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Light intensity during startup

Mitchel

Member
Joined
17 May 2021
Messages
37
Location
Belgium
Hello,

I'm going to start up a new tank (60x40x35) with a lot of light, aquasoil and CO2.
There is a dimmer on my Twinstar (3500 lumens). But how do I know how many % to set the intensity during start-up.
40, 50, 75 or go for 100% ?
And for how long? Is there some kind of schedule available for this?

thanks,
Mitchel
 
Hello,

I'm going to start up a new tank (60x40x35) with a lot of light, aquasoil and CO2.
There is a dimmer on my Twinstar (3500 lumens). But how do I know how many % to set the intensity during start-up.
40, 50, 75 or go for 100% ?
And for how long? Is there some kind of schedule available for this?

thanks,
Mitchel
Hello,
It is strongly suggested that you limit the lighting to no more than about 25% of max capacity. Only with a PAR meter can anyone truly know the lighting levels. Plants do not really use lumens. They use PAR, which is only vaguely related to lumens. The plants will require weeks or months to adapt to being submerged and during this time they are susceptible to algal attacks under heavy lighting.

Cheers,
 
Unfortunately, I do not have a PAR meter at my disposal, so I am focused on lumens.
But I will start at 25% and slowly ramp it up.
Perhaps increasing the light every 2 weeks with 25% so after 2 months I'm on full power?
 
I started mine at 40% and it has been working well. I am at the month mark and I’m at 55% but that’s out of my own caution. Just remember with higher light comes more necessary maintenance to keep algae at bay and plants looking their best. At this time make sure your CO2 is really abundant because that will cause more problems than a lack of light
 
I find it confusing, because 2 things have to be taken into account
firstly the light intensity and secondly the lighting duration.

For example, if I start with 40% intensity, how long should the lighting duration be: 6 hours, 8 hours?
And when should I start with increasing the light intensity; when I've reached the 8 hours lighting duration or should I start earlier?
 
6 hours and lower intensity go hand in hand, so yeah 40% for 6 hours.

there’s really no rule as to when to increase intensity, but a slow rise would be wiser. More light means more production within the plants, which in turn means everything else needs to be in abudance to support the faster growth (ferts/co2). Watch your plants. If you are seeing successful new growth then increase the intensity. If you are enjoying where your tank is at, then increasing the lighting is irrelevant. If plants are healthy and you are succeeding, then don’t fix what isn’t broken.
 
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