# Is 60-75 par enough for dwarf baby tears? (Current LED Pro+)



## Ddrizzle (Jan 30, 2019)

I have a Current LED Pro+ light and at max power (100s all around) it only produces about 60-75 par throughout my 22" long tank. The light is about 8" above the water's surface, and the water's depth varies from 7" to 10". I for some reason thought it was producing much more par.



My question is two parts - 



#1 Is this enough par for dwarf baby tears and the EI dosing method? It seems so as after starting the EI method they have really perked up, even at around 60 par at 10" deep.



#2 So far after starting EI I have grown a significant amount of green dust algae and it's not stopping. Co2 is at least 30ppm. Is 60-075 par the possible issue here? On the plus side, my black beard, staghorn and hair algae is now gone after starting this routine and plants that were growing small and suffering are turning around.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

That's plenty of par for HC with good co2

Its common for GDA to pop up after a big change in nutrients, especially after raising N/NO3. Give it 2-3 weeks for everything to balance out and get used to the higher nutrient levels. It goes away on its own in many cases. If it doesnt then you're probably a little heave on ferts


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## Ddrizzle (Jan 30, 2019)

Ok, thanks for that. The GDA is really bothering me to the point of just not wanting to look at the tank for fear of needing to scrape it again after only a week. I've got a calendar going now and will be measruing the Nitrate and Phosphate in case I need to adjust.

For now, here are some stats:
22 gallon long
20-30 ppm co2
60-75 par, 8 hours a day
78 degrees F
Solid flow with eheim pro 4 canister filter
Dosing 1 gram of KNO3 4 times a week
Dosing 150 m gram of Mono Phos 4 times a week
Dosing 150 m gram of Miccros 3 times a week
GH/KH - 5-7 eacch usually.


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## Ddrizzle (Jan 30, 2019)

Reporting back that I had the light at 75 instead of 100 for a week. The baby's tears dind't suffer but they did start growing upwards more. I didn't take the par reading but it's obviously lower than 60-75.


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## naturelady (Dec 14, 2009)

Just this morning I was reading something by Tom Barr. He was talking about growing plants at low PAR values. The takeaway was that baby tears can grow well at 30-50 PAR AS LONG AS it has plenty of CO2 and other nutrients. CO2 supplelmentation is very important for baby tears, more important than high light. With EI fert dosing and CO2 supplements, it should grow well for you.


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## Cichlid-140 (Sep 28, 2018)

naturelady said:


> Just this morning I was reading something by Tom Barr. He was talking about growing plants at low PAR values. The takeaway was that baby tears can grow well at 30-50 PAR AS LONG AS it has plenty of CO2 and other nutrients. CO2 supplelmentation is very important for baby tears, more important than high light. With EI fert dosing and CO2 supplements, it should grow well for you.


Correct.

With insufficient CO2 Baby's Tears (HC) and other stems will make a run for the surface to find ... you guessed it ... CO2. According to Dennis Wong, HC is an excellent indicator of the presence of sufficient CO2. If it stays down and runs along the substrate your CO2 levels are right for plants in general. Then it's a matter whether the levels are suitable for your livestock.


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