View Full Version : Too much light bad?
SuBXeRo
09-02-2008, 4:25 PM
Im looking to get a nova extreme light which boasts 216 watts total. Believe it or not, this come out to exactly 3 watts a gallon for my 72 gallon tank woot. Here is the thing, i plan on doing a mixture of plants and is too much light bad for low light plants?
To create some more context, i have a 10 gallon at home with 2 45 watt spiral bulbs and 3 plants from petco, of which i think are low light. are these being harmed at all?
Ozymandias
09-02-2008, 4:28 PM
no to much light is not if any thing thay will grow faster in higher light
Make sure the bulbs you get with that fixture are in the 6700-10000K rating.
3wpg is not too much for a 72g and low light plants will actually do better with such lighting. Just make sure to balance everything out with co2 and ferts.
and your 10g with 90w over it is harmless to plants but harmful to you and your electricity bill.
Im looking to get a nova extreme light which boasts 216 watts total. Believe it or not, this come out to exactly 3 watts a gallon for my 72 gallon tank woot. Here is the thing, i plan on doing a mixture of plants and is too much light bad for low light plants?
To create some more context, i have a 10 gallon at home with 2 45 watt spiral bulbs and 3 plants from petco, of which i think are low light. are these being harmed at all?
That will be enough light to grow anything, but be careful, running all 4 bulbs at a time puts your over the threshold, and you'll need a carbon source (excel/CO2) and ferts. Might be in your best interest to run half the bulbs until you've got everything sorted out and planted.
And for ten gallon, I would suggest switching to dual 26watt CFL 6700k instead.
phanmc
09-02-2008, 4:46 PM
Nova Extreme is T5HO, which puts out roughly twice as much light as a non high output fluorescent. I hope you have your CO2 and ferts in order.
SuBXeRo
09-02-2008, 7:27 PM
well i havent planted anything yet and yeah, co2 stuff and fertilizer is all new to me. I still havent decidd which substrate i want, colorquartz or black color terrazzo glass. Also those spiral bulbs on the 10 gal are like 40 watt equivs to incandescents and 13 watt bulbs i think.
well i havent planted anything yet and yeah, co2 stuff and fertilizer is all new to me. I still havent decidd which substrate i want, colorquartz or black color terrazzo glass. Also those spiral bulbs on the 10 gal are like 40 watt equivs to incandescents and 13 watt bulbs i think.
With those bulbs you count the actual wattage not equivalence.
tanker
09-03-2008, 12:10 PM
I have almost 480 watts over my 100gal. That is almost 5 watts/gal.
mavisky
09-03-2008, 10:23 PM
3 watts per gallon is pretty normal. I'm actually looking to go to around 4 in mine, but you do have to have the co2/fertilization to keep up or you'll get a wicked algae bloom.
Mgamer20o0
09-03-2008, 11:47 PM
might want to start with 1/2 the light and have a hour or so with all the light on. as time goes on and you can balance it keep all the lights on longer and longer. i would invest in a co2 tank.