4 watts/gal for only an hour a day, net effect would presumably be an under-lit tank.
Currently I'm running 48 watts of T5 HO lighting with reflectors on a 26 gal, tall (21"), bow-front tank, for a total of 9 hours/day (4.5 hrs on, 3 hrs off, 4.5 on). Plants are doing fine and no algae other than reasonably minimal green-spot growth, or at least nothing that my Otos and Crossocheilus don't eat before it becomes visible.
Can I push the hours of light up a bit, (shorter plants are pretty slow growing, presumably due to depth of tank) or should I leave well enough alone?
Thanks!