For the 65g tank I have a lamp that is 3x96w 30" PC lamps. There are two switches - the first activates one bulb (6700K) and the fan, the other switch activates the other two bulbs (6700K and 10,000K). Each one also has its own power cable. Currently the first switch is on a 12-hour schedule that starts at 2PM. The other (two bulbs) is on a 10 hour schedule starting at 3PM.

Should they just both come on for one 10-hour cycle? Is it good as it is?

Already starting the ferts and increased CO2 thanks to realizations from the drop-checker have the tank looking greener. Thanks for the help!

-MT

You don't really need that much light. You have 288 watts over 65 gallons or about 4.4 watts per gallon, and I assume those lights have at least average reflectors. If you had half that light you would have plenty. With what you have I wouldn't try to run more than 8 hours a day, and I would run the 96 watts for the whole 8 hours, with the two 96 watts for a midday burst of no more than 2 hours. This will make your life a lot easier.

Even with the 24" depth of the water? And you mean one 96w bulb for 8 hours with the other two bulbs on for 2 hours in the middle?

Thanks for the info,

-MT

Yes, 96 watts for 8 hours, with the other two bulbs on for 2 hours at midday. A depth of 24" is not enough to require adding more light. You could experiment with 2 96 watt bulbs on for 8 hours, and the third added for the 2 hours at midday, but that would put you back in the very high light range again.

Hoppy I have a 33 gallon cube with 96 watt cf fixture plus an 80 watt fixture (half of whch i keep an actinic bulb in...) for what I've assumed is a working total of 140 watts or so.. Part of the reason is the tank is a cube and this gives me front to back coverage.

am I running too much light.. ? belems, ludwigas, blyx albertii, ect.

pressurized co2 and ei

Would just two 96w bulbs for 8 hours be good also? Or is that still too much lighting? I ask because the tank doesn't look very "bright" with just one bulb. It could be the quality of the reflector tho...

Thanks for your patience,

-MT

Edit: the one bulb would be like 1.5wpg, which counts as "low" light, no? With two being at 3WPG, so I wonder if 3wpg is where I should be. But somehow I thought somewhere around 4WPG was some kinda holy ground I should try to attain, like the 45ppm co2.

So, after browsing around here I realized I overbought my lighting. Guess I am set if I go for a coral tank tho.

I disconnected one of the 6700K bulbs, so now I have one 6700K and one 10000K bulb that come on at 3PM (very shaded room, blinds and curtains) and both turn off at 1AM. Given that the reflector isn't great, and part of the 10000k light is outside of the plants' spectrum, I figure it'd be close to a 2.5wpg tank...

Am I going down the right track? or is 1.5wpg that much better than the 2.5-3.0 of the two bulbs currently?

(Thanks for bearing with me as I shed many of the preconceptions I had...)

-MT