Can a background light cause algae

[creg]

Thinking of getting the chihiros background light for my low tech 90l set up, was wondering if it's possible to cause algae as its 12.8w of light and I'm already running a 24w light overhead.

 

[MichaelJ]

You can avoid that if you can regulate the light intensity. It's hard to say just by the wattage equivalent alone and your tank size whether this will trigger algae growth. It all depends on CO2/no-CO2, type of plants, nutrient levels, the overall health of your tank etc. So I guess the short answer is that no one can tell, except for your tank. You can add the background light, start out at a low intensity level and slowly crank it up and see how that goes.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[creg]

Thanks, it does come with app that allows dimming. I was just unsure how much the backlight would actually effect the plants inside with it being blocked by glass.

 

[keef321]

Thinking of getting the chihiros background light for my low tech 90l set up, was wondering if it's possible to cause algae as its 12.8w of light and I'm already running a 24w light overhead.

Great question , I have also wondered about this. They can make some scapes looks good, but as Michael has stated, as it is light, I assume it will have an impact. Would have to keep that back glass super clean also, as I would assume it would make any build up on the glass stand out also. Hopefully some people will chime in who have these background lights.