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12-27-2007, 02:50 AM
Ultimately it is not about rules and formulas but what is happening in your tank and how healthy it is. You have a recently set up tank with too much light over it that looks like it is headed for a bad period if you don't get a handle on the algae soon. Right now it isn't that bad. Carissa's suggestion to keep your light at 3-4 wpg is an excellent one. The more light the more sensitive the tank is to any minor imbalance between the light, CO2 and ferts. With less light you have more wiggle room. This is important when using DIY CO2, if you are not using multiple bottles with staggered re-charge you run a greater risk of the CO2 level fluctuating and with as much light as you want to use you would need rock steady CO2 levels. It doesn't look like any of the plants you currently have in the tank need excessive light. Have you thought through what exactly you would like to grow and whether anything absolutely needs that much light? If you don't have a specialized need for so much light you may be about to put yourself through a lot of unnecessary work and aggravation. One last thought. With a new tank it will be much easier for you to establish a healthy, balanced tank, with lower lighting levels the first few months (that wiggle room thing again.) If you drop your light levels back to 3wpg until you get rid of the algae and stabilize your tank you can always experiment with more light later. You will still be able to grow plenty of plants with that much light and will be getting a feel for how to adjust ferts and CO2 as your plant mass/fish load increases. Good knowledge/experience to have if you later decide to increase lighting and try some high light plants.
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