# How long to run 4x54W T5HO light on a 75



## Rynofasho (Jul 14, 2011)

I'm picking up an AquaticLife 4x54W T5HO system with 4 LEDs for my new 75 gallon. I will not be using CO2 at first -- previously everywhere I ever read was saying "OMG 3W/Gallon or die!" and now reading around more in here, I'm afraid I may even have too much light. I'd like to be able to grow more than Crypts, Anubias, Hygro, etc., so I thought this would be a good light.

Anyhow, it will be suspended using the frame mounts which I believe put the light about 4"-5" above the tank. In the interest of not having mass algae blooms and all that, how long should I have the lights on? It has 3 built in timers, so I could actually run say 216W for the first two hours of the day, then down to 108W for another five-six hours and have the LEDs come on at night.

So I will obviously do some experimenting, but what is a general rule of thumb for how long to leave these suckers on? I will be dosing homemade ferts using the EI method and using API root tabs.

Thank you in advance. . .


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## Crispino L Ramos (Mar 29, 2008)

While waiting for the CO2, run only 2 strips of lights for 6 or 8 hours per day.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

The best idea would be to either hang the light a foot or so above the top of the tank, or get a 2 bulb fixture instead.


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## Rynofasho (Jul 14, 2011)

Ok, well my motivation behind getting this light was to give myself more flexibility in growing high light plants, as well as having built in LED features as I'd really like to be able to enjoy the tank more at night. 

If I were instead to get something like the AquaticLife dual 54W T5HO fixture to mount on top for $135, can you please oh PLEASE help me find a good LED system for night time viewing that will adequately illuminate a standard sized 75 gallon tank? It would probably save me money in the end, so I'm ok with it, but I dont want have to go moving LED lights off the tank during the day because the T5s are too hot, etc. Really I just want something that looks smooth, performs well, and I won't have to constantly be fiddling with to enjoy both T5 and LED lighting.

What I like about the light I'm looking at here is that I have the flexibility to run just the 2 T5s if need be and never run the other bulbs (and have convenient storage for if one burns out  ) and that the LEDs are built right into the fixture. If I can find a cheaper piecemeal solution then I'd certainly entertain the idea so long as the fit and finish is nice.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Crispino Ramos said:


> While waiting for the CO2, run only 2 strips of lights for 6 or 8 hours per day.





Hoppy said:


> The best idea would be to either hang the light a foot or so above the top of the tank, or get a 2 bulb fixture instead.


+1 - Agree


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## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

I use a 4X48 HO fixture above my 75 which sits just a couple inches off the surface. It has only the one large reflector, but even with my injecting and EI dosing it still was producing unneccessary spot and dust algae. I now only run two of the bulbs for 10 hours. That seems to work quite well but can still produce some spot algae on my anubias. Using all four bulbs would be really high without elevating it like Hoppy suggested.


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## Justinkscott (Jun 18, 2011)

I run a 4x 54w t5ho on my 80g. Without co2 I grow algae like mad, with co2.. No algae at all. 

I have a dual t5ho on my 55g discus tank, and it grows algae like mad. Fortunately, daily water changes keeps it in check.

End game... Keep the 4x t5ho fixture, get A LOT of plants, get co2. You'll be growing like mad w/o algae.

Until you can get co2... get as many fast growth plants you can, use excel, cut down to 1 or 2 t5 bulbs.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

2x54 w t5ho will grow algae plenty fine in a 75g tank without high co2. 4x54w will grow algae like made even with the best co2.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

There is a huge missing equation here. 

A 4X54 without a good reflector will put out about the same amount of light as a 2X54 with good individual, parabolic reflectors. 


If your light has individual reflectors, I'd definitely only run 2 of them.


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## jhunt (May 7, 2010)

I run my 2 bulb T5HO Glo fixture mounted right at the surface of my 75 gallon for 9 hours a day and every time my CO2 runs out I get BBA.


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## Justinkscott (Jun 18, 2011)

OverStocked said:


> 2x54 w t5ho will grow algae plenty fine in a 75g tank without high co2. 4x54w will grow algae like made even with the best co2.


I can prove otherwise. My 80g tank has high co2, 4x 54w t5ho with individual reflectors, 2" above surface, 8h/day. No algae.


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## sepehr (Oct 6, 2010)

I use to have 4 X 54 watts T5HO on my 75 gallon tank. I took one of them out permanently and right now I run 2 bulbs for 8.5 hours and the 3rd bulb is only on for 2-3 hours in the middle of the day. I have pressurized CO2 and dose EI method and I got easy to medium difficulty plants.


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## Rynofasho (Jul 14, 2011)

Alright, thank you for all the feedback. I still got the light because I was doing the math at getting a 2x54 T5HO light and then an adequate LED setup and it really wasn't that much cheaper, and I'm really big on keeping everything 'clean' so this will at least cut down on the amount of stuff on top of the tank.

I'll run 2 bulbs for 6 hours a day or so to start and see how I do. I have algae even in my 36 with a 2x24 T5HO fixture and no CO2 now. I'm not sure what kind though -- looks like staghorn or some type of hair algae from the pics I've seen. It started after I ran out of liquid ferts, growing on my floating pennywort and now has moved to the Valls and anubias. Here it is:



















I never had any algae issues prior to running out of ferts. I'm wondering if I can rig something for the edge of the tank to put the light a bit higher in the air. . . There is no way on EARTH my wife would let me hang an aquarium light from the ceiling in our living room 

I'm hoping to get everything by Friday, including plants which I'm sure will melt, so I'll report back after it's up and running for a bit.


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## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

Rynofasho said:


> I never had any algae issues prior to running out of ferts. I'm wondering if I can rig something for the edge of the tank to put the light a bit higher in the air. . . There is no way on EARTH my wife would let me hang an aquarium light from the ceiling in our living room


With the boss ladys you just have to start slow. Like hey honey, I'm going to get a fish tank, wouldn't that be cool? That's when I introduced the 55. Then I was like hey the living room looks like it has room for a good sized tank; enter the 75. Then I was like, wouldn't it be cool if we could bred fish babies (oh babies, how cute); enter the three foot wide breeding rack with 2 tens, a twenty long and a 20 acrylic. That transitioned us to what about you dear, don't you want one?; enter her first 4G nano. HAHA, oh man you should see the way she looks at me sometimes. This is actually all in a one bedroom loft apartment. Just today I cut up one of her plastic cutting boards to use as a substrate divider to which her response was, "Look at what my life has become."


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## Rynofasho (Jul 14, 2011)

Hahahahhahaha that's hilarious. What's funny is that I wasn't even really interested in keeping fish at first - it was all her idea. I told her the only way on Earth we'd do it is if she maintained the tank. I knew NOTHING about it.

Fast forward 10 months and I've probably done a bazillion hours of research, we have a planted 36 that is FULL of baby long finned bristlenose fry, a 10 gallon in a bedroom, she helps me mix dry ferts, and now we're doing a 75. The NEXT funny part is that we had both agreed that we weren't even getting a bigger tank until our next house. One day we were chatting on gchat while at work and I sent her a craigslist link of a 75 gallon and told her I talked them down to $250. I never even contacted them and was just pulling her chain.

The next day she rubs it in my face that she talked them down to $225 and asked when I wanted to go look at it hahaha. I told her I never contacted them in the first place and now she's still gung ho and here we are setting up the 75. She then happened to mention that she wants to keep the 36 and maybe do an African tank. To this day she's never done a single water change, so I had to smile and decline as I have enough to do around here as it is 

I really do want CO2 now but I am the type of person who has to research everything to DEATH and I dont know enough about it yet to feel comfortable setting a system up. Hopefully I'll get there soon!


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## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

Rynofasho said:


> Hahahahhahaha that's hilarious. What's funny is that I wasn't even really interested in keeping fish at first - it was all her idea. I told her the only way on Earth we'd do it is if she maintained the tank. I knew NOTHING about it.
> 
> Fast forward 10 months and I've probably done a bazillion hours of research, we have a planted 36 that is FULL of baby long finned bristlenose fry, a 10 gallon in a bedroom, she helps me mix dry ferts, and now we're doing a 75. The NEXT funny part is that we had both agreed that we weren't even getting a bigger tank until our next house. One day we were chatting on gchat while at work and I sent her a craigslist link of a 75 gallon and told her I talked them down to $250. I never even contacted them and was just pulling her chain.
> 
> ...


Oh man, I hear ya! She has never done a single water change yet! I got her to use the magnetic scrapper a couple times which she enjoys because she gets to spend time with me (I'm either at work or at home working with the tanks).

I am the same way with needing to research everything and believe me I certainly did before I got my pressurized system set up. Got the pH controller and everything. As the experience builds up you certainly wonder what you were stressing about in the first place. The controller is basically unnecessary but I like the fact that it controls the injection in case my needle valve screws up. Just got to take the leap, I don't know one person who has regretted going with pressurized CO2.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Higher Thinking said:


> I don't know one person who has regretted going with pressurized CO2.


now you know one (me). If buying a reactor will fix my CO2 flow rate (god it's just one problem after another with pressurized) then maybe I'll feel better about it, but ever since I went pressurized it's like multiple times a day babying the system to get it to stay put and work like I want. My inline atomic diffuser has sucked like (insert expletive here). Rynofasho PLEASE do your research before going pressurized and get good stuff. Get/build your own reactor if you can because the inline atomic diffuser has sucked the big one for me so far. With adequate research you can avoid a lot of problems, but there's always the first time with things that you haven't dealt with before.


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## ThinkTank (May 24, 2011)

LOL - funny stuff. My wife was ready to kill me until we had some fry. Now her tune has changed completely. I have another 55g in the basement that she's been bugging me to get rid of....now she wants me to set it up with dividers for breeding.

Women love babies


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## Rynofasho (Jul 14, 2011)

Women DO love babies. My only problem now is that I have a 36 gallon with a good amount of 'regular' fish and now, a second batch of Plec fry are hatching. There's probably 80 babies in there along with all the other fish. My light and supplies cannot come soon enough as I need to start getting some fish out of there. My female looks like she is ALREADY getting fat with eggs again so she needs to go. Getting really tired of changing 50% water every other day! The good news is that some of the first batch of fry are getting close to being 'sellable.'


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## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

Rynofasho said:


> Women DO love babies. My only problem now is that I have a 36 gallon with a good amount of 'regular' fish and now, a second batch of Plec fry are hatching. There's probably 80 babies in there along with all the other fish. My light and supplies cannot come soon enough as I need to start getting some fish out of there. My female looks like she is ALREADY getting fat with eggs again so she needs to go. Getting really tired of changing 50% water every other day! The good news is that some of the first batch of fry are getting close to being 'sellable.'


I hear ya on that one. My bristlenose breed in a 10 gallon and I change about half the water literally every other day. I just brought 5 one-inchers to the LFS and got 10 bucks so hey, it's doing something. But those lil fish are DIRTY! It also allows me to keep a good supply in the other 5 tanks.


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