# How much lighting???



## Skeeter91 (Dec 28, 2011)

I got a 10 gallon JEBO tank heavily planted with 
(2) lidwigia plants the long leaf ones.
(1) bundle of anacharis
(1) moneywort or something plant...it's very skinny with small oval shaped leafs.
(1) lidwigia plant with oval shaped leafs.

Do u guys think I need the recommended 8 hours of lighting? Any fertilizer? Any iron? I'm not trying to grow them rapidly...I just don't want to kill these beautiful plants...all I got in this tank is 6 neon tetras and (2) 8 watt long fluorescent stock bulbs that are included with the JEBO tank


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

I would use long enough lighting for the plants to grow but no so long cloudiness/algae/cyano show up. Adjust accordingly.

I use 20w-30w of 6500k lights. I my 10g that is spiral bulbs from wall mart in an old incandescent hood. That is the actual wattage not the equilivant incandescent wattage.


my .02


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Are your plants doing well on the 8hrs? Let them be your determing factor. Many people run 10-12hrs of lighting. Just use whatever is working for you.


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## Skeeter91 (Dec 28, 2011)

Well I've been observing my anacharis and they've been dying. I recovered them from a tank that was taken down and the plant was almost dead....the stem was light green and the leafs were totally dead and transparent...but I thought i would be able to save them since I've heard a lot about these little guys being resistant and very hard to kill....now I'm seeing them getting weaker and I woke up seeing one of them already sideways laying on my gravel...
You guys think I should pronounce it dead and throw it away before the leafs pollute the tank?
So no fertilizer required whatsoever? All I got is iron that I've been Dosing every day...just like a tenth of the small cap...


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## Skeeter91 (Dec 28, 2011)

beaslbob said:


> I would use long enough lighting for the plants to grow but no so long cloudiness/algae/cyano show up. Adjust accordingly.
> 
> I use 20w-30w of 6500k lights. I my 10g that is spiral bulbs from wall mart in an old incandescent hood. That is the actual wattage not the equilivant incandescent wattage.
> 
> ...





What is cyano? How would it get cloudy?? I know algae is bad due to it being sticky and blocking sunlight for the plants...


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Skeeter91 said:


> What is cyano? How would it get cloudy?? I know algae is bad due to it being sticky and blocking sunlight for the plants...


cyano is cyanobacter or cyano bacteria. In FW tanks it can be blue-green "slimy" algae and possibly a black harry type algae. In marine tank is shows up as a red slime or mat.


Cyano exists on all known enviroments in the world and was what initially freed up atmospheric oxygen from the previously carbon dioxide atmosphere.

Some forms have the ability to "fix" nitrogen from the nitrogen gas in the water just like soybeans form nitrogen nodgles (spelling LOL 'bumps') from atmospheric nitrogen.

Becuase of that cyano tends to be a pain. In both Fw and marine systems you setup the tank things are running nicely and nitrates finally drop down. Really going good. Then all the sudden and very rapidily here comes the cyano. and I mean in hours/days not weeks/months. and I mean it covers everything. In marine tanks especially the rocks and substrate.

What has happened is the tank has become nitrogen starved so the plants, algaes, corals, clams, and so on slow down growth rate. But the cyano can get its nitrogen from the gas and so is not starved and the tank can rapidily become cyano dominated vrs plant life dominated.

IME and IMHO the best thing to do at that point is to just kill the lights and stop adding food until the cyano dies off. That rebalances the nitrates/phosphates so the plant life is again in control. then resume with less lighting and feeding.

Sorry about the long post. I do tend to ramble on. *old dude

my .02


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Skeeter91 said:


> Well I've been observing my anacharis and they've been dying. I recovered them from a tank that was taken down and the plant was almost dead....the stem was light green and the leafs were totally dead and transparent...but I thought i would be able to save them since I've heard a lot about these little guys being resistant and very hard to kill....now I'm seeing them getting weaker and I woke up seeing one of them already sideways laying on my gravel...
> You guys think I should pronounce it dead and throw it away before the leafs pollute the tank?
> So no fertilizer required whatsoever? All I got is iron that I've been Dosing every day...just like a tenth of the small cap...


If there is no new green growth at the ends and the stem is rotting then it probably is gone. they are very resistant but can die. the also are supposed to be sensitive to the additive excel.

I would just let them be at least for awhile. If they don't come back then do a tank clean up a few months from now.

my .02


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would remove...saves sometimes difficult cleanup later. If you care about keeping dead plant matter to a minimum in your tank, that is. At some point it will just let all go in your tank and then its a mess. I would think about ferts later. Get the plants growing and if you want more out of them, add it.


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## Skeeter91 (Dec 28, 2011)

Thanks for the help guys


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I keep my lights on 12 hrs a day on all my tanks, but I also have injected CO2 and crazy substrate and fertilizer additives. So in general, unless you're very confident of what you're doing, I would say any more than 10 hrs is a little much.


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