Lighting for live plants

[Beckett]

Hi again,

I just got in my third and likely final plant before stocking my fish tank yesterday. But I am wondering if my lighting setup is suitable. These are the. plants I have right now:

Amazon Sword
Cryptocoryne Wendtii
Vallisneria

My lighting is just the setup that came with my Aqueon 38 gal starter kit, so a fluorescent bulb. I have been leaving it on about 8 hours a day and the Amazon Sword appears to be doing very well, it has several new leaves growing after only having it two weeks. The crypt was described as slower growing, so no apparent new growth yet but it seems the leaves have stopped melting and there are a few healthy green ones. The Vallisneria was just added yesterday so obviously no changes there yet. I put an aquarium co op root tab in the substrate near it and also dosed the tank with aquarium co op easy plant fertilizer again (had not done so in 2 weeks).

So should this setup be okay for the plants? Or do I need to look into LED lights to avoid my plants dying in the long term?

Thanks!

 

[seangee]

Should be fine. None of those are especially demanding. All of those plants will benefit from root tabs. I am not familiar with the co op fertiliser but for the one I use I dose weekly, normally one day after water change because the de-chlorinator neutralises some of the minerals.

 

[Beckett]

Thanks! It says weekly on the bottle which I didn't realize until last night. I thought it was supposed to be after a water change and since I am cycling my tank I am not doing water changes right now. So I'll probably start doing the fertilizer once a week as recommended on the bottle.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Usually the lights that come with kits aren't adequate for plants--they are mostly to help the fish look pretty. If it were me, I'd add more light. Maybe a Marineland Hidden fixture, or something like that. Lights can get very expensive, but you've got a solid start with the one you've already got, so you could augment it with a smaller, relatively cheap fixture. I bet your plants would appreciate it.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Sounds ok to me. As @seangee said, the plants you own, have low to moderate light needs.

Lights can get very expensive,

Tell me about it! That's why I use desk clip lamps on some of my tanks. (With bright LED bulbs) They are cheap and effective.

 

[Byron]

As mentioned, we should look into the light. If it is a fluorescent tube, which type and what is the spectrum? At one end of the tube there will usually be some data stamped on, give us all of that.

 

[Beckett]

Okay it says “full spectrum, 17W, T8” on the bulb

 

[Byron]

Before getting to the light, I spotted something while re-reading this thread. With live plants in the tank, do not "cycle" it by adding ammonia. The plants will deal with ammonia from the fish. I can explain this if asked, so back to the light.

The plants will be fine with the light so far as the 24-inch T8 fluorescent tube goes, but it will depend upon the tube itself. This single 24-inch tube (17w usually indicates a 24-inch tube, if it is shorter that can make a difference) is low light, moderate with a quality tube. I have this lighting over my tanks. The best single tube in T8 is the Life-Glo, nothing else even comes close. The swords and crypts (the latter usually melt if transplanted but left alone usually recover) will manage under a Life-Glo, Vallisneria might. I have a single T8 24-inch 20w Lifge-Glo over my 29g tanks; two tubes (same ones) over my 3-foot 33g and 40g tanks. I also have floating plants which obviously reduce the light getting to lower plants. With a Life-Glo tube you will have the best you can given the light unit.

 

[Beckett]

What do you mean about cycling the tank with live plants? I started my cycle with no live plants and used raw shrimp as the ammonia source. I removed the shrimp once the ammonia had spiked then abruptly dropped and I noticed nitrites quite high. Now ammonia has been stable at 0 for fove days or so and my nitrites keep lowering. Todays test they are very low maybe 0.5 ppm. Nitrates are at safe level

 

[Byron]

What do you mean about cycling the tank with live plants? I started my cycle with no live plants and used raw shrimp as the ammonia source. I removed the shrimp once the ammonia had spiked then abruptly dropped and I noticed nitrites quite high. Now ammonia has been stable at 0 for fove days or so and my nitrites keep lowering. Todays test they are very low maybe 0.5 ppm. Nitrates are at safe level

To explain cycling with live plants.

Aquatic plants need nitrogen, and most species (very few exceptions) prefer ammonium (ammonia) and they can assimilate ammonia/ammonium quite rapidly--they even out-compete the AOB (ammonia oxidizing bacteria). The faster the plant species is at growing, the more ammonia it can take up. Floating plants are ideal for this, often termed "ammonia sinks" because of it. The real benefit is that nitrite is not produced and thus it is not an issue, and similarly nitrate will be much slower and lower. In some planted tanks nitrate will be zero for years.

The AOB and NOB still establish but in smaller numbers because most of the ammonia is grabbed by the plants. Our basic aquarium tests cannot even detect ammonia or nitrite when live plants are present, so it is very minimal. You can add fish once the plants are showing signs of growth. I set up new tanks in one day, with fish, and I have never lost a fish to "cycling" in 30+ years because I always have floating plants (and lower plants usually).

 

[Beckett]

Ah okay! Interesting! I only have the three plants in the substrate, no floaters for now which might be good so I don’t block light to my lower plants. If I keep testing the water a couple more days and everything stays low should it be okay to add fish?

 

[Byron]

Ah okay! Interesting! I only have the three plants in the substrate, no floaters for now which might be good so I don’t block light to my lower plants. If I keep testing the water a couple more days and everything stays low should it be okay to add fish?

You're so far along the artificial cycling process you might as well stay with it. And that means do not add any ammonia, but test ammonia and nitrite and if these test at zero for a few consecutive days, and the plants show growth, you can consider adding some fish. If you want help with which to add and numbers, ask us.

 

[Beckett]

Thanks! I will do that and keep testing water as planned then. I was thinking to add my school of 12-15 corys first. The other species I plan to add are lemon tetra, Cardinal Tetra, 1 bolivian ram, BN pleco.

would one of the other species be hardier and better to be the first in the tank?

 

[Byron]

Thanks! I will do that and keep testing water as planned then. I was thinking to add my school of 12-15 corys first. The other species I plan to add are lemon tetra, Cardinal Tetra, 1 bolivian ram, BN pleco.

would one of the other species be hardier and better to be the first in the tank?

Order is not that relevant here, though I would probably do the Bolivian Ram last. If a male, he will consider the entire tank his territory, and that is not a problem, but it is usually best to have other fish in beforehand. Also ensures more stable water conditions.

With shoaling species, being the cories and both tetras, add the entire intended number together at the same time for each species. So all 12-15 cories together, then all cardinal tetras together, and then all the lemon tetras. This allows them to setytle in much faster the more there are, which reduces the likelihood of stress-related issues. The cories at 12-15 is good, have decent numbers of each of the two tetras too, 9-12 of each or a couple more.

 

[Back in the fold]

If your Amazon Sword is sprouting new leaves that's great. The Cryptocoryne is very slow growing. As long as it doesn't die it's fine. They usually take forever to show new growth. The Vallisneria takes quite a bit of light and prefers a sandy substrate but if you have strong room light from a window you should be fine. I have yet to find anyone who is happy with LED lights. The best I ever read is that they are OK. Just OK. Fluorescent tubes have always worked well and, as @Byron says, if you have the correct tubes then you will be fine.