Is this too bright?

[bttay]

Hello to everyone,

This my first posting at this forum. I have a small 5 gallon heavily planted tank with 1 x 11w compact flourenscent light. In order to prevent my Glossostigma elatinoides from growing too tall, I have just added another 11w light. Now my tank is under 4w per gallon. Is it too bright? If so, what will happen?

Thanks.

[geoffrey]

High light accelerate growth hence uptake of nutrients. Just make sure your CO2 and the others nutrients are in place to address this. High light also encourage spot algae on your tank's wall.

[Allen_1971]

the 3WPG guide is just a rough guide... larger tanks usually can go lower than that with not much problems, while smaller tanks usually need more. 4WPG is probably not too far off... In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your plants want even more light.

[CT]

It think it should be ok. Presently my 10 gallon tank is using 51W of lighting which is about 5.1W/Gallon. not much problem until now, still montioring as the tank is still quite newly setup

[bttay]

Thank you everyone for your helpful info.

I think Geoffrey was right. The next day after I installed the additional light, I saw a big patch of algae on the left hand side glass of the tank. Not much of a problem to me though. I just scrapped it off. As long as my plants are growing well, I am happy []

Will keep you guys posted if there is any change in the tank.

[hwchoy]

but how long do you leave the lights on? should not be more than 10 hours.

[bttay]

I on it for 12 hours a day. I heard that it should be between 10 to 12 hours. I am so eager to see my plant grow (beginner symptom [] ), so I chose the maximum time frame.

Is that ok?

[kadios]

Quoted from an old hand and information from books, the correct way is to start off with 6 hours of illumination during the initial cycling of the tank, then increase the illumination duration, phase by phase to your targeted period, over the course of a few weeks. This is to help the plants to acclimatize to its environment. Afterall, you dun wish to shock your plants right?!?!?! =)

Hope it helps!

Cheers!