Trio123

I have a 65 gallon tall tank (2 feet tall). I really know very little about aquarium plants other than you need more light for moderate to high light plants and at higher levels you need a C02 injector. I dont want to get into a C02 injector. But I want enough light to support moderate plants and to make my tank a little brighter. Right now I have half a watt per gallon (not much, right?). I have java moss which isn't appearing to grow or die and this long thin grass looking stuff a girl recommended for low light (wasnt labeled at the store) that is growing a little. I dont know anything about bulbs other than where to find a wattage per gallon calculator online. I have a valence to put lighting on but there are so many choices I am overwhelmed. What type of lighting should I be looking for? I plan on putting a moon light on there too... any options that come with that? You can just point me to a site and I will be happy . Thank you!

Iluvatar

Fish.com is good

not trying to spam or advertise

Isabella

Hi Trio I'd suggest for you to read this article - General Guide to Low-Light Planted Tanks - and see if it helps you in any way.

Trio123

Thank you! Very informative, looks like you put a good amount of effort into writing that article. A couple questions if you dont mind. Is a moon light a blue spectrum light... will it increase algae? I use it for several hours every night. Second question, is it reasonable to think that I could supplement with sun light? I have two crypt plants in the front of the tank and they are definately growing (slowly though, which is fine with me). I leave the window open every day and wipe the algae off the glass pretty regularly (my bamboo shrimp loves glass cleaning time ), the sun does not beam in on the tank but it gives it a little more light without cooking my poor fishes. Last one I swear, if the plants are growing should I still fertilize with the tablets you mentioned or is there a danger, Im just afraid of giving my plants fertilizer burn because they cant process it with the little light thier getting. Thank you for your advise. Again, wonderful article!

Isabella

Well, I've never done any research on the effects of moonlight on aglae in a home aquarium, but in my personal experience I didn't see any increased algal growth with than without lunar lights. In fact, I've read lunar lighting promotes natural behaviors among fish, especially when it comes to spawning. Also, in nature it's rarely ever "pitch" black in waters around the wolrd as the moon provides some lighting at night too (unless, of course the sky is clouded). I think lunar lighting (when it's very faint and subdued, as real lunar light looks) helps simulate natural habitat for fish.

As for using natural sunlight (as opposed to artificial lighting) to grow your plants, there are people who'd be against it as well as people who'd be for it. If you decide to use natural sunlight, you have to be very specific about planning your tank and you've to make sure it will receive enough sunlight to make the plants grow. After all, plants in nature grow thanks to natural sunlight. BUT ... a home fish tank is not a natural habitat either ... so that's why you need to be careful in deciding whether to use natural sunlight as it can as well end in disastrous algal overgrowth. I think if you're seriously contemplating using natural sunlight, you youd read "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" by Diana Walstad. A lot of people have successful tanks using her methods.

As for fertilizing plants ... it really depends on what kinds of plants you'll have, how many of them, and whether you'll use CO2.

Butterfly

In a closed system like an aquarium direct sunlight or very bright indirect sunlight can cause your tank to overheat. Even though the filters are moving the water and the heater turns off when it reaches a pre-programed temp the water will continue to heat from the sun. In my experience bright sunlight encourages algae to grow (just like it does in the lake).
Carol

Trio123

Thank you for all your feed back. I have Crypt Wendtii, Hornwort, Java Fern, and Java Moss. I plan to get an midground sized Anubias species and spread out the hornwort more. The Crypts are the only ones I am thinking about fertilizing. I pull a wilted leaf off of them like once every week or two but they seem to be growing well other than that. The sunlight is not direct by any means... I am on the third floor of an apartment with a porch. The porch door shades is what I open. It just lets in more light, not direct light... my view out the porch is the next apartment building on the right and a large Oak tree on the left, to give you a more accurate perspective of what I am doing. The temp. doesn not change during the day (I got one of those temperture loggers that records the top and low temps during the day). The highest it gets is 80 and the low has been 77.

The crypts are up front on either side of the tank. I really just wanted to attach a pretty pics

Attached Images

	Trio and Fish 017.jpg (56.4 KB, 9 views)
	Trio and Fish 031.jpg (69.2 KB, 4 views)

Isabella

Your tank really does look pretty - good job . Thanks for the pictures - we all love pictures here, lol .

Your plants are mostly low-light plants. Hornwort, Java Moss, Java Fern, and Anubias won't need any special fertilization at all in my opinion - being low-light plants, they do not metabolize fast, meaning they don't use up nutrients fast. So if you'll be adding more nutrients than they can consume in a certain period of time, you'll have a lot of extra nutrients available for algae to thrive on. If you'll have low-light, there low-light plants should do OK feeding on fish wastes alone (fish wastes are excellent natural fetilizers by the way). However, if you want to try, you can add some liquid fertilizer(s) every once in a while and see if the plants will do better with or without it. In my personal experience, frequently adding fertilizers to a low-light tank with mostly low-light plants only caused more algae for me. Lastly, Java Moss, Java Fern, and Anubias - all grow attached to tank decor (ex. driftwood) so obviously no substrate fertilization is necessary for these 3 plants. Hornwort can be left floating or gently tucked into the substrate but it doesn't have an extensive root system like true rooting plants do (ex. like Crypts). Crypts can sometimes do well in lower lighting conditions, but I personally would say they require higher lighting than Hornwort, Java Moss, Java Fern, and Anubias. Maybe you could add a plant tab, every once in a while, buried around the roots of the Crypts and see how that would work out for these plants.

Good luck .

Trio123

Ok I think I will do that and see what happens. I guess adding one tab to see what happens wont completely kill the plant, Im paranoid Thank you!