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August 15th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| Lighting for low-medium light plants
Hi all! The light fixture on my new 40 gallon tank came with one 20 watt hagen aqua-glo light bulb in it. It looks like the fixture can only hold 24" bulbs. I dont think this is enough light for a 40 gallon planted tank. The plant packages I have ordered contain one crypt usteriana (about 10 inches), a few crypt walkerii, a few crypt becketii, some dwarf sag, red root floaters, stargrass,Bolbitis Heudelotti, NL Java Fern, Blyxa Aubertii, Peacock Moss, Blyxa Japonica. So i'm wondering what I need to keep these plants looking amazing. Is there a bulb 24 inches long that has enough wattage to do this for me?  
Last edited by orisue; August 15th, 2010 at 03:03 AM.
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August 15th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| 24 inch bulbs come with a standard wattage. You might be able to add a double bulb fisture to get more wattage. If I've got my thinking cap on straight every thing you have ordered except the 2 Blyxa are pretty low light and will be ok. The two Blyxa species need high lights and can be sensitive to Flourish Excel.
Carol | |
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August 15th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| bolbitis? Never heard of it... anywho, as carol said, the blyxa species are high-light...
what about some amazon swords? I love mine! | |
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August 15th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by yallyall1  bolbitis? Never heard of it... anywho, as carol said, the blyxa species are high-light...
what about some amazon swords? I love mine! | Bolbitis heudelotti  http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_viewer.php?id=40
I don't think there's enough light for swords either.
Carol | |
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August 15th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| sorry if I didn't make it clear... i meant with the 2 extra 24'' lights that you suggested... That makes 60W or approx. 1.5WPG, which is what i'm using in my tank. | |
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August 15th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| Well I paid a good amount for the two packages so I want my plants to look great! This may be overkill but this is the fixture i'm thinking of ordering http://cgi.ebay.com/30-Aquarium-Ligh...efaultDomain_0. Yeah... overkill for sure hehe. That would give me about three watts per gallon. That would be more than enough right? The reason I'm thinking of buying a whole new fixture is because the plants will be here in a couple of days so I don't have much time to waste.  | |
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August 15th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| That light is for marine, so you'll need to replace the bulbs. Plants do best with lights in the 6500-10000K range.
Also, with 3WPG, you'll need to add CO2 and plant ferts. | 
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August 15th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| Oh no if it's not one thing it's another. How much would a good but cheap C02 thingy run me? | |
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August 15th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| That depends on how much you want to spend. A couple 2-liter bottles, sugar, yeast and some airline tubing for a few bucks or a CO2 container with an injection setup for a few hundred. Because I spent $300 on my lighting when I had a budget of $250, I had to go the DIY CO2 with the 2-liter bottles. 6 bottles on a 90G tank does work....you just have to keep on top of it to maintain the level of CO2.
If you increase the lighting without adding CO2 and ferts, odds are you will end up with an algae cesspool like I did! When you increase the lighting, you must also increase (or begin adding) CO2 and plant ferts to keep the plant system in balance. | |
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August 16th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by catsma_97504 That depends on how much you want to spend. A couple 2-liter bottles, sugar, yeast and some airline tubing for a few bucks or a CO2 container with an injection setup for a few hundred. Because I spent $300 on my lighting when I had a budget of $250, I had to go the DIY CO2 with the 2-liter bottles. 6 bottles on a 90G tank does work....you just have to keep on top of it to maintain the level of CO2.
If you increase the lighting without adding CO2 and ferts, odds are you will end up with an algae cesspool like I did! When you increase the lighting, you must also increase (or begin adding) CO2 and plant ferts to keep the plant system in balance. | Thanks catsma, I'm going to go with the DIY CO2. As far as ferts go what would you recommend? | |
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August 16th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| You have a variety of options. The one I'm using is the Flourish line. Flourish Comprehensive is a balanced aquatic plant food. And, this line also includes Flourish Trace, as well as Potassium, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Iron, etc. I'd start with the Comprehensive and only add the others if your plants do not thrive.
Another option is to use dry chemicals. I've thought about them, but haven't ventured down that road. There are others on this forum who are, so maybe one of them will respond. | |
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