UV light?

[On_a_dishy]

34L Fluval and trying not to kill plants quite so frequently…
Gravel substrate but I’m wishing I had put in a soil base.
My tank is in a corner of a room with a smallish window about 4 metres away. It doesn’t get much light.
What are people’s thoughts on buying a UV light?

 

[Essjay]

UV lights in tanks are usually enclosed in a casing and are used to hopefully kill pathogens and floating algae in the water. A UV light to shine into the tank is not a good idea, either for fish or human eyes looking into the tank.

UV will not grow plants, they need light with a spectrum around 6500 K. UV has a K rating way higher than this. Plants need red and blue light with some green in the mix which UV does not have.
Does the tank have a light above it? Does it have a K number written on it?
If it doesn't have a light already, we can suggest lights you could use.

 

[On_a_dishy]

No K number that I can see, but the tank does have a strip of lights in the lid (photos attached). I’ve just planted it - “soil” substrate and all (very proud) - so if there are lights out there to help the plants, I’d be interested

 

[Byron]

Plants require sufficient intensity light of the correct spectrum (as Essjay noted), and they need sufficient nutrients in balance. I have no idea what the numbers on the LED in the photo refer to, is there a website of the manufacturer?

Soil in and of itself is not a benefit. Plants grow very well in inert sand or fine gravel (the fish species intended should determine if sand is needed, or gravel will work depending). We can always use substrate tabs for large rooted plants, or liquid comprehensive supplements. "Soil" carries serious issues so be careful if you decide to go down that road.

 

[Essjay]

Was the light one that came with the tank? If it did, can you tells us the brand (I think you said Fluval) and the model, please. We can then look on the tank manufacturer's website to see if they give any details.

 

[seangee]

The Flex light is actually quite decent for low light low tech plants. In this tank I have the light set on white only (no RGB) and running at about 50% brightness. Mine's a 54l but I believe the light is identical. I did recently post that I had to replace the light strip on mine because a lot of the LEDs had burnt out or were flickering, but my tank is 5 years old and I bought it used. Replacements readily available on Amazon if needed.