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Re: Light intensity



on 7/12/00 7:48 PM, Aquatic Plants Digest at Aquatic-Plants-Owner at actwin_com
wrote:

> I would venture the opinion that there are no hard and fast rules - everyone's
> aquarium will be different and just enough for George may not be near enough
> for 
> Tom. We like our 1.6w/g over our tanks with our plants and our fluorescent
> bulbs 
> and our fertilizers. Just enough for us.

This thread is particularly interesting to me because I _used_ to be of the
"bigger, better, more" crowd.

The 75G used to have five 40W Chroma 50 bulbs over it running for 12 hours a
day. It also sat perpendicular to and directly in front of a SE facing
window and received sunlight for a good part of the morning. I spent many
hours trying to figure out how to get six Chromas over that tank. In the
end, it couldn't be done so I "settled".

In this new home, the tank still gets a touch of morning light (maybe one
hour but not direct). I put four Chromas over it this go around. Almost 2
months ago, I reduced the light even further to "only" 120W for the whole
tank.

You know what? The tank is chugging along at a pretty decent rate, roughly
the same as before the drop from 4 to 3 bulbs, and better than the 5 bulb
setup at the old place. THIS I find very interesting. Less light, better
plants.

To make this even more perplexing is the fact that I now fertilize on a
fairly regular basis. In theory, I should be having _more_ problems with
reduced light levels and more available nutrients. Then there is the yeast
CO2 generator that I always forget to recharge. So there is little CO2 in
the tank, averages are calculated at around 5 to 6.

Less light, more nutrients, little CO2, few problems. Go figure.

Susan