How much lighting is too much?

I have been keeping plants for a little over a year, but would say I am
still a beginner at this. I am going to upgrade the lighting on my 46
gallon bowfront tank from a single flourescent, giving me right now ~1
watt/gallon, to a compact flourescent fixture. I am looking at the Coralife
deluxe series and am debatting between the 96 watt fixture, giving me 2
watts/gallon, and the 192 watt fixture, giving me 4 watts/gallon. It is a
36" hood. I do not currently have any supplemental CO2. I am leaning
toward the 192 watt, but am wondering if that will require CO2 to keep
things in check. It would be nice to be able to keep some bright light
plants! Any advice?

On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 02:13:38 GMT, "Evergreen"
wrote:

At 4 wpg you are going to need CO2. Maybe not right at the start but
soon. And going from ~1 wpg to 4 wpg is going to cause you problems
if you are not prepared.

I have been keeping plants for a little over a year, but would say I am
still a beginner at this. I am going to upgrade the lighting on my 46
gallon bowfront tank from a single flourescent, giving me right now ~1
watt/gallon, to a compact flourescent fixture. I am looking at the Coralife
deluxe series and am debatting between the 96 watt fixture, giving me 2
watts/gallon, and the 192 watt fixture, giving me 4 watts/gallon. It is a
36" hood. I do not currently have any supplemental CO2. I am leaning
toward the 192 watt, but am wondering if that will require CO2 to keep
things in check. It would be nice to be able to keep some bright light
plants! Any advice?




Semper Fi!

Visit the forums at Aqua Botanic!
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1

Need Nitrate or Potassium for your tank? Go to www.litemanu.com
(Just a happy customer of the above!)

Can you elaborate a little about the "is going to cause you problems if you
are not prepared." part? I'd like to know as well, I'm always looking for
more info...

thanks.


At 4 wpg you are going to need CO2. Maybe not right at the start but
soon. And going from ~1 wpg to 4 wpg is going to cause you problems
if you are not prepared.

I have been keeping plants for a little over a year, but would say I am
still a beginner at this. I am going to upgrade the lighting on my 46
gallon bowfront tank from a single flourescent, giving me right now ~1
watt/gallon, to a compact flourescent fixture. I am looking at the
Coralife
deluxe series and am debatting between the 96 watt fixture, giving me 2
watts/gallon, and the 192 watt fixture, giving me 4 watts/gallon. It is
a
36" hood. I do not currently have any supplemental CO2. I am leaning
toward the 192 watt, but am wondering if that will require CO2 to keep
things in check. It would be nice to be able to keep some bright light
plants! Any advice?




Semper Fi!

Visit the forums at Aqua Botanic!
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1

Need Nitrate or Potassium for your tank? Go to www.litemanu.com
(Just a happy customer of the above!)

On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 04:07:40 GMT, "RedForeman"
wrote:

Can you elaborate a little about the "is going to cause you problems if you
are not prepared." part? I'd like to know as well, I'm always looking for
more info...

thanks.


Prepared, as with CO2, and test kits. Nitrate and phosphate. Having
an adequate amount of fertilizers on hand. Bulk sources of nitrate,
phosphate, potassium, trace minerals. Knowing how to dose the
fertilizers. A 4 wpg tank is what I consider to be a very fast tank.
Plants grow fast, nutrients are used fast, problems happen fast, fixes
happen slow.

At 4 wpg you are going to need CO2. Maybe not right at the start but
soon. And going from ~1 wpg to 4 wpg is going to cause you problems
if you are not prepared.

I have been keeping plants for a little over a year, but would say I am
still a beginner at this. I am going to upgrade the lighting on my 46
gallon bowfront tank from a single flourescent, giving me right now ~1
watt/gallon, to a compact flourescent fixture. I am looking at the
Coralife
deluxe series and am debatting between the 96 watt fixture, giving me 2
watts/gallon, and the 192 watt fixture, giving me 4 watts/gallon. It is
a
36" hood. I do not currently have any supplemental CO2. I am leaning
toward the 192 watt, but am wondering if that will require CO2 to keep
things in check. It would be nice to be able to keep some bright light
plants! Any advice?




Semper Fi!

Visit the forums at Aqua Botanic!
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1

Need Nitrate or Potassium for your tank? Go to www.litemanu.com
(Just a happy customer of the above!)



Semper Fi!

Visit the forums at Aqua Botanic!
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1

Need Nitrate or Potassium for your tank? Go to www.litemanu.com
(Just a happy customer of the above!)

Thanks Rex, much appreciation...

Prepared, as with CO2, and test kits. Nitrate and phosphate. Having
an adequate amount of fertilizers on hand. Bulk sources of nitrate,
phosphate, potassium, trace minerals. Knowing how to dose the
fertilizers. A 4 wpg tank is what I consider to be a very fast tank.
Plants grow fast, nutrients are used fast, problems happen fast, fixes
happen slow.

At 4 wpg you are going to need CO2. Maybe not right at the start but
soon. And going from ~1 wpg to 4 wpg is going to cause you problems
if you are not prepared.

I have been keeping plants for a little over a year, but would say I
am
still a beginner at this. I am going to upgrade the lighting on my 46
gallon bowfront tank from a single flourescent, giving me right now ~1
watt/gallon, to a compact flourescent fixture. I am looking at the
Coralife
deluxe series and am debatting between the 96 watt fixture, giving me
2
watts/gallon, and the 192 watt fixture, giving me 4 watts/gallon. It
is
a
36" hood. I do not currently have any supplemental CO2. I am leaning
toward the 192 watt, but am wondering if that will require CO2 to keep
things in check. It would be nice to be able to keep some bright
light
plants! Any advice?




Semper Fi!

Visit the forums at Aqua Botanic!
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1

Need Nitrate or Potassium for your tank? Go to www.litemanu.com
(Just a happy customer of the above!)



Semper Fi!

Visit the forums at Aqua Botanic!
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1

Need Nitrate or Potassium for your tank? Go to www.litemanu.com
(Just a happy customer of the above!)

One mistake and your tank is full of Algae with a lot of light. Be ready
for troubles.




"RedForeman ©®" wrote in message
...
Thanks Rex, much appreciation...

Prepared, as with CO2, and test kits. Nitrate and phosphate. Having
an adequate amount of fertilizers on hand. Bulk sources of nitrate,
phosphate, potassium, trace minerals. Knowing how to dose the
fertilizers. A 4 wpg tank is what I consider to be a very fast tank.
Plants grow fast, nutrients are used fast, problems happen fast, fixes
happen slow.

At 4 wpg you are going to need CO2. Maybe not right at the start but
soon. And going from ~1 wpg to 4 wpg is going to cause you problems
if you are not prepared.

I have been keeping plants for a little over a year, but would say I
am
still a beginner at this. I am going to upgrade the lighting on my
46
gallon bowfront tank from a single flourescent, giving me right now
~1
watt/gallon, to a compact flourescent fixture. I am looking at the
Coralife
deluxe series and am debatting between the 96 watt fixture, giving
me
2
watts/gallon, and the 192 watt fixture, giving me 4 watts/gallon.
It
is
a
36" hood. I do not currently have any supplemental CO2. I am
leaning
toward the 192 watt, but am wondering if that will require CO2 to
keep
things in check. It would be nice to be able to keep some bright
light
plants! Any advice?




Semper Fi!

Visit the forums at Aqua Botanic!
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1

Need Nitrate or Potassium for your tank? Go to www.litemanu.com
(Just a happy customer of the above!)



Semper Fi!

Visit the forums at Aqua Botanic!
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1

Need Nitrate or Potassium for your tank? Go to www.litemanu.com
(Just a happy customer of the above!)

Yes, thank you. And that makes sense to me....what you're saying.

The thing is that it seems to be 36" hoods give (in compact flourescent)
either 2x or 4x wattage of the tank, at least if it is a 46g bowfront, as
mine. But I would imagine that any amount of containment around that area
would require a similar wattage of lightbulbs. I was thinking of going for
3x watts/gallon, but now it seems like I have the choice between 2x or 4x.
Not sure about that.




"Rex Grigg" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 04:07:40 GMT, "RedForeman"
wrote:

Can you elaborate a little about the "is going to cause you problems if
you
are not prepared." part? I'd like to know as well, I'm always looking
for
more info...

thanks.


Prepared, as with CO2, and test kits. Nitrate and phosphate. Having
an adequate amount of fertilizers on hand. Bulk sources of nitrate,
phosphate, potassium, trace minerals. Knowing how to dose the
fertilizers. A 4 wpg tank is what I consider to be a very fast tank.
Plants grow fast, nutrients are used fast, problems happen fast, fixes
happen slow.

12 (yes, twelve) wpg is possible if you are well "prepared". It's a
question of establsihing a balance. Not a question of wpg, ml of
fertilizers, expensive equipment and such. Watch the plants they will
tell you if you are doing them good.

--Nikolay