Can too much light hurt plants?

[Wycco]

I know in the terrestial world some plants need shade. Put your Hosta in full sun and it very well might die.

Is the same true in the aquarium?

From what I understand most plants that will grow in low light actually prefer brighter lights- but will tolerate lower lights.

If I convert my tank from low light to moderate light (2wpg) this weekend will I kill off my Java Moss/Ferns... etc...etc...etc...

 

[snoopy65]

If you are only going to 2 wpg, all of your plants should be fine.

 

[Wycco]

Yeah, I'm not going overboard with the lighting. 2 wpg seems a nice moderate amount- but I didn't know if that was too much.

Is there a point where it becomes too much? for low light plants? 2.5 wpg? 3 wpg?

I could go higher - but don't want to mess with pressurised CO2... I've got DIY CO2 at the moment (which itself might not be doing too much good since I have a lot of surface agitation).

 

[snoopy65]

I will let the high light people answer that for you as all of my tanks are low/med light and low tech.

 

[Riiz]

Highlight levels in an aquarium are really still shade levels in the outside world. The only drawback to too much light, is the need for high CO2/nutrients levels and algae growth that must be watch or controlled.

 

[Wycco]

So basically- no plant is going to be hurt by boosting the light levels up? At least not at any level that is normally acheivable in an aquarium.

 

[phanmc]

I've had 260w over a 50g tank and I know a few people have over 6wpg, plants just grow VERY VERY fast at that light level. The downside is that you need to be diligent with fertilization or else algae and nutrient deficiencies becomes a huge problem quickly.