I bought these plants. Do I need a light?

[autyfish]

Here are these plants I ordered! Super excited! I have a 37 gallon high tank. Do I need a light for these? It just has the built in led lights at the moment. No real natural light as it’s in a basement. If I do, suggestions?

 

[Byron]

The tank light you have will (or could) be sufficient, depending upon the intensity and spectrum. The intensity you can skip at the moment because it will be whatever it is, but does the unit have options for some or all of the LED diodes, or a dimming function? Some do.

As for spectrum, is there any data on the unit, the box, or online on the manufacturer's site, that gives the Kelvin number or the CRI (colour rendering index) number?

 

[autyfish]

It says bright white led then says broad color spectrum. Idk. But I did see on the Q and A page that several people said the light was sufficient for their plants and they were growing well, so I’ll probably just go with it!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Congratulations on your plants! You might already know this, but anubias and java fern need to be attached to wood, rocks, or ornaments, rather than buried in the substrate.

Anubias and java fern can both do well in lower light, and sword is fairly adaptable within reason. The only problem you might have is that a 37 high is very deep, so it's harder for the light to reach the bottom. Some deep tanks need a LOT of light to reach the bottom. If that proves to be the case, you can put your anubias and swords higher up on the hardscape, and concentrate on floating plants.

 

[Byron]

Agree with above. And I would go with the light you have and see how it turns out. So the next thing with the light is duration. First, have it on a timer, so the light comes on and goes off at the same time each 24-hour period; if the unit has this built in, fine, but if not, a simple lamp timer can be purchased from home stores. This is the "daylight" period for the plants, and it can be any continuous period, so have it set to be on when you are normally home to enjoy the tank. A period of 8 or 9 hours may work, or it may have to be reduced. Problem algae is the guide here; the light and nutrients must be balanced for the plants, and no more or algae can become a problem.