How long should you light your tank?

T

twig

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Apr 28, 2006
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I've been an avid reader of these forums for a few weeks now. I've done various searches to further collect a growing knowledge of plants and fishcare.

I have two places where I buy my crap.

One is a place called Safari thats across the street from me. The place is located in a busy mall and because of that things tend to be a little more expensive. Furthermore, they do not offer a wide selection of fish and plants.

I tend to loathe going there because those who work there are generally young and I feel I know more about fishcare than them.

The other place is a wonderful place with a whole bottom floor dedicated to fishlife. They have seperate tanks for brackish fish and i've got a good relationship with the people who work there. It's called 'Nature" ...

I visited Safari today in to replenish my diminished PlantGRO Iron enriched formula.

Casually I asked one of them about the outbreak of blue-green algae i'm trying to figure out how to tackle. I stated I had my lights on a 10 hour timer. He laughed at me and said the lighting should be on no longer than 6-8 hours or else Algae will become a problem.

>.> I kind of laughed at him and shrugged off his attempt to sell me a filter that would remove phospirate 'mongst other things. It's a little cartidge that goes in the fish tank >.>

I'm not really sure why he'd try to sell me that but from what I gather phospate or whatever it's spelt is something i add to my tank to FERTILIZE my plants. Why would I want to remove it?

Anyways,
How long should the lights be on? 10-12 hours right?
 
I provide 12 hours light on most of my planted tanks. the figures you cite of 10=12 jhours is pretty much standard. Some folks run more specialized cycles, with some lights on during the middle of the light cyle amd a bit less light at either end. But the svarage hobbyist is likely to run within a couple of hours either way of equal day/night lengths.

As is common for pet store employees, they tank a much more beliveable game than they are capabler of playing. At my LFS it will not happen tp me - they know better as I consult for the owner - but it happens to me in other stores from time to time. I ask all the right questions as much as possible without sounding skeptical, including ferts, spectra, hours, intensity, and then I lower the boom on them. No wonder so many folks have problems with their plants. tanks, and fish.
 
=(
Could you help me with this slime algae... it's going to destroy all my java moss.
 
Do a search on BGA. You'll find lots of helpful information.

BGA can be a pain to get rid of. Keep on top of it.


Lissette
 
I looked :\
I didn't really find any specifics ..
They're like add eyratheme phosperate or something and I have no clue what that is :\ I've never seen it ..
 
what i've found in my tank is that blue green algae is caused by NOT ENOUGH light. it only grows in the sort of shadowy areas of my tank where some of the light is blocked off by tall plants. BGA is rather easy to rub off though, but it will probably come back.

normally i leave my light on for about 10 hours, but because i'm fighting hair algae, i've cut it back to 6
 
This stuff is crazy. I've never seen anything like it. I'll siphon it up and not 20 minutes later little globs that god knows where came from land back in the substrate and triple in size ...

It's going to start covering everything soon =(

I'm going to have to do a 3 day black-out but I need to figure out how to prevent this garbage or it will be for naught.
 
You sure that you did a thorough search? There are a lot of threads regarding BGA.

Are you sure that it's BGA? Have you tested your water for No3? Make sure that your Nitrates are in order. Tom Barr has always said BGA is caused by low No3. He recommends the following:

Clean up everything in the tank. If your filter is dirty, clean it. Clean the glass, vacum the gravel and wipe off as much as you can. Prune your plants if needed.

Do a 50% water change. Dose No3. Turn off Co2, if you have any. Place an airstone in your tank, and then cover it with black garbage bags, sheets or whatever. Just make sure that the tank is completely covered.

During the blackout (3 days or 4), please don't feed the fish. No peeking of any kind. Your fish will survive, trust me. We've done this many times.

After the b/o, uncover your tank. Wipe the glass and do another 50% w/c. Dose No3 accordingly. Turn on Co2, if you're using it.

Keep No3 levels in order and continue wiping and cleaning it if it comes back. The important thing is to keep harrasing it until it goes away.

I hope that this helps.

Lissette
 
no3 is nitrates? >.>

I've only been adding PlantGRO and PlantGRO Iron Enrichment >.>

What do I Need to add no3?

I don't even have a test for no3 =( only no2 (which are 0 )

I did a thorough search but like you it just states some random thing that i've got no idea where to get or whatever :\

Ohya,
Can I run my co2 during the blackout? =-(
You said no but i have a yeast thingy and its all active and working and >.>
 
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What's your current setup like, by the way? How big is your tank? How many wpg do you have?

Plants need food. The main thing that they need are macronutrients. This is N (No3), P (Phosphates), and K (Potassium). Then they need traces, which are micronutrients.

Your tap water may provide enough for your plants to live, but unless you test it, you won't know for sure. Test kits, although inaccurate at times, can give you an estimate on your water chemistry. It's important for you to test your water. If your lacking in something, say No3 (Nitrates), you can dose accordingly. If it's Po4 (Phosphates), you dose P. You can use this calculator to dose a variety of nutrients:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilator.php Just enter the info needed, and the calculator does the rest.

There are test kits for No3, and Po4. There are also test kits for Ca (Calcium), and Mg (Magnesium). Ca and Mg can be a big factor if your gh (general hardness) is low. Test for gh as well.

HTH

Lissette

P.S. Turn off Co2. Your plants will not use this during a blackout, and therefore it's not needed.
 
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