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Re:...(and question about CF lighting)
I guess my question for everyone who said that they got green water with ~ 3
watts per gallon with CF's & AH reflectors. Were you also using CO2? Now
I'm not going to step on Tom's toes :-) and suggest the addition of it....
but with all that light it's like you dropped a 327 Chevy engine into a
Go-cart. If you don't beef up the suspension (CO2 will do for a start)
things might run out of control. My tank is running pretty nicely on 3
watts per gallon, especially on the AH lighting side of the tank. I think I
may need to bring the car in for alignment though as my crypts are starting
to get holes in them. Any pros/cons on Flourish Potassium?
Gary Lange
gwlange at mindspring_com
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 07:13:49 -0700
From: Wright Huntley <huntley1 at home_com>
Subject: Re:...(and question about CF lighting)
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 18:59:49 -0400
> From: "Sylvia Kohler" <skohler at entermail_net>
> Subject: Re: Can't kill this greenwater ! HELP :) (and question about CF
lighting)
snip...
>
> I wanted to make a note of this to Laura, who is contemplating the amount
of
> light to put over her tank. Too much of a good thing is not necessarily
just
> more of a good thing. It can just be a headache. Get it right from the
> start.
I'd like to second Sylvia on that one, and add a warning.
The AH design is truly efficient, when installed properly. Our old rules of
thumb need some modification for them.
Where NO fluorescents might have done well at 2-4W/G, and T8s at a bit less,
the CFs with the well-designed reflectors are at least 150% as bright, if
not more. I'd guess an upper limit of 2W/G might be more reasonable, with
more just likely to be a problem in some area, as nutrients become difficult
to balance.
I sent one tank into real algae trouble, with a 40W AH kit over a 15G Tall
(10G footprint), and the only thing that finally brought it back was
reducing the illumination. A pair of AH 13s might be just right, there. [The
15W T8 in a white-lined hood is clearly nowhere near enough light.]
I was doing other experiments on that tank, so this anecdote isn't proof. It
was enough to convince me that the AH kits make it very easy to overdo the
light. More of a good thing certainly buys problems.
Wright