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what type of lighting do you use for your planted tanks?

Discussion in 'Aquatic Plants & Planted Tanks' started by Anonymous, Aug 9, 2008.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    Go to wal-mart and get a shop light for like 18 bucks. They hold 2 40w bulbs which will be enough to grow low light plants in a 55. This is what I use and have no trouble growing any of the low light plants. What plants are in the tank now?
     
    Anonymous, Jan 3, 2009
    #21
  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    lol theres a difference between a 55 and a 90 though
     
    Anonymous, Jan 3, 2009
    #22
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    Oh crap I could have sworn she said 55:) OOOPS
     
    Anonymous, Jan 3, 2009
    #23
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    hahaha, I reckon Ill let you slide, back on topic, I have a 48" odyssea t5 thats 110 watts, it does the trick its cheap and readily available on ebay. Mine has a slight "tick" in it (if I move it one light goes out) but I think that thats because I slammed it into my tank, turning around, when I first got it. But it otherwise runs cool and does the trick, its on my 55 gallon though, not sure if it would be enough watts (bright) for me on a 90.
     
    Anonymous, Jan 3, 2009
    #24
  5. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    Hmm...thanks nelson. Mines 48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 25 3/8; I'm kinda leaning towards 1)130W Coralife Freshwater Aqualight $109.99...only because I have about EIGHT 6,700K bulbs for it (another story). Moreso looking for confirmation that this is true (what LFS said about lowering wattage and that low-med light plants will grow under that wattage).
    Know anything on that?
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jan 3, 2009
    #25
  6. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    :) It's a 90 gallon...definitely a bit different than a 55 when it comes to lighting because when I upgraded I tried my 55 light on it...didn't quite do the job as far as lighting goes. I did think about the shop light at Wal-mart, but after considering it I felt it would be the same as when I tried the 55 light on it (inadequate).
    Thanks for trying though ;)
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jan 3, 2009
    #26
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    As long as theres enough power for the light to penetrate to the lower levels of the tank, I think it should be fine. I mean I dont think your going to be able to grow just any plant you want, but you should be able to find some to your likings that will take to your light setting.
     
    Anonymous, Jan 3, 2009
    #27
  8. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    Here's a wonder that's been floating around in my mind...what if I were to manage to repair my current (don't ask) 260watt Coralife freshwater fixture and instead of running all FOUR 65watt 6700K bulbs I run the following:
    Two 65watt 6700k bulbs and Two say 65watt actinics?
    I thought I remembered reading somewhere that If it's planted/freshwater and you use actinics that you don't count them for your wpg. IF that's true then I'd be at the 130wpg and the actinics would help brighten the tank.
    Opinions and thoughts on that?
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jan 4, 2009
    #28
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    The actinics will do nothing for the plants, so the two lights together would give you 1.4 wpg enough for some low light plants. Please remember that the wpg rule only applies to tank between 20 and 45 gallons anything smaller or larger and it really doesn't apply:)
     
    Anonymous, Jan 4, 2009
    #29
  10. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    I was told it does up to 90gal?
    I'm simply looking to down-grade to something a bit more simplistic without the need for all of the chemicals, however with that said I would still like to maintain some plants for a natural look and feel.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jan 4, 2009
    #30
  11. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: HELP!Question on Best Lighting for Planted Aquarium (No Co2)

    :evil: Okay, my p.O.s. light fixture croaked...i knew it was coming. Thing was a pain in my A** since day 1. I opted to go with this one http://cgi.ebay.com/48-Power-Compac...911.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:4|65:15|39:1|240:1318; basically it's similar to mine, but it has 3 plugs in addition to the Lunars. I figure I can run it on two 6,500k and see what it's like and maybe toss some actinics in the back just to brighten things up a bit if the two aren't enough. Hope this one lasts longer than a few months--I don't ever think I'll buy a Coralife again. Grr!
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jan 5, 2009
    #31
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    I think I know the plants...

    I think I know the plants...

    So I have done some reading and like the look of the java fern that and it is supposed to be easy to grow. I am new at this and feel its a good starting place. Was looking into lighting and cam across this 24 Inch 4x24 Watt AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture W/ 2 Lunar LEDs fixture. Now I would guess this would be more than enough for the java fern. My question is; would this last me a good while if I got different plants... maybe if I decided to go with high light plants down the road. I like the Lunar LEDs for a night light feel more than a practical aspect for the plants. Any thoughts on this would be great.
     
    Anonymous, Feb 4, 2009
    #32
  13. GOT MTS?

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    Re: I think I know the plants...

    What size tank are you planning on putting this over? Java fern actually prefers a low light aquarium and if the lighting is too high it will do better if shaded some how.
     
    GOT MTS?, Feb 4, 2009
    #33
  14. James0816

    James0816 New Member

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    Re: I think I know the plants...

    At 24", we're talking roughly around a 20g right? This would be fine going down the road for med-to some high light plants. Especially using T5 HO. However, to get the growth, you will need to look at adding Co2 for those particular plants.
     
    James0816, Feb 5, 2009
    #34
  15. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Active Member

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    Re: I think I know the plants...

    Very accurate on the Java Fern.... Mine dont reproduce as often now that I am on the higher light. They live and grow.... just dont reproduce like wildfire.
     
    LemonDiscus, Feb 5, 2009
    #35
  16. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: I think I know the plants...

    That would almost be ideal that they dont reproduce like crazy, this is a 29g tank and I figured I could just not use all the bulb sockets until I was ready for a change.
     
    Anonymous, Feb 5, 2009
    #36
  17. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Active Member

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    Re: I think I know the plants...

    Well, you do want some reproduction and actually it is good when they reproduce fast as you will triple your plants in no time.... BUT then when you step up the lighting they really dont reproduce at all and some smaller ones die.

    Even when Java Fern reproduces a lot, you still dont get an overgrowth of plants.
     
    LemonDiscus, Feb 5, 2009
    #37
  18. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: I think I know the plants...

    Ok, that is good to know. So then would that hood work well?
     
    Anonymous, Feb 5, 2009
    #38
  19. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    OK my new plans

    OK my new plans
    OK I have been shopping around for some Java moss and looking in to a lot of live food. I have changed my plans for the future of my tanks.

    I'm going to hold off on buying a 10gallon tank for my Dwarf Puffer set up. however I'm going to stock my 20 gallon tank full of plants and add guppies. seeing how I don't think I'm get much for guppies I'm going to just raise them for fun, however I plan to sell the plants.

    The money I get form selling the plants I will set a side for later in order to buy my 10 gallon tank and the dwarf puffer fish.

    also I want to upgrade my light on my 20 gallon to get it out of the 1-2 WPG area and get to at lest mid light levels. how many WPG is a mid light. Plus how would I change my light set up?
     
    Anonymous, Feb 18, 2009
    #39
  20. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: OK my new plans

    <1 WPG - very low

    1 - 1.5 WPG - low to medium low

    1.5 - 2.0 WPG - medium

    2.0 - 2.5 WPG - medium high ( Co2 injection might be required )

    2.5 - 4 WPG - High ( must have co2)

    > 4 WPG - Very High (must have co2)

    Okay, so I stole the chart...but it will give you a ROUGH IDEA
     
    MOD_Dawn, Feb 19, 2009
    #40
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