[freshreef]

do u think that there is a point where too much light is not good for the planted aquaria?
i have great success with 1-1.5 w/l in all of my tanks and even 2w/l in a nano tank - never had problems. do u think if i have the oppertunity to add more light (and of course adjusting co2 and fert regime too) the tank would do better.
just to make sure im very happy with my tanks , no algae, good growth and almost never lost a plant even the very delicate ones - its just a theoretical question

 

[Bert H]

Why fix it if it ain't broke? It sounds like you are having very good success with what you have, so why do it? More light will increase your risk of more problems (read algae). If you can grow all you want with what you have and are algae free, hey that's the name of the game!

 

[nino]

I doubt so. Your tanks are pretty much high light anyway. 1-1.5w/l is about 4-6wstts/gl right? If you have great success with this set up, why bother to tweak it?

 

[freshreef]

as i said just a theoretical question - do u think that there is a level that is not good for the plants because its too high?

 

[Rex Grigg]

Well the noon day tropical sun equals around 140,000 Lux per square meter. To get to that level with a standard 10 gallon tank one would need in the neighborhood of 220 watts of light. So for all practical purposes it would to hard to add enough light to an aquarium to be harmful to the plants.

 

[plantbrain]

At I= 600 micromoles of photons/m^2/sec many fast growing aquatic weeds are at their maximum light intensity point, eg adding more will not increase growth rate, at higher levels, say at 1500 as an exmaple, the growth rate will start to decline.

So adding much more than 600 will not increase growth rate under non limiting nutrient/CO2 conditions.
2000 is noon day tropical sun.

You can find Bowes et al for a reference.
PS maximums for three sumbersed aquatic plants.

Regards,
Tom Barr