Tek Light

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 12:05 pm

I killed the Spirogyra several weeks ago. I have every other kind of algae. Can't get my fert dosing organized. I haven't paid as much attention to it as I should be, and I keep forgetting to dose my tank. I'll stand there and look at it, but then forget to dose it.

I'm out of practice on doing this stuff too.

fjf888 · Post by **fjf888** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 2:13 pm

If you're using 4x55 T5 HO lighting over your tank that's an awful lot of light. I was under the impression that 2x55 provided more than enough PAR for a 75g. Could be the primary cause of the algae.

jcali10 · Post by **jcali10** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 4:27 pm

Fred, maybe if it was a low tech tank full of anubias, ferns, vals, and hygrophilia, 2 bulbs would work, but for high tech setups, I believe 4 - 6 bulbs is the norm. Just my gut speaking, I have not been reading up on lighting parameters lately.

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 4:58 pm

I had a 4 bulb T-5 over it before that had been growing some orchids. The Tek light replaces that. My plant were pearling in a couple hours. It was wonderful.

I have the algae because my fert dosing is not dialed in yet.

fjf888 · Post by **fjf888** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:24 pm

jcali10 wrote:Fred, maybe if it was a low tech tank full of anubias, ferns, vals, and hygrophilia, 2 bulbs would work, but for high tech setups, I believe 4 - 6 bulbs is the norm. Just my gut speaking, I have not been reading up on lighting parameters lately.

I know many of you guys have been doing this longer than I, so take it FWIW, and I defer to those who have more experience. I think the 4 to 6 bulbs applies to t-8 and t-12 lighting, not t-5/t5-ho. Here's a graphic that's a representation that measures PAR vs Distance from the fixture. As the graph indicates (this is by Hoppy of TPT with input from Tom Barr), t5Ho is 2x the light of t-8. I think he may be using the equivalent of 8-12 t-8 bulbs over that tank especially with a tek fixture and giesmanns bulbs. With that much lighting you would need a ton of CO2 just keep up with plant demand, that of course drives demand for all other nutrients. IMHO lighting and CO2 are the root of most algae issues, and other nutrients are distant second.

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