Maximum Light From Tubes

[discus dreamer]

Hi
this is probably a dumb question but
I have two 30w strip lights in the hood of my tank and would like to get better plant growth. One of these strip lights is a pink colour, if I changed that one for a white light would I have more light overall? The names on the strips are tripower and superlight. I have had them running for about 8 months so perhaps I should be thinking of replacing them both anyway?
I would really like to get some of the carpeting type plants to grow in my tank but they just die off. The tank is 220L (Aqua One) and quite deep
thanks
DD

 

[Castellop123]

You usually need strong lighting for many of the carpeting-plant species... Hav you heard of WATTS PER GALLON (WPG)
If not, then you will have to have 4 - 5 WPG ( that means you would need 5 - 6 fourty watt tubes for your tank )...

You can ofcourse, buy reflectors for your light tubes which would double the light intensity of that particular tube... meaning that you would only need approx. 2 - 4 fourty watt tubes... T5 tubes give out a higher light intensity, but they are more expensive... Get light tubes which are especially designed to improve the growth of your plants...

Plus, many carpeting plants need a lot of CO2 and a nutrient-rich substrate ( including powerful lighting )

 

[mikey12421]

You usually need strong lighting for many of the carpeting-plant species... Hav you heard of WATTS PER GALLON (WPG)
If not, then you will have to have 4 - 5 WPG ( that means you would need 5 - 6 fourty watt tubes for your tank )...

You can ofcourse, buy reflectors for your light tubes which would double the light intensity of that particular tube... meaning that you would only need approx. 2 - 4 fourty watt tubes... T5 tubes give out a higher light intensity, but they are more expensive... Get light tubes which are especially designed to improve the growth of your plants...

Plus, many carpeting plants need a lot of CO2 and a nutrient-rich substrate ( including powerful lighting )

You probably are going to need to replace them soon. I'd recommend replacing one now, and the other in a few months. Light output degrades steadily over time - having the lights be in different part of their lifecycle will ensure that your tank lighting doesn't drop way down just before you need to replace your lights.

As far as the color of the lights: Keep in mind humans are fairly limited in what we can see on the light spectrum. Just because a light looks pink or white to you isn't really going to tell you much about the light's plant-growing capabilities. What you are more interested in is the "color temperature" of the light, measured in Kelvins. This will tell you what spectrum the light emits. My personal suggestion (and there may be more experienced planted tank hobbyists out there who know better) would be to get a light between 5500 and 6700K (daylight or full spectrum). These should give you the spectral output you need to grow healthy plants. As far as light intensity, what is quoted above is more or less accurate. You might look into Compact Flourescent Bulbs - hight output in a small package.

Mike

 

[discus dreamer]

thanks Mike and Corin
will try changing a strip at a time and seek out a daylight or full spectrum one.
yes i do have C02 injection but for lights it is only about 1 watt per gallon (I think) it's a 220L tank.
I have looked into getting different lights but can't see a way of accomodating them with the type of hood the tank has.
I am planning on getting another tank at some point to replace a small one and want to make sure that one has adequate lighting so I can really go for that great landscape looking planting but it is hard to find anything that really takes plants into account.
DD

 

[ICEEGRL]

I was under the impression that the lights you have are good for growing plants (just not strong enough for your tank) The info on the pink one (what I could find) implies it good for plant growth. I have never used them though so I don't know for sure.