Light advice

[DannyBWell]

I plan to have plants in my new 75 g that I just picked up and want medium to high light plants the tank is not in direct sunlight but will get plenty of sun but only comes with a 35 watt 48" t8 light is this ok or will I need more

 

[Catfish Lover]

I plan to have plants in my new 75 g that I just picked up and want medium to high light plants the tank is not in direct sunlight but will get plenty of sun but only comes with a 35 watt 48" t8 light is this ok or will I need more

That will not be sufficient. If you want high light plants I would suggest a dual T5 High output. Also you'll need to look into adding Co2.

 

[DannyBWell]

That will not be sufficient. If you want high light plants I would suggest a dual T5 High output. Also you'll need to look into adding Co2.

Im going to go with more medium light plants that wont require co2 I really dont want to have co2 ive found a 108 watt dual t5 48 inch light fixture would that be fairly good

 

[Catfish Lover]

Im going to go with more medium light plants that wont require co2 I really dont want to have co2 ive found a 108 watt dual t5 48 inch light fixture would that be fairly good

That should work out just fine?

 

[Zimmanski]

I have a coralife 48" dual t5HO on my 75 gallon, it is wonderful. Keep it on a timer though, if left on for too long it will easily grow algae. Medium and medium-high light plants will do fine but at least dose some excel or mix your own glut, your plants pretty much will need that at least. Good luck! What plants are you thinking about?

 

[DannyBWell]

Thanks for the advice

 

[DannyBWell]

I have a coralife 48" dual t5HO on my 75 gallon, it is wonderful. Keep it on a timer though, if left on for too long it will easily grow algae. Medium and medium-high light plants will do fine but at least dose some excel or mix your own glut, your plants pretty much will need that at least. Good luck! What plants are you thinking about?

I know I want some kind of carpet in the front maybe dwarf hairgrass and some long narrow leaf plants possibly amazon sword plant in the back with medium sized leafy plants mixed in maybe some anubias nana and some hygrophila angustifolia mixed about

 

[Catfish Lover]

I know I want some kind of carpet in the front maybe dwarf hairgrass and some long narrow leaf plants possibly amazon sword plant in the back with medium sized leafy plants mixed in maybe some anubias nana and some hygrophila angustifolia mixed about

Co2 is almost necessary for dwarf hairgrass, maybe someone can chime in and correct me if I'm wrong, as for the anubias I would make sure you have some floating plants covering them as they are very prone to algae on the leaves due to their slow growth because with that lighting they will almost certainly have algae.

 

[armymp327]

if you are going to want to do medium light, you will at a minimum need to dose liquid Co2 IMO

you should be able to grow DG with medium light and liquid Co2 but it will probably be slow growth at best.

and of course you will need all of micro, and macro nutrients if you are not already aware of that.

 

[giffmastaflex]

What about LED lights?

 

[DannyBWell]

What about LED lights?

I don't have much experience with led lights I know they don't go by watts how would I know if they are powerful enough

 

[DannyBWell]

if you are going to want to do medium light, you will at a minimum need to dose liquid Co2 IMO

you should be able to grow DG with medium light and liquid Co2 but it will probably be slow growth at best.

and of course you will need all of micro, and macro nutrients if you are not already aware of that.

Tell me more about the micro and macro nutrients

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Without co2 the DHG will not grow as a carpet

 

[Zimmanski]

I don't have much experience with led lights I know they don't go by watts how would I know if they are powerful enough

They still go by watts, but a better way to tell how bright any fixture is is to look up their PAR value. PAR is just a fancy way to how how bright a light is through a certain amount of water or a certain distance away from a light. This is all probably sounding like way more complicated answers to your question but its not as hard as it sounds.

Plants need micro and macro nutrients which are just fertilizers. You can get liquid fertilizers like from Seachem, they work well and are easier but you will pay a TON more in the long run. Or you can get dry fert mixes from Green Leaf Aquariums for about $30 and it will last well over a year, you would need a digital scale that measures in grams though, this is also a whole lot easier than it sounds too. I have a picture of a spreadsheet that says how to mix the dry ferts and how much to dose per 10 gallons

 

[DannyBWell]

They still go by watts, but a better way to tell how bright any fixture is is to look up their PAR value. PAR is just a fancy way to how how bright a light is through a certain amount of water or a certain distance away from a light. This is all probably sounding like way more complicated answers to your question but its not as hard as it sounds.

Plants need micro and macro nutrients which are just fertilizers. You can get liquid fertilizers like from Seachem, they work well and are easier but you will pay a TON more in the long run. Or you can get dry fert mixes from Green Leaf Aquariums for about $30 and it will last well over a year, you would need a digital scale that measures in grams though, this is also a whole lot easier than it sounds too. I have a picture of a spreadsheet that says how to mix the dry ferts and how much to dose per 10 gallons

Ok thanks

 

[DannyBWell]

So what are some good low light plants or maybe some medium light plants that don't really need co2 I understand it helps them grow fast but I also understand there are plants that can grow with out it just grow slowly I really don't want to have to buy co2 every month or so I researched it most people with a 75 g tank a 5lb tank will last a month and at this point isn't really in my budget I already know about java fern&moss and hornwort what are some other plants thanks

 

[DannyBWell]

if you are going to want to do medium light, you will at a minimum need to dose liquid Co2 IMO

you should be able to grow DG with medium light and liquid Co2 but it will probably be slow growth at best.

and of course you will need all of micro, and macro nutrients if you are not already aware of that.

Will this be ok

 

[DannyBWell]

They still go by watts, but a better way to tell how bright any fixture is is to look up their PAR value. PAR is just a fancy way to how how bright a light is through a certain amount of water or a certain distance away from a light. This is all probably sounding like way more complicated answers to your question but its not as hard as it sounds.

Plants need micro and macro nutrients which are just fertilizers. You can get liquid fertilizers like from Seachem, they work well and are easier but you will pay a TON more in the long run. Or you can get dry fert mixes from Green Leaf Aquariums for about $30 and it will last well over a year, you would need a digital scale that measures in grams though, this is also a whole lot easier than it sounds too. I have a picture of a spreadsheet that says how to mix the dry ferts and how much to dose per 10 gallons

Thanks I'm going to try the seachem liquid fertilizer

 

[giffmastaflex]

Will this be ok

I use that and some root tabs and my plants are doing pretty good

 

[Zimmanski]

Co2 isn't a necessity, your right. I just barely started doing some pressurized co2 in my tanks and just a regulator set me back $100. But you can make a really beautiful tank just using liquid carbon(its not liquid co2), it does the same thing just a little slower kinda. Just check out Rivercats on AA, she has an amazing 220g 100% planted high light tank and only uses liquid carbon. My suggestion is still make your own ferts though, its saves Soooooo(needs many more Os) much money. The dry fert pack from GLA $30 lasts a year, a gallon of Metricide(liquid carbon) costs about $24 and will lasts a long time too. Just seachem's excel(liquid carbon) cost me $17 and lasted 3 weeks. For starter plants I would check out hydrophila compacta for a leafy plant and maybe some rotala for a fast growing skinny plant, water wysteria grows quickly and looks pretty neat, and of course you can always do some anubias or ferns. My tanks have some of these plants if you want to see what they look like