lighting

[HerrGideon]

I have a 4x1.5x1.5 planted tank.
the plants and fish are all doing fine, but I was wondering about the lighting.

had 2 sets of 2x36W FL lights for about 11 months already.
the plants seem to be doing ok, but i was wondering whether it's time to change the lights or add more.

can anyone give me some advice?
thanks!

[yan]

heard that sudden chage tube/bulb can cause algae bloom too. is it true?

[chua]

you may wan to change 1 or 2 tubes first. Once your plants and fishes adapt, you may then wan to change the other two.

[MdmBudak]

[quote:d7942cff1c="yan"]heard that sudden chage tube/bulb can cause algae bloom too. is it true?[/quote:d7942cff1c]


Yep, b'cos of the sudden increase in light intensity.

[HerrGideon]

anyone?

[tcy81]

think its time to change the bulbs.
maybe u can get 4 tubes, then change 2 first.

[HerrGideon]

ok..but as i posted earlier on..

i was wondering whether the wattage of 4x36W is enough for my tank in the first place? and the type of bulbs?

[chua]

For me, i will use 3 sets of 2 x 36w light for a 4 feet tank.

presently, i am aldy using 2 sets of 2 x 36w light for my 3 feet tank.

[HerrGideon]

i see..but then i wouldn't have any space to put my cooling fan.
sigh

[|squee|]

A tank of your size ought to have a chiller anyway imho. A fan won't be able to cool down that big an amount of water properly. But then again, some people get by

They recommend changing tubes every year or so.

[vinz]

IMO, if your tank is ok with the current amount of lights, and your happy with the tank's condition, don't mess (i.e. add more) with it.

Don't change all the tubes at once. Change 2 first, then change the other 2 a few months later.

Ideally, if you intend change each tube, say every 12 months, then distribute the change. In this case, it would be change 1 row of lights every 6 months. If you have 3 rows of lights, then change 1 row every 4 months. This will

Since the brightest lights are needed to penetrate to the foreground, always swap the newest tubes to the front row.

[PeterGwee]

Unless you have crypts in your tank, there is no issue in changing the bulbs all in one go when you keep a close eye on the CO2 demand (it might increase with the increased light intensity) and nutrients (dose in excess to cover the potential increase in uptake). Personally, I change the bulbs only until it is a goner. No big issue really as lower light means more wiggle room for errors and less potential for algae.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[vinz]

Personally, I find a spread out change schedule is better as light level is more consistent and there is no need to worry about dosing more or less of anything.

[HerrGideon]

thanks for all the comments!
with all this talk about changing lights alternately, does it mean that the plants have adverse reactions to the change, or is it just that their growth rate quickens? wouldn't that be a good thing?