Lighting..
- Thread starter Wolf
- Start date
Colin_BC
Fishaholic
DISCLAIMER: I'm not trying to scare you off growing plants in your aquarium. I greatly encourage it, but most of us have learned the hard way that, much like fish, plants have needs you have to meet as well. This usually (unfortunately) is much more than what most people start out with.
In regards to the plant itself, Dracaena Sanderiana, I had crap luck with this one when I was running 2 WPG w/ 2x powerglo's and 1 aquaglo (24", 20W). It was looking horrible within about 6 weeks. All the blades were 'melting' off. I don't believe it's a true submersable aquarium plant. You may have better luck than me, who knows?
I started using both of those bulbs. They aren't bad, but what you normally aren't told by most big LFS is that to really grow plants in your aquarium, you need a minimum of 2 watts per gallon (some plants need up to 4 WPG), decent substrate, and supplemental feeding/fertilizing, and possibly CO2. The 2 watts per gallon will equal a lot of bulbs. I don't know the dimensions of your tank or what size light, but I'll guess your looking at a 30" Power Glo, 36" max. The 30" is 25W, the 36" is 30W. Either way you at least 3 bulbs. If you can do this I'd suggest sticking with powerglo's.
What sort of substrate do you use? How many bulbs can you fit? I think there are 3-bulb canopies for tanks 36"+ in length. They're also the DIY method....
Any questions, ask. There's many people here willing to help out.
Colin
In regards to the plant itself, Dracaena Sanderiana, I had crap luck with this one when I was running 2 WPG w/ 2x powerglo's and 1 aquaglo (24", 20W). It was looking horrible within about 6 weeks. All the blades were 'melting' off. I don't believe it's a true submersable aquarium plant. You may have better luck than me, who knows?
I started using both of those bulbs. They aren't bad, but what you normally aren't told by most big LFS is that to really grow plants in your aquarium, you need a minimum of 2 watts per gallon (some plants need up to 4 WPG), decent substrate, and supplemental feeding/fertilizing, and possibly CO2. The 2 watts per gallon will equal a lot of bulbs. I don't know the dimensions of your tank or what size light, but I'll guess your looking at a 30" Power Glo, 36" max. The 30" is 25W, the 36" is 30W. Either way you at least 3 bulbs. If you can do this I'd suggest sticking with powerglo's.
What sort of substrate do you use? How many bulbs can you fit? I think there are 3-bulb canopies for tanks 36"+ in length. They're also the DIY method....
Any questions, ask. There's many people here willing to help out.
Colin
Bol
Fish Addict
Well, the info in the link that Colin provided states that Dracaena Sanderiana is not a true aquatic plant. Assuming that's true, it just won't thrive in your tank, no matter what lights you have.
About the bulbs, I originally started with a Hagen AquaGlo bulb on one of my tanks. While it was a decent bulb, and growth seemed ok, personally I didn't like the yellow tinge it produced, and found that the tank looked better, and the plants grew better, with "GE Aqua Rays (Full Spectrum)" bulbs.
Those can be tricky to find in some places. They're GE bulbs that are listed as '9325 Kelvin'. The GE description numbers are F(wattage)T(diameter in eights of an inch)/AR/FS -- e.g. F20T12/AR/FS or F30T8/AR/FS. These also happen to be the bulbs that ship with All-Glass Aquarium brand light strips.
Also, ...
I have to disagree with this statement, for the most part. If it said "to really grow most of the available kinds of aquatic plants ..." then I'd almost agree.
However, it is quite possible to have a healthy, lush, thriving planted tank with lower light levels, regular gravel or sand, no CO2 injection, and little to no fertilizing -- provided you choose only the correct low-light plants. That means your plant choice will be fairly limited, of course, and growth may be slower than otherwise, but there is still a wide enough variety of plants that meet those needs to make a tank look very nice. Many, many people have very good looking, successful "low-tech" planted tanks.
About the bulbs, I originally started with a Hagen AquaGlo bulb on one of my tanks. While it was a decent bulb, and growth seemed ok, personally I didn't like the yellow tinge it produced, and found that the tank looked better, and the plants grew better, with "GE Aqua Rays (Full Spectrum)" bulbs.
Those can be tricky to find in some places. They're GE bulbs that are listed as '9325 Kelvin'. The GE description numbers are F(wattage)T(diameter in eights of an inch)/AR/FS -- e.g. F20T12/AR/FS or F30T8/AR/FS. These also happen to be the bulbs that ship with All-Glass Aquarium brand light strips.
Also, ...
I have to disagree with this statement, for the most part. If it said "to really grow most of the available kinds of aquatic plants ..." then I'd almost agree.
However, it is quite possible to have a healthy, lush, thriving planted tank with lower light levels, regular gravel or sand, no CO2 injection, and little to no fertilizing -- provided you choose only the correct low-light plants. That means your plant choice will be fairly limited, of course, and growth may be slower than otherwise, but there is still a wide enough variety of plants that meet those needs to make a tank look very nice. Many, many people have very good looking, successful "low-tech" planted tanks.
endparenthesis
Fish Herder
I have a little 2.5 gallon "rock garden" with a java fern, a crypt wendtii, and an anubias nana that's doing just fine with a 13 watt 6500K compact fluorescent bulb in a desk lamp hanging over it. 
When I saw the title to this thread I thought it said lightning. I'm thinkin to myself why would anyone want lightning in their tank it would kill the fish or something equially nasty. Then I realized I need more sleep cuz it actually said lighting 
Ok so pretty much what this all boils down to is what plants you have. A lot of my plants are doing well in under 2 watts per gallon then there are those that need a bit more (called a window I'm cheep). If you decided that you need more light, more what ever do it in small amounts. Change one thing at a time or you'll find yourself in a huge mess later on. (been there done that and ARRRRRRRRRRRRRG!)
Rose
Ok so pretty much what this all boils down to is what plants you have. A lot of my plants are doing well in under 2 watts per gallon then there are those that need a bit more (called a window I'm cheep). If you decided that you need more light, more what ever do it in small amounts. Change one thing at a time or you'll find yourself in a huge mess later on. (been there done that and ARRRRRRRRRRRRRG!)
Rose
konrad05
Fish Addict
If I could recommend one thing, it would be to not buy the aquaglo. Really, it's just a waste of bulb space. If you like the blue-purple tint, then you're best choice is to get the power glo, they're much brighter and usefull. Aquaglo's are generally just for making fish look nice, not for plants. If you really want to add brightness and plant growth, I'd suggest getting the Life-glo.
Colin_BC
Fishaholic
Me:
Sorry for any confusion. I was referring to how I got started with plants as well as many others I know. No knowledge, just went to the store and thought 'those are nice' and grabbed a big variety of plants for the aquarium to replace those plastic plants. I look it all up afterwards and discover most all the plants the big LFS' sell are high light and med-high difficulty. I suppose all the hallide lights overtop at the LFS should have told me something, but being new and knowing nothing of aquarium plants, I figured light is light, there's water, what more could I need? Most of mine except the none-aquatics (learned after, again...) survived, but if they grew you couldn't really tell.
Amazingly, out of the 4 LFS' I visit, only 1 regularly carries a few low-light plants. There's cabomba everywhere though....
I'd still be interested to know how many bulbs your canopy can hold, and what size.
Colin
Bol:
Sorry. I reread my post and I did word it wrong. Thanks for pointing that out Bol, you said what I meant to say.
Sorry for any confusion. I was referring to how I got started with plants as well as many others I know. No knowledge, just went to the store and thought 'those are nice' and grabbed a big variety of plants for the aquarium to replace those plastic plants. I look it all up afterwards and discover most all the plants the big LFS' sell are high light and med-high difficulty. I suppose all the hallide lights overtop at the LFS should have told me something, but being new and knowing nothing of aquarium plants, I figured light is light, there's water, what more could I need? Most of mine except the none-aquatics (learned after, again...) survived, but if they grew you couldn't really tell.
Amazingly, out of the 4 LFS' I visit, only 1 regularly carries a few low-light plants. There's cabomba everywhere though....
I'd still be interested to know how many bulbs your canopy can hold, and what size.
Colin
Colin_BC
Fishaholic
I'm thinking your tank is the same length as mine. I started with a single 24" powerglo, then bought this canopy that holds 2x 24" fluoro's and used an aquaglo and a powerglo. I then discovered I had exactly enough room to have both canopies on top for 3x 24" fluoro's. (2x powerglo, 1x aquaglo). Only down side was to do maintenance Ihad to tank one of the lights off to get in. For feeding thiugh I could drop the food down the small opening in the back for the heater and filter.
I'm not sure your dimensions, but you could try uprgading to something like that. Compact fluoroscents would also do the trick. I've read many posts with people saying an uncovered lamp with a compact power fluoro right beside your tank is a very easy way to give you more light without buying new fixtures.
What sort of substrate are you using? Have a look around your LFS at any plants that catch your eye and bring the names here or look them up at Birstall.com or Tropica.com.. You can find out more about the plants before buying them. And just for motivation, have a look here...
Colin
I'm not sure your dimensions, but you could try uprgading to something like that. Compact fluoroscents would also do the trick. I've read many posts with people saying an uncovered lamp with a compact power fluoro right beside your tank is a very easy way to give you more light without buying new fixtures.
What sort of substrate are you using? Have a look around your LFS at any plants that catch your eye and bring the names here or look them up at Birstall.com or Tropica.com.. You can find out more about the plants before buying them. And just for motivation, have a look here...
Colin
Similar threads
Most reactions
-
545 -
298 -
269 -
247 -
220 -
195 -
189 -
152 -
151 -
137 -
107 -
103 -
98 -
82 -
76