Is there a such thing as too much light in your planted tank?
 

:wave:So I'm planning my first semi high tech planted aquarium in a 55 gallon tank. the lighting t5's quad bulb fixture for a total wattage of 256.
CO2 will be dispensed via 2 litter bottle DIY set up and supplemented by Sea Chem Excel as deemed necsasary.
Flourite black sand substate.
Filtration maintained by hang on Emperor and Magnum canister filter systems.
Drop checker heating yada yada yada! Now my my malfunction is should I get these metal halide lights with atotal of 500 watts? Is there a such thing as too intense of lighting for your -plants? Is 256 enough light to nuture the likes of apontogenus,baby tears,lonfolia magenta?:crazy::smash::bow2:oh wise ones give me clarity!

256 watts is more than enough already (unless your tank is extraordinarily deep). I would actually lower the wattage if it was my tank. With such high light levels, you'll have be spot on with your CO2 and fertilization regiment for proper growth and to fend off algae. Speaking of 'spot on', yeast systems are not exactly consistent and you may have to use multiple bottles for a tank of that size.

In addition, Emperor filters are notorious for off gassing CO2 mostly because of their bio-wheels.

How long will your photoperiod be?

About 10 hours. I was considering 2 but I was told from afew seperate sources that I would only need 1.
It's not a problem to take the bio wheels off either. How much lower should I go with the lights to be able to still grow med. to high light plants. And should I use something like SeaChem Excel to supplement the Co2 and carbon?
Thank you for your feed back! :rockout::bow2:

I tried doing two photoperiods per day. I think I had the lights on for 4 hours, off for 1, on again for 4, and then off until the next day. I'm not sure if it made a big difference or not. I only found that the algae calmed down when the tank matured. Its been on a single photoperiod for a few months now. Multiple photoperiod is great for extending the time that you can view the tank throughout the day.

I use a HOB too (Aquaclear). I know people say canister is better but iIts worked for me and I don't plan on buying a canister just to test which is better :P

I think 3-4 watts per gallon is already considered high but its just an estimate to start from. Factors to take into account are your light fixtures (distance from the surface, quality of reflectors, spacing of the bulbs, type of fixture), if you're using covers, and the bulbs too.

Excel will probably work but I suspect it'll be costly in the long run, I think. You'll also have to be careful bout how much you dose since some plants are negatively sensitive to it. Instead of growing, they'll melt.

:woot2::greenbouncer::swim::thankyousign::crab: THANX 4 INFO!:crayfish: