Watt-hours/gal vs watts/gal

cloozoe

Junior Poster
Dec 22, 2012
2
0
1
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!
 

Overfloater

Member
Mar 3, 2014
45
2
8
Columbus, OH
Sure. You can leave them on a bit longer. Generally I do 8-9 hours. If algae starts to appear you can cut back a bit. This hobby is all about experimentation. :)
 

chris.rivera3

Junior Poster
Feb 1, 2009
22
0
1
Ditto what overfloater said....experiment with light distance from substrate and also duration that lights are on.
 

chris.rivera3

Junior Poster
Feb 1, 2009
22
0
1
I like to start with a large distance and shorter duration then drop the light closer to the tank and increase the period my lights are on....maybe every week or two I begin to drop my light fixture closer and closer to the tank's surface