Lighting Help Please!

[Dragonslady]

Hi. I hope someone can offer some advice. I've looked through the forums on this subject and I'm still a little fuzzy.

I got a 29 gallon tank well over a year ago, second hand. The lights and hood came with the original tank to my knowledge. I believe it's putting out 18-20 watts. The bulb says it's an Eclipse, natural daylight f18t8 24".

I recently moved to live plants, and I would like to really do well by my tank.

The biggest concern I have is my limited income. If I'm going to find a solution, it will have to be a cheap one.

Sooooo, any advice on the matter? It would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Bobtastic]

Umm.. what is your actual question? Or did I miss it?

T8 tubes are perfectly capable of growing a wide range of plants. As T8s are relatively low lights by planted tank standards you shouldn't need to add Co2 or a massive ammout of ferts. A general rule is the more light, the more Co2 and ferts you'll need to add.

That being said that you would probably benefit from some ferts (and maybe some liquid carbon). make sure that you choose plants that have low light demands cos plants that need lots of light probably wont do so well.

 

[Dragonslady]

Umm.. what is your actual question? Or did I miss it?

T8 tubes are perfectly capable of growing a wide range of plants. As T8s are relatively low lights by planted tank standards you shouldn't need to add Co2 or a massive ammout of ferts. A general rule is the more light, the more Co2 and ferts you'll need to add.

That being said that you would probably benefit from some ferts (and maybe some liquid carbon). make sure that you choose plants that have low light demands cos plants that need lots of light probably wont do so well.

Sorry, ditzed out a little there! My question was pretty much answered - I was wondering if my current light setup was decent, or if I would have to look into replacing it. I was told by a friend who works at my LFS that I don't have enough in the way of watts per gallon.

Right now I'm using liquid ferts and root tabs in the tank.

 

[Bobtastic]

Well... it depend on which plant you are wanting to keep. There are lots of plants that have quite low light demands that will happily grow with your lights. If you are wanting to go for more specialised plants you may need to upgrade to T5 or add more T8 tubes.

I believe their is someone on here that is growing these types of plants with only T8s atm, but I'm not sure how many he is using (if you know what I mean). My Vallisneria and Java fern are happily growing under T8.