Couple Lighting Questions

[Wy Renegade]

I don't have a lot of experience with planted tanks, so I have a question. On my bog system, I'm running three strip lights (20w t8s). The two in the double light are power-glos, while the single light is an aqu-glo. That gives me about 60 watts of light over the whole tank, although certainly not just over the pool area. I've got about 5 gallons of water in the pool area.

My first question is, would it be beneficial to set-up and run a DIY CO2 system, or is the tank small enough and shallow enough that I don't need it?

My second question is in regards to bulb replacement. How often should I look at replacing the bulbs and is there a recommended light range for plants.

TIA.

 

[FishEggs]

My first question is, would it be beneficial to set-up and run a DIY CO2 system, or is the tank small enough and shallow enough that I don't need it?

Hard to say. You would really just have to experiment with it. depending on the light getting to the shallow water and the plants growing in it not to mention the other plants in the tank sucking nutrients up through the roots if it is not a divided water/dirt system there could be benefits to adding it. probably not enough to outweigh the cost/maintenance of a DIY cO2 system. although the other plants in the terrarium could benefit from added co2 off gassing into the atmosphere of the tank too. If you get algae growth in the water i would say give it a try since it would probably help reduce that or you could dose some flourish excel which is a liquid carbon source supplement and for ~5gallons of water one bottle would last a long time. so many factors that really experimentation would be needed. If you're not getting algae growth in the water it is probably not needed but could still be beneficial to the bog.

My second question is in regards to bulb replacement. How often should I look at replacing the bulbs and is there a recommended light range for plants.

For t8 bulbs i believe the recommended replacement is every 9 months. Even though the bulbs still work the phosphors that create the right spectrum burn out. The light range you want is a daylight spectrum which is generally anywhere from 5000k to 10,000k but 6500k seems to be a good balance of all the light spectrums.

 

[mgamer20o0]

1 depends on what you are keeping in the water. most cases not needed though in some cases it could be helpful.

2 9-12 months. i tend to go longer then that on mine. most people over light their tank anyways so the older bulbs out putting less light but still plenty for their set up.