Question Regarding Light

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Vitaliy

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Dec 17, 2004
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I have a florescent strip light on my 55 gallon and it has a 40watt SUNGLO bulb in it right now. Personally I am happy with the amount of light as it is perfectly fine to see the fish and everything in the tank without any problems. The problem that I am having is that brown algae is growing, and from what I understand brown algae grows because of lack of light. I would on the other hand want to have a lot of green algae growth, I love the look of it and I dont mind it growing on the glass (I dont find it a big deal cleaning and the fish love it).

I want to go and buy a bulb that has more wattage, the thing is the strip light that I have does not have that sticker or anything that states what is the max watts supported. I am wondering if there is some kind of a standard on those basic strip lights? And how many watts am I looking at if I want that green algae to grow (what kind of light would I need.. AquaGlo/SunGlo/etc)?
 
Brown algae doesn't mean you have a lack of light, but I would do one watt-per-gallon at least. I would personally buy a 60 watt light and just go with that.
 
Fluorescent lighting is generally 10W per foot of length - it doesn't come in different wattages like incandescent lightbulbs. To get more light, you'd need to get another strip or a different type of fixture, for either more of the same type of bulb or something like compact fluorescents (different type of fluorescent bulb all together, produces ~3x the light per watt as normal output fluorescents).
An option if you want to cultivate algae for the fish is to keep a rock or piece of driftwood in a glass container on a sunny window sill. I'd add a little fish food to the water to provide some N and P, and you should get a lovely crop of the green stuff. Some people have a rotating crop - one rock in the tank, one in the window to provide a steady supply. I would use this method before I added more light - it's much cheaper than buying a new light fixture, and if you get an outbreak of green water it's much easier to dump the jar and start again rather than treat a murky aquarium full of algae the fish can't eat.
Brown algae (diatoms) are often seen in new tanks, and otos love them - if they fit with your current population, a few otos will clear it up in no time and keep the tank sparkling.
 
Check your Nitrate and Phosphate levels with test kits. Brown algae seems to also be caused by an imbalance of the Nitrate-to-Phosphate ratio. In my case, I found my Nitrate level was too low and my Phosphate level was way too high. Once I corrected this with the appropriate ferts, the brown (diatom) algae went away.

Mike
 
Oddball~ said:
Brown algae doesn't mean you have a lack of light, but I would do one watt-per-gallon at least. I would personally buy a 60 watt light and just go with that.
Click to expand...
I got this from reading on algae...
Forms in soft brown clumpy patches. In the freshwater aquarium, these are usually diatoms. Usually indicates a lack of light or an excess of silicates. Increased light levels will usually make it disappear. Easily removed by wiping the glass or siphon vacuuming the affected area.
Click to expand...
http://faq.thekrib.com/algae.html
 
Blinky said:
Fluorescent lighting is generally 10W per foot of length - it doesn't come in different wattages like incandescent lightbulbs. To get more light, you'd need to get another strip or a different type of fixture, for either more of the same type of bulb or something like compact fluorescents (different type of fluorescent bulb all together, produces ~3x the light per watt as normal output fluorescents).
An option if you want to cultivate algae for the fish is to keep a rock or piece of driftwood in a glass container on a sunny window sill. I'd add a little fish food to the water to provide some N and P, and you should get a lovely crop of the green stuff. Some people have a rotating crop - one rock in the tank, one in the window to provide a steady supply. I would use this method before I added more light - it's much cheaper than buying a new light fixture, and if you get an outbreak of green water it's much easier to dump the jar and start again rather than treat a murky aquarium full of algae the fish can't eat.
Brown algae (diatoms) are often seen in new tanks, and otos love them - if they fit with your current population, a few otos will clear it up in no time and keep the tank sparkling.
Click to expand...

Its not even about the food for the fish, I just like the way it looks. :)
 
You may want to look into adding another bulb to your hood, or a CF kit. (www.ahsupply.com)

Also, increasing the photoperiod may do it.

I too would recommend checking your levels of both nitrates and phosphates.
 
mcps95,

You mentioned, "Brown algae seems to also be caused by an imbalance of the Nitrate-to-Phosphate ratio. In my case, I found my Nitrate level was too low and my Phosphate level was way too high. Once I corrected this with the appropriate ferts, the brown (diatom) algae went away."

What should the proper balance between Nitrate and Phosphate be? What amount would be "too low" for Nitrates and what amount would be "too high" for Phosphates?

Oh, and what are ferts? :confused:

Thanks!
 
Kires1,

Sorry, I did mean to include the ratio in my response. The generally accepted ratio seems to be 10:1 N:P. The target range for Nitrates seems to be anywhere from 5-15ppm, with 5-10ppm being the most commonly suggested range I've seen.

Ferts are short for fertilizers. I'd suggest checking out the sticky in the Aquatic Plants forum regarding Fertilizers to determine what you should be adding. There are specific doses mentioned as well, but it doesn't give a clear indication of the ratios of ferts to gallons of water, so continue to research beyond this article for more detailed information.

I've found maintaining a planted tank is more about trial-and-error and getting a feel for your plants and tank environment than other aspects of the aquarium hobby.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Mike
 
Thanks Mike,

Good to know! I've been keeping my Nitrates at about 5-10 and Phosphate has measured around 1 (I think!, I left my water stat chart at home and I'm at work now!~I'll look tonight)

I thought as much on the def. of Fert, but wasn't sure, thanks! I'll read the sticky...

My 55gal has 2ea. 18" Colormax lights (15watt ea.), whoohoo! I wonder, is that sufficient to support any live plants? If so, which variety? Currently I have only fake plants in there... Any thoughts?

Erik.
 
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