Yes, a 3 hour burst is a pretty serious blast of light. Watch for the tiniest algae showing up. At this phase of the tank development you MUST catch the algae when they try to appear. If you can see them it's almost too late, in many cases way too late.
I'd strongly suggest you add Amano shrimp. They will take care of the algae BEFORE you ever have a chance to see them. Yes I know I sell them, but that's really the best advice. I say don't wait but get Amanos even if you have to buy them from a LFS at $3 a piece.
If your plants pearl strongly that means they are eating very fast. Probably you know but once again - plants will stop eating if one of the fertilizers gets depleted. For example you may have a tank full of Nitrogen and Phosphorus, but if the plants have eaten all the Magnesium they will not touch the N and P until you add Mg. If you think that plants can eat fast and grow fast you should see algae doing it - they will make use of the N and P (in absense of Mg) and have a field day. You will be sorry you didn't get those stupid Amano shrimp or that you didn't adjust your light quickly.
All of these possible headaches are controlled with the light. That's why it's wise to start really carefully - with a burst of maybe only 1 hour. That will give you time to catch the bad trends. But throughout all that fun make sure that your CO2 is completely consistent. Check how fast it flows every single day. CO2 has a tendency to change its flow in the first several days after setup.
See! It's very easy!
--Nikolay
I'd strongly suggest you add Amano shrimp. They will take care of the algae BEFORE you ever have a chance to see them. Yes I know I sell them, but that's really the best advice. I say don't wait but get Amanos even if you have to buy them from a LFS at $3 a piece.
If your plants pearl strongly that means they are eating very fast. Probably you know but once again - plants will stop eating if one of the fertilizers gets depleted. For example you may have a tank full of Nitrogen and Phosphorus, but if the plants have eaten all the Magnesium they will not touch the N and P until you add Mg. If you think that plants can eat fast and grow fast you should see algae doing it - they will make use of the N and P (in absense of Mg) and have a field day. You will be sorry you didn't get those stupid Amano shrimp or that you didn't adjust your light quickly.
All of these possible headaches are controlled with the light. That's why it's wise to start really carefully - with a burst of maybe only 1 hour. That will give you time to catch the bad trends. But throughout all that fun make sure that your CO2 is completely consistent. Check how fast it flows every single day. CO2 has a tendency to change its flow in the first several days after setup.
See! It's very easy!
--Nikolay
