Plant Suggestions For 44 Us Gal Tall Low Light Tank

[jonchall]

We recently went to the pet store to pick up some fish food, and due to a severe case of MTS, now have an additional 44 US gallon tall tank in a fishless cycle. I have never tried my hand at live plants in an aquarium, but my wife would like to have some in this one. I have been reading posts on here for about an hour and a half and finally just figured it would be easier to ask the experts directly.

What we have now:
44 US gallons (20" wide X 18" deep X 28" tall) or roughly 167 litres (50cm wide X 45cm deep X 70cm tall)
AquaClear 70 HoB Filter (300 GPH)
14" (35cm) bubble wall on one side of the tank (don't know if this would affect plants or not)
2.5" (6.5cm) of small gravel substrate
currently fishless cycling and unsure of fish stocking at this time
and...my biggest concern, the lighting: 1 Eclipse "Natural Daylight" F15T8 18" (45cm)

What we would like:
Any suggestions for plants that would do well in this environment without having to upgrade lighting. I don't mind spending a bit for a better tube if that is an option, but doubt my wife would be very keen on dropping another $150-$200 on a new lighting system. Will anything do well with this small amount of light, with this type of substrate, in this tall of a tank? By stating "do well," I am not expecting super fast growth, just plants would be healthy--preferably one or two that would grow tall.

Any suggestions are more than welcome--including options for an inexpensive lighting upgrade if necessary.

Thank you in advance,

Jon

 

[Jallen]

Whats the total wattage of the lighting?

The general rule is that if you have under 2 watts per gallon of water you don't need CO2 injection. If it's under 0.6 watts per gallon I would personally say that it's not going to be sufficient for any real long term plant growth.

You won't get fast growth with low lighting, but with high lighting and CO2 you will. The downside is increased electricity usage and needing to buy a CO2 system or make your own (which requires changing every 2 weeks or so). The DIY CO2 which I just mentioned would probably not be sufficient in the normal quantities for a tank your size since it's usually used for tanks sub-30 gallon. Pressurised CO2 would be more suited to a tank that size but is expensive...

But yeah, the most important piece of information is how many watts your lighting is. It usually says on the tube.

Edit:
Wait, 18" T8 in a 44 gallon?...
I have a 24" T8 in my 25 gallon and THAT is considered low lighting...

You definitely need new lighting. Not just a new tube either because all T8 18" tubes are the same wattage. You can determine the wattage of a tube just by knowing the diameter (T8 = 8/8ths of an inch, 1 inch diameter) and the length.

You have 15W and you have a 44 gallon tank, giving you 0.34 watts per gallon.
I'm not really an expert on which lighting system to get or where to get it, but I would definitely say that you do need a new light system...

 

[jonchall]

Well, I actually expected this response. I was, however, hoping to find something that would do well in the amount of light we had. Perhaps I need to explore alternative lighting methods, or just stick with plastics. Thank you for the reply Jallen--much appreciated.

 

[Jallen]

No problem

T6 tubes fit T8 lighting systems but are more efficient and thinner. They produce 40% more light which would mean you could get 21 watts overall. That's 0.47 watts per gallon.

A T6 tube like the one you could use (dunno how well priced this is):
http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...rd2co8c49270uf7

You would also need some seal brushing things which make it water tight, since the tube is a different diameter to the T8's
http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...products_id=208

I think that 0.47 watts per gallon my be sufficient for Java ferns or something known to grow in very low light. That's certainly your best bet unless you want to spend a pretty big amount.

Can someone else give an opinion on whether some plants will grow in 0.47 wpg?
Thanks.

Good luck and stuff.

 

[jonchall]

Thanks for the insight and the links. I've been looking around for an inexpensive upgrade--cheapest I've found so far is around $60. I think, if I do decide to go with real plants, that I will go ahead and up my wattage enough to decenlty support some low light plants, but not enough to warrant the addition of CO2. Thanks again, Jallen.