Is T8 florescent lamp enough for plants?

[Panadalover93]

Hi i have this light that came with the lid of the tank. It has a bluish hue and is a t8 15 watt florescent light. I wanted to know if it was enough . Im also using seachem flourish fert and some co2 optimate from tetra

 

[Fishmanic]

What is the kelvin rating of the bulb?… it may be written on the tube… or else does it say warm white,cool white or daylight on the tube.

 

[Panadalover93]

What is the kelvin rating of the bulb?… it may be written on the tube… or else does it say warm white,cool white or daylight on the tube.

Sadly nothing is written about kalvin but my assumption is 7500 just by comparison to the kalvin chart

 

[itiwhetu]

T8 tubes are fine, Find a Grolux Tube to fit your fitting, It has a pink hue.

 

[Colin_T]

what are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

there should be numbers and text on one end of the globe near the metal fitting. See if it has anything.

don't use CO2 with fluorescent globes, there won't be enough light for the plants to need CO2.

what plants are in the tank?
post a picture of the tank if you don't know the names of the plants. some require bright light and some don't need as much.

 

[Panadalover93]

what are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

there should be numbers and text on one end of the globe near the metal fitting. See if it has anything.

don't use CO2 with fluorescent globes, there won't be enough light for the plants to need CO2.

what plants are in the tank?
post a picture of the tank if you don't know the names of the plants. some require bright light and some don't need as much.

tank is 20”x11x16

 

[Panadalover93]

T8 tubes are fine, Find a Grolux Tube to fit your fitting, It has a pink hue.

The thing is i live in Kuwait so im doing the best with what is available here and Amazon shipping costs double due to pandemic

 

[Colin_T]

You probably want 2 globes on that tank. There is enough light near the surface and this can be seen in the Ambulia, which has nice dense leaves at the top but big gaps between the sets of leaves further down the stem.

Alternatively, look for a light unit with a higher wattage globe (25-30watt). It's probably easier to just run 2 globes.

You can also try increasing the photo period. Plants can have up to 16 hours of light per day but need 8 hours of darkness. If you only have the lights on for a short period of time, try increasing the time by an hour and monitor the plants over the next week. If there's no improvement, increase it another hour and see how they do. You want good sized leaves but minimal algae.

 

[Panadalover93]

You probably want 2 globes on that tank. There is enough light near the surface and this can be seen in the Ambulia, which has nice dense leaves at the top but big gaps between the sets of leaves further down the stem.

Alternatively, look for a light unit with a higher wattage globe (25-30watt). It's probably easier to just run 2 globes.

You can also try increasing the photo period. Plants can have up to 16 hours of light per day but need 8 hours of darkness. If you only have the lights on for a short period of time, try increasing the time by an hour and monitor the plants over the next week. If there's no improvement, increase it another hour and see how they do. You want good sized leaves but minimal algae.

yes i have 2 if them attached it comes with the lid and this is a second hand aquarium which is why i dont have much info. I keep the lights on roughly 12-14 hours . And thankfully no algea yet . I dont think my molly fish or CAE are giving the algea tome to develop i always see them munching on things. Should i stopped the co2 im using from tetra? Im currently just pumping it 2x daily and have an airstone running and a sponge filter which are giving plenty surface agitation

 

[Panadalover93]

You probably want 2 globes on that tank. There is enough light near the surface and this can be seen in the Ambulia, which has nice dense leaves at the top but big gaps between the sets of leaves further down the stem.

Alternatively, look for a light unit with a higher wattage globe (25-30watt). It's probably easier to just run 2 globes.

You can also try increasing the photo period. Plants can have up to 16 hours of light per day but need 8 hours of darkness. If you only have the lights on for a short period of time, try increasing the time by an hour and monitor the plants over the next week. If there's no improvement, increase it another hour and see how they do. You want good sized leaves but minimal algae.

Also i was told that this was cabomba when i bought it. Is there a way to tell the difference

 

[Essjay]

If the tank is second hand and the light tubes came with the tank, you need to think about new ones as fluorescent tubes lose their brightness over time and should really be replaced every year.

 

[Colin_T]

Also i was told that this was cabomba when i bought it. Is there a way to tell the difference

Cabomba has the leaves in pairs with one stem sticking out each side of the stalk.

Ambulia has lots of leaves coming out all around the stalk.

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I would stop using CO2.