Dealing with bright tanks
 

Hi,

I'm new to this newsgroup. I've been reading the post here for a
while. I wanted to thank all the posters. I've gotten tons of useful
information by reading the posts here. I've used a lot of the
information here to setup a 46 gallon bowfront that is doing OK.
Thanks!

I wanted to start a discussion regarding tanks that have a lot of
light, at least 3-4 watts per gallon (wgp). I have two such tanks and
have had a lot of problems. What are other people's experiences with
tanks that have a lot of light. What problems have people had with
bright tanks or high light tanks? What are some of the benfits that
people have experienced with bright tanks? How have people dealt with
algae? Any other experiences that you'd like to share?

In another post I'll put the details of my tanks, but I just wanted to
start some discussion first.

Thanks,
Tony

Dealing with bright tanks
 

Tony,

Good question, I currently have a 180Gallon Fresh water tank mostly
with plants and a few tetras, it has 8 96watt PC 10K bulbs, but I
recently bought a Giesemann light fixture with 3X250Watt double ended
bulbs 10K, plus 2X58watt floresent bulbs, I would like to know what
spectrum I should run is 10K okay, as I am currently running with the
PC's or should I go with something else. All I know is, it is going to
be intense.....

James





On 4 Mar 2003 12:11:43 -0800, (Tony) wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to this newsgroup. I've been reading the post here for a
while. I wanted to thank all the posters. I've gotten tons of useful
information by reading the posts here. I've used a lot of the
information here to setup a 46 gallon bowfront that is doing OK.
Thanks!

I wanted to start a discussion regarding tanks that have a lot of
light, at least 3-4 watts per gallon (wgp). I have two such tanks and
have had a lot of problems. What are other people's experiences with
tanks that have a lot of light. What problems have people had with
bright tanks or high light tanks? What are some of the benfits that
people have experienced with bright tanks? How have people dealt with
algae? Any other experiences that you'd like to share?

In another post I'll put the details of my tanks, but I just wanted to
start some discussion first.

Thanks,
Tony

Dealing with bright tanks
 

If one of your problems is algae get a sterilizer. Once I had it set
right the algae went right down

Tony wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to this newsgroup. I've been reading the post here for a
while. I wanted to thank all the posters. I've gotten tons of useful
information by reading the posts here. I've used a lot of the
information here to setup a 46 gallon bowfront that is doing OK.
Thanks!

I wanted to start a discussion regarding tanks that have a lot of
light, at least 3-4 watts per gallon (wgp). I have two such tanks and
have had a lot of problems. What are other people's experiences with
tanks that have a lot of light. What problems have people had with
bright tanks or high light tanks? What are some of the benfits that
people have experienced with bright tanks? How have people dealt with
algae? Any other experiences that you'd like to share?

In another post I'll put the details of my tanks, but I just wanted to
start some discussion first.

Thanks,
Tony

Dealing with bright tanks
 

I wanted to start a discussion regarding tanks that have a lot of
light, at least 3-4 watts per gallon (wgp).

I hope you are injecting CO2 with that lighting level. When you go over 3 wpg,
CO2 is mandatory, not optional.

With a 46 gallon tank, it can be hard to get enough CO2 in the water with DIY.
I would go with compressed CO2. You could run all your tanks off of a single
CO2 cylinder.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Dealing with bright tanks
 

I wanted to start a discussion regarding tanks that have a lot of
light, at least 3-4 watts per gallon (wgp). I have two such tanks and
have had a lot of problems. What are other people's experiences with

You should give more information to really start a discussion. You have just
given one parameter that is light. What kind of a problem you are facing? If
its algae what kind and what are NO3, P and other nutrient levels.

Dominic

Dealing with bright tanks
 

With a 46 gallon tank, it can be hard to get enough CO2 in the water with
DIY.
I would go with compressed CO2. You could run all your tanks off of a
single
CO2 cylinder.


Leigh

LeighMo is right, algae doesn't necessarily have to be in your tanks. It's
all about balance. Just adding more light isn't going to lead to great
plant growth, they still require two other main resources, co2 and
fertilizer. If you can't strike a balance between these three elements,
then the tank will be unstable and algae will be able to thrive on the
excesses.
-Cesium

Dealing with bright tanks
 

I heard this can do weird things to the nutrients in your tanks and can
retard algae growth?
has anyone hooked up a steralizer to a planted tank and had success?

"m.dekort" wrote in message
...
If one of your problems is algae get a sterilizer. Once I had it set
right the algae went right down

Tony wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to this newsgroup. I've been reading the post here for a
while. I wanted to thank all the posters. I've gotten tons of useful
information by reading the posts here. I've used a lot of the
information here to setup a 46 gallon bowfront that is doing OK.
Thanks!

I wanted to start a discussion regarding tanks that have a lot of
light, at least 3-4 watts per gallon (wgp). I have two such tanks and
have had a lot of problems. What are other people's experiences with
tanks that have a lot of light. What problems have people had with
bright tanks or high light tanks? What are some of the benfits that
people have experienced with bright tanks? How have people dealt with
algae? Any other experiences that you'd like to share?

In another post I'll put the details of my tanks, but I just wanted to
start some discussion first.

Thanks,
Tony

Dealing with bright tanks
 

Hi again,

My intention is to create a tread with experiences with high light
tanks. I wanted to see how many people have actually tried to grow
plants that require high light. From my limited experience, it has
been interesting. I don't expect to solve all m problems in one
thread. Instead, I thought it would be an interesting discussion for
this group.

For example, I ran a blue light for the first 3 months of my 46 gallon
tank. I have 2 96 watt compact florescent bulbs. My LFS guy told me
to use one white bulb and a blue bulb? Have you ever seen the kind of
algae that grows under bright blue light? I looked at a lot of web
pages and pictures of algae, but I have never seen anything quite like
what was growing in my tank. I would strongly recommend against
anyone else trying this experiment. My tank first when through
intense green water which I cleared up with a big UV sterilizer. The
water was so green I couldn't see 2 inches into the tank. It was like
my fish would suddenly appear from a fog when they got close to the
glass. Then the wierd algae started growing. It is dark green/blue
and very slimy, in the middle it was white. Since I changed out the
blue blub with a white bulb it has almost completely disappeared.

I'm sure that other people out there have some good stories, growing
plants with high lights isn't that easy and I'm sure a lot can go
wrong. I also figured it could be a good tread that people could read
to avoid making big mistakes.

Later,
Tony

(Tony) wrote in message . com...
I wanted to start a discussion regarding tanks that have a lot of
light, at least 3-4 watts per gallon (wgp). I have two such tanks and
have had a lot of problems. What are other people's experiences with
tanks that have a lot of light. What problems have people had with
bright tanks or high light tanks? What are some of the benfits that
people have experienced with bright tanks? How have people dealt with
algae? Any other experiences that you'd like to share?

Dealing with bright tanks
 

I heard this can do weird things to the nutrients in your tanks and can
retard algae growth?
has anyone hooked up a steralizer to a planted tank and had success?

Me. I've had a UV sterilizer on my tank almost from the beginning.

It won't do weird things to the nutrients in your tank. While UV light will
oxidize iron and the like, the effect is negligible. Hydroponics growers
routinely use UV sterilizers.

It won't solve all your algae problems, either. It does make short work of
green water, but has no effect on other types of algae.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Dealing with bright tanks
 

Then the wierd algae started growing. It is dark green/blue
and very slimy, in the middle it was white.

Sounds like BGA (blue-green algae). Weirdly, that's one algae that's often a
problem in low-light tanks.

I had a lot of it in one tank when it was low-light. Mainly when I didn't
change the water frequently enough. Then, when I increased the lighting to
moderate, I got BGA at the top of the tank, where plants kept the water still.
I was growing my own pond scum. :-P It eventually went away on its own. IME,
it's normal to suffer algae outbreaks as the tank gets established.
Eventually, the tanks finds its balance, and the algae goes away.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Dealing with bright tanks
 

Just adding more light isn't going to lead to great
plant growth, they still require two other main resources, co2 and
fertilizer. If you can't strike a balance between these three elements,
then the tank will be unstable and algae will be able to thrive on the
excesses.

Yup. And even worse things can happen. With high light and no CO2 injection,
the pH can shoot up so much and so fast it hurts, even kills, the fish.



Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Dealing with bright tanks
 

wouldn't it kill algae spores and not allow the algae to spread in the tank
as easily?
"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
I heard this can do weird things to the nutrients in your tanks and can
retard algae growth?
has anyone hooked up a steralizer to a planted tank and had success?

Me. I've had a UV sterilizer on my tank almost from the beginning.

It won't do weird things to the nutrients in your tank. While UV light
will
oxidize iron and the like, the effect is negligible. Hydroponics growers
routinely use UV sterilizers.

It won't solve all your algae problems, either. It does make short work
of
green water, but has no effect on other types of algae.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Dealing with bright tanks
 

LeighMo wrote:
Yup. And even worse things can happen. With high light and no CO2 injection,
the pH can shoot up so much and so fast it hurts, even kills, the fish.

What causes the pH to go up (alkaline) in high light tanks?

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

Dealing with bright tanks
 

"LeighMo" wrote in message
...

snip

Yup. And even worse things can happen. With high light and no CO2
injection,
the pH can shoot up so much and so fast it hurts, even kills, the fish.

I experienced this with only 2wpg. I checked the pH two days after putting
in many plants and installing the light, and it was 9. That's why I got
into CO2 so quickly.

bob

Dealing with bright tanks
 

wouldn't it kill algae spores and not allow the algae to spread in the tank
as easily?

Not by my experience. UV sterilizers don't actually make the tank sterile.
Some people claim that the fishes' immune systems get weak, because there's no
germs to keep them revved up. Or that they kill off the biological filter.
Not true. There's plenty of bacteria, spores, and the like in a tank with a UV
sterilizer on it.
The UV sterilizer can only kill the stuff that's free-floating, and it doesn't
kill 100% of that.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/