I went overboard and I have way too much light! I need suggestions...

[IndianaSam]

Okay, I recently got back into the hobby after years of being away.

Last time I kept fish I was a poor student. I always dreamed of having some nice bright lighting so that I could grow some cool plants. I was able to grow Hygro, Java Moss, Java Ferns and what not with what I had.

At any rate, I set up a 20gal long recently. I'm no longer a poor student, but now I'm married and that's the largest tank that the wife will let me have. I also purchased a 2x55 watt CF lighting system from AC.

I'm learning that this is simply too much light even with CO2 addition and ferts. Some plants are growing very, very well (Pygmy chain sword has 10+ new plants coming off it, riccia), but some are doing very poorly (Corkscrew Val, Hygro). That Hygro won't grow up. It will only grow horizontally. The Val is alive, but it's red.

So, does anyone have any suggestions?

I don't really want to remove a bulb because the way my hood is constructed it will only leave light on the front or back half of the tank. I was thinking that I could add some dreaded duckweed to help filter out the light. However, I'm afraid that my riccia will suffer from this. Actually, I don't need riccia. If I had to choose I would choose for the rest of my plants to be healthy.

I need your help. Help me Obi-wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!!!

[TKOS]

Well is there a way you could raise the hood up some, so it isn't right on the top of the tank?

You're idea of duckweed isn't all that bad. Plenty of light will still get through and you can just scoop a bunch off at each water change, that is what I do with one of my tanks.

[IndianaSam]

So, you think the duckweed could/would work?

My wife is going to kill me, but maybe I can say that it was accidentaly introduced...

Alternately I guess I could try some high-light loving plants. Any suggestions?

[TKOS]

I think the duckweed would be a great idea. It will help block out a lot of light but not nearly all of it. And it is easy to chuck a big bunch out once a week or so. Plus it is a perfect additonal filter for a tank. It sucks up all sorts of bad stuff from the water.

As for high light plants. Well as far as I know all plants love light. It is a matter of trying to get the right balance of CO2, ferts and light. With that much light it could be tricky as the amount of CO2 and ferts would also have to be quite high.

Hopefully Djlen will pop in or someone who is far more knowledgable about plants.

[djlen]

That, my friend, is a bunch of light.
Duck weed is just that.....a weed. The stuff is a mess.
Riccia and Salvinia or Water Sprite, all floaters will shade that tank. I love Riccia. With that light and CO2 it will get as thick as you let it and shade better than any plant I can think of. And you'll be able to take chunks of it when it gets too thick, and sell or give them away. It will cover the entire surface and form mats anywhere from 1/2" to 3" or even thicker. Great stuff.

Valisnaria will tend to red shading, under very high light. Can't understand why it would be doing poorly under that light. It does take a bit to establish itself, but once established it can be quite invasive........very prolific.

Another suggestion to go with shading the tank with plants. If you have a glass canopy on the tank, that the lights sit on, get some frosted glass cut to fit and replace the clear with frosted. This will help. I've done it in the past.

And tell the little lady that if anything happens to you, we'll be looking at her for it.

Man, that is a bunch of light...........................

Len

[IndianaSam]

Yeah, it is a lot of light. It's really more than I thought it would be :)

Anyway, I'm going to try with the duckweed (or possibly Salvinia) today.

I'll just have to thin it every week when I do my maintanance.

Thanks for the advise!! I'll let you know how everything goes.

Oh yeah. My Val isn't red shaded. It's completely red. There is no green to it at all. I'll try taking a picture of it later.

Sam

[plantbrain]

Use one light, not both.
Look up on picturetrail.com for funtcb3.
I have some picks of an easy to make DIY hood that lifts the light up about 4" off the surface.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[geoffgarcia]

Originally posted by plantbrain
Use one light, not both.
on a 20l there is no such thing as front/back half of your tank...

[karfixer]

Another alternative is to get some black screen material-for repairing screen doors, and use that to diffuse the light. You could also use timers to only have both lights @ the same time for a couple of hours a day. Even with uneven lighting a single 55W Cf will give plenty of light for low light plants.

[IndianaSam]

In case anyone is curious, the duckweed was the perfect solution.

I have virtually no algae, the other plants are doing great, the water quality is excellent (it was already very, very good), and the fish seem way more comfortable.

Thanks for everyone's help!

[johnnyxxl]

if any of you want to get rid of duckweed, I would love to buy some, none of the lfs stores will even order it afraid will become infested in there tanks, I would love it for my 5 and 10 gallon tanks for quarentine and food source.

[tomm10]

I'm sorry I don't have anything construction to suggest (that hasn't already been said) but I HAVE to see a picture of this tank with the lights on!

I'm picturing a tank 3' away from the sun :laugh:

I'm not poking fun, really, I probably would have done the same thing if I had the cash to buy the 2x55 kit! ;)

Tom

[IndianaSam]

Originally posted by tomm10
I'm sorry I don't have anything construction to suggest (that hasn't already been said) but I HAVE to see a picture of this tank with the lights on!

I'm picturing a tank 3' away from the sun :laugh:

I'm not poking fun, really, I probably would have done the same thing if I had the cash to buy the 2x55 kit! ;)

Tom

I dig it :)

I just went way overboard. I was so excited to actually have an aquarium again that I didn't use any common sense...

Anyway, I'll try to post some pictures this weekend.

The lights are super bright. It is a bit like being close to the sun...:D

I was actually a little worried that the lights would be too much for the duckweed to handle, but that probably not possible.