Lighting situation please help hurry
- Thread starter freash_water_monster
- Start date
I agree with Orion on the K of the bulbs. I prefer the look of the 9000K bulbs personally, but its all according to what looks right to your eye.
You didn't say what kind of bulbs they are (T12, T8, T5, CFL, etc.). Its not a set-in-stone rule, but with 34watts, you will likely need to stick with low light plants. The 29gallon tank is hard to light due to the depth. I kept 55watts of CFL over one for low-mid light plants, and 110watts over another for mid-high light plants.
You didn't say what kind of bulbs they are (T12, T8, T5, CFL, etc.). Its not a set-in-stone rule, but with 34watts, you will likely need to stick with low light plants. The 29gallon tank is hard to light due to the depth. I kept 55watts of CFL over one for low-mid light plants, and 110watts over another for mid-high light plants.
In my experience:
Jungle val (Vallisneria americana) - ok-ish in low light, will grow slow, may get too tall for tank
Amazon sword - not sure which species, some do ok in low light, some need high light
stargrass - (Heteranthera zosterifolia) - No
anubias - not sure which species, but Anubias sp. as a rule do ok in low light.
dwarf sag (Sagittaria subulata) - ok-ish in low light, will grow slow
baby tears (Micranthemum umbrosum) - No
Jungle val (Vallisneria americana) - ok-ish in low light, will grow slow, may get too tall for tank
Amazon sword - not sure which species, some do ok in low light, some need high light
stargrass - (Heteranthera zosterifolia) - No
anubias - not sure which species, but Anubias sp. as a rule do ok in low light.
dwarf sag (Sagittaria subulata) - ok-ish in low light, will grow slow
baby tears (Micranthemum umbrosum) - No
I had an amazon sword that grew at medium pace with 6700k bulb. I was running 2 wpg. In my sig had all the plants I was growing under that bulb. They all did fine. A few of them grew rather quickly and the others took off like raped apes.
In my personal experience I dislike bulbs that come with the lightbars. Ive always went out and bought another bulb more specific to the range i wanted. I switched between bulbs to test growth and got the best with the 6700k bulb. I also tho was not using C02. I used a rich substrate and used seachem potassium and dosed once daily and had good growth.
In my personal experience I dislike bulbs that come with the lightbars. Ive always went out and bought another bulb more specific to the range i wanted. I switched between bulbs to test growth and got the best with the 6700k bulb. I also tho was not using C02. I used a rich substrate and used seachem potassium and dosed once daily and had good growth.
I used to run my lighting for around 12 hours on, 12 hours off. From time to time I would decrease the lighting schedule and increase the lighting schedule. I did many different experiments. I suggest you try a couple different types of cycles with lighting and see what your plants grow best under. Do like 2 week cycles
When I lived in Iowa, if I moved crypts from one tank to another, or even just within the same tank, I would get 75% or so meltdowns. But, oddly, when I moved from Iowa to Texas and they were in bags with no light for 9 days, only about 10-15% of them melted. Was so odd.
Just don't move or mess with the vals until they recover. If you need to cut additional leaves off that are rotting (remember that a plant CANNOT repair a damaged leaf, only replace it, so cutting it off speeds recovery), use a sharp pair of scissors.
Just don't move or mess with the vals until they recover. If you need to cut additional leaves off that are rotting (remember that a plant CANNOT repair a damaged leaf, only replace it, so cutting it off speeds recovery), use a sharp pair of scissors.
NPK = Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium (chemical symbol is K) - can be from your other fish tank (fish waste).
You can do water changes on your other tank and use the 'used' water to feed your plant-only tank (take 10 gallons out of your plant-only tank and toss it, drain 10 gallons from your fish tank, add it the plant-only tank, then add 10 gallons of new water to your fish tank.
You can also put some fishfood in the plant-only tank.
Another option is to buy liquid or dry plant ferts.
How are you supplying CO2?
You can do water changes on your other tank and use the 'used' water to feed your plant-only tank (take 10 gallons out of your plant-only tank and toss it, drain 10 gallons from your fish tank, add it the plant-only tank, then add 10 gallons of new water to your fish tank.
You can also put some fishfood in the plant-only tank.
Another option is to buy liquid or dry plant ferts.
How are you supplying CO2?