What plants for my lighting?

[JuiceBox52]

I have a 42 gallon tank.
The lighting is Aqueon floramax 32w 120v T8 48"

Dont know too much about lighting... is this good for most plants? I'm planning not to have co2

Any ideas for plant stocking? Thanks everyone!

 

[Colin_T]

Get globes with a 6500K (K is for Kelvin) rating.

Have the lights above the tank and put your hand just under the surface of the water. If there is a good shadow of your hand on the bottom of the tank, there is good light. If there is no shadow, it is low light.

 

[Byron]

I agree on the 6500K tubes. But not all T8 6500K is the same. I have tried most of these as I still have T8 fluorescent lighting and have had it for over 25 years.

Given the tank dimensions and you have a single T8 tube at 48-inches, your best light bar none is the Life-Glo. There is no other single tube better than this, not here anyway. You will find this significantly brighter than the Aqueon FloraMax you now have. But the Aqueon "full spectrum" is no where near as good as the Life-Glo, so look for that. It is available in many fish stores in our areas, or online. A tad more expensive, yes, but absolutely worth it. On all of my single tube T8 tanks, I only use Life-Glo. On my dual tube tanks I use one Life Glo and one with a warmer hue (the ZooMed Tropic Sun 5500K), but when dealing wiith single tubes nothing surpasses the Life-Glo.

Now, having said that...the Philips Daylight Deluxe 6500K in the 48-inch length is a very good tube. I used this, along with one Philips 5000K over my larger tanks that had two 4-foot T8 tubes, and for over a decade. But as you only have one tube, the Life-Glo will without question provide stronger light.

 

[utahfish]

Depends on the fixture. T8 ,T5, CFL, LED,.
Whatever you use you want it in between 400 700 nanometers which is mostly red and blues. - 6500k bulbs are considered full spectrum which claim to have all colors. If one is going the LED route then one wants a set up with more red and blue diodes than white ones mixed in with a few green as well. Basic rules for intensity though it seems the info is conflicting and ever changing is 20-30 lumens/ liter of water for low light plants. 30-40 for medium and 50 or over for highlight red plants. Plants that can do well in 20-30lumens/liter are ferns, anubius, crypts, and swords, being the most common readily available and easiest to grow. Some hygrophila also do well with just low light. If one doesnt have high light output stay away from red plants and carpeting substrate plants. Floating plants also do well in low light because they are closer to the light source. Hope this helps a bit. The light discussion is an ever evolving one that changes from day to day it seems but those are some of the basics.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I dont think I can buy a new bulb now. Got any suggestions on the one i already have?

 

[Byron]

I dont think I can buy a new bulb now. Got any suggestions on the one i already have?

Floramax will not provide adequate light for plants. Even if you increased the tubes it would still be deficient light. Having said that, moss and ferns might manage. Believe me, I have tried most of these tubes, the ZooMed line, the Glo line, the Aqueon line, and a few others.

If you replaced the present tubes with Life-Glo it might be sufficient for a few low-light plants, and probably for floating, but lower plants will need more intense lighting which here means more or larger tubes and the proper spectrum.

Replacing the present light with longer tube(s) will allow for lower plant options, to a point depending upon the additional intensity. Replacing tyhe existing tubes with Life-Glo will allow floating plants to thrive, and in my 29g tank which has a single tube I have wood and river rock on the sand for decor, with floating plants.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I agree on the 6500K tubes. But not all T8 6500K is the same. I have tried most of these as I still have T8 fluorescent lighting and have had it for over 25 years.

Given the tank dimensions and you have a single T8 tube at 48-inches, your best light bar none is the Life-Glo. There is no other single tube better than this, not here anyway. You will find this significantly brighter than the Aqueon FloraMax you now have. But the Aqueon "full spectrum" is no where near as good as the Life-Glo, so look for that. It is available in many fish stores in our areas, or online. A tad more expensive, yes, but absolutely worth it. On all of my single tube T8 tanks, I only use Life-Glo. On my dual tube tanks I use one Life Glo and one with a warmer hue (the ZooMed Tropic Sun 5500K), but when dealing wiith single tubes nothing surpasses the Life-Glo.

Now, having said that...the Philips Daylight Deluxe 6500K in the 48-inch length is a very good tube. I used this, along with one Philips 5000K over my larger tanks that had two 4-foot T8 tubes, and for over a decade. But as you only have one tube, the Life-Glo will without question provide stronger light.

Could you provide plant suggestions for if I get the life glo?

 

[Byron]

Could you provide plant suggestions for if I get the life glo?

Any floating plant will thrive. Water Sprite, Frogbit, Water Lettuce, Salvinia, etc.

Lower plants will be challenged given the very low intensity. You could try chain swords; I find these seem to manage almost in any tank, though better in some than others due to the light. Anubias, Java Fern, Java Moss. Maybe crypts, though that might be pushing things. Fast growing plants tend not to work because being fast growing they need brighter light than slow-growers. The chain sword might manage though.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Any floating plant will thrive. Water Sprite, Frogbit, Water Lettuce, Salvinia, etc.

Lower plants will be challenged given the very low intensity. You could try chain swords; I find these seem to manage almost in any tank, though better in some than others due to the light. Anubias, Java Fern, Java Moss. Maybe crypts, though that might be pushing things. Fast growing plants tend not to work because being fast growing they need brighter light than slow-growers. The chain sword might manage though.

Would anarchis and hornwort be ok as well? Also is the flora glo by the same brand any good?

 

[Byron]

Would anarchis and hornwort be ok as well? Also is the flora glo by the same brand any good?

If those plants are left floating, they should be OK, but not planted.

No, Flora-Glo is not good. Nor is Aqua-Glo. And the Power-Glo has issues. I have tried all of this line.

The Life-Glo has double the intensity of the Aqua-Glo and Flora-Glo, in the same tube length/wattage. That is a considerable difference. Then there is the spectrum; Life-Glo has the high red, blue and green; the others mentioned do not have the green. Scientific controlled studies determined that the red/blue/green mix did result in the best response from aquarium plants. Which is not really surprising, when one considers that the Life-Glo is the closest of all of these to the sun at mid day, and that is what plants have evolved under.

Green was the surprise, because we know red and blue drive photosynthesis...so why would plants grow even better with high green added? Diana Walstad surmised that the additional intensity was the key; plants reflect green light which is why they appear green, and to do this they need strong green light. Red leaf plants are reflecting more red light to appear red, and since red is also essential for photosynthesis, red leaf plants tend not to do well i n low light, or light lacking red like so much of the LED does.

 

[JuiceBox52]

If those plants are left floating, they should be OK, but not planted.

No, Flora-Glo is not good. Nor is Aqua-Glo. And the Power-Glo has issues. I have tried all of this line.

The Life-Glo has double the intensity of the Aqua-Glo and Flora-Glo, in the same tube length/wattage. That is a considerable difference. Then there is the spectrum; Life-Glo has the high red, blue and green; the others mentioned do not have the green. Scientific controlled studies determined that the red/blue/green mix did result in the best response from aquarium plants. Which is not really surprising, when one considers that the Life-Glo is the closest of all of these to the sun at mid day, and that is what plants have evolved under.

Green was the surprise, because we know red and blue drive photosynthesis...so why would plants grow even better with high green added? Diana Walstad surmised that the additional intensity was the key; plants reflect green light which is why they appear green, and to do this they need strong green light. Red leaf plants are reflecting more red light to appear red, and since red is also essential for photosynthesis, red leaf plants tend not to do well i n low light, or light lacking red like so much of the LED does.

Thanks

 

[JuiceBox52]

Any floating plant will thrive. Water Sprite, Frogbit, Water Lettuce, Salvinia, etc.

Lower plants will be challenged given the very low intensity. You could try chain swords; I find these seem to manage almost in any tank, though better in some than others due to the light. Anubias, Java Fern, Java Moss. Maybe crypts, though that might be pushing things. Fast growing plants tend not to work because being fast growing they need brighter light than slow-growers. The chain sword might manage though.

So just to clarify even with the more expensive bulb I still should only get low light plants?

 

[Fishmanic]

In my 24 inch deep 35 gallon hex tank , i grow anubias Nan and water wisteria . I have one phillips 6500 k t8 tube.

 

[Byron]

In my 24 inch deep 35 gallon hex tank , i grow anubias Nan and water wisteria . I have one phillips 6500 k t8 tube.

The Anubias is understandable, but the Wisteria if this is Hygrophila difformis is unexpected if it is planted in the substrate; floating would be a different matter.

The Philips and Sylvannia T8 6500K tubes in 48-inch length are good tubes, I used these over my 4 and 5-foot length tanks (two tubes each) for 20+ years. But when I tried a 24-inch over a 29g, over a period of roughly three months the plants rooted in the substrate slowly died off, and the floating plants were not doing very well. Nothing else had changed. I had used the tube as a test, so after four months I replaced it with a Life-Glo, and the plants bounced back after a few weeks, those that had not completely died.

I don't have testing equipment for light penetration like some members here have, so I have no technical data, just an observation with this test case.