29 Gallon Aquarium Lighting?????

[mackdaddy81]

Hi,

I have a quick question about lighting. I am trying to grow plants in my 29 gallon aquarium and I just built my self a new light fixture. It holds 4 20watt soft white flourescents made by Sylvania. Each bulb has a rating of 3000K and a CRI of 82. Is this too much light and are these bulbs good for growing plants, our do I need some different bulbs and less light. I am really new to this, so any help would be apprieciated. Thanks!

Oh! and I have 3 fancy goldfish in the tank along with some anachris, amazon sword, argentine sword, white ribbon, and water wisteria.

 

[mackdaddy81]

Lighting for plants in 29 gallon aquarium????

Hi,

I have a quick question about lighting. I am trying to grow plants in my 29 gallon aquarium and I just built my self a new light fixture. It holds 4 20watt soft white flourescents made by Sylvania. Each bulb has a rating of 3000K and a CRI of 82. Is this too much light and are these bulbs good for growing plants, our do I need some different bulbs and less light. I am really new to this, so any help would be apprieciated. Thanks!

Oh! and I have 3 fancy goldfish in the tank along with some anachris, amazon sword, argentine sword, white ribbon, and water wisteria.

 

[neilanh]

If I were you, since you're just starting out, start with only 2 of the 4 bulbs until you get a handle on things, then if you want to increase the lighting you have it available.

Also, your plants will do better with a little higher K bulb, 5000-10000K is the best range for plants.

 

[melosu58]

Both threads merged together. Please dont double post in seperate forums. It makes for an untidy site

 

[dude]

you wanna be careful with too much light. since they would also promote algae growth. a couple of algae eaters in the tank would help. i have a 29gallon and dont have as much lighting as you do, but ended up with significant algae. the sad part is that once the algae starts to grow on the plant leaves it does not come out easily, and the plants don't look so pretty anymore.

 

[jsoong]

Try to get full spectrum or daylight bulbs. Phillips make 6700K daylight tubes (don't know if it comes in 2 footers) which had worked well for me. Getting the right amount of light for your plants is a bit of trial & error (depending on the bulb, reflector, tank depth & plants). It is better to start low & work up so algae don't get the upper hand. You might start with 2 for 12 hrs & may be add the other 2 for a "midday burst" if needed. That would assume that you have 2 ballast that can be run on 2 timers. You would add the 2 extra lights for a few hrs in the middle of the day & vary the length of that as needed.

I must warn you that plants & golds are tricky. You might end up with an expensive salad bar for the fishies.... Anacharis & water wisteria are generally gobbled up within days .... sword might do better. Generally, it would be better to start with tough unpalatable plants like Java ferns & Anubias to train the fish that "plants are friends, not food". Then add more tender plants later. But a lot depends on the fish you have, some will leave plants alone, others will destroy a planted tank in minutes!

 

[mackdaddy81]

One more question

Thanks everyone. I have one more quick question. Would a 6500 K compact florescent be better than the ones that I have. They are made be GE and are sold at Wal-Mart. They have a 1190 lumen rating and they are 20 watts. I was reading online that you should have about 2 to 4 watts per gallon, and with the four bulbs I would be at almost 3 watts per gallon for my 29 gallon. Is this right or should I go down to 3 bulbs.


Also, how many plants is good for a 29 gallon tank. Right now I have about 15.


And thanks for the advice about the goldfish. I used to have plastic plants in there, so the learned pretty quickly not to eat the plants. I haven't had any problems yet with the live plants.


Thanks!

 

[neilanh]

If you get above 2 watts per gallon you start getting into the range where you need CO2. Something to consider. You can grow plants at only 1WPG, just limits the types of plants.

As far as how many, as many as you want. If you want heavily planted, then do it. Put in enough to cover all the substrate. Or, put in just a few, whatever you like.

 

[mackdaddy81]

Thanks

I have a diy co2 injector into the tank so I should hopefully be ok with the extra watts. I want to use the 4 bulbs because I want my plants to grow really well, but I am afraid of too much algae. I use the algae drops for my tanks, but it doesn't seem to help very much. I think I might just start with 3 bulbs, and then add the 4th if the algae holds off. Does any one know where I can find some cheap either 15 or 20 watt florescents that have a good K rating. The highest I could find was Daylight bulbs at Wal-Mart and they were 6500 K.


Thanks for all the help. I am really new to all of this, and I can use all the help that I can get.

 

[fort384]

Checkout google shopping- search for the color temp u want. There are a lot of good cheap sources on the Internet for bulbs. Buy a few replacements to defray shipping costs. You need to replace the bulbs every 12 months anyway because the bulbs degrade over time, even though they are still putting out light.

Beware of using algaecides. You want to treat the underlying problems causing the algae, or it will continue to prosper.

 

[jsoong]

And algaecides can kill your plants .... stay away from those for planted tanks ....

 

[mackdaddy81]

Good to know

Thanks for the advice! As for the light situation, I went out today and bought some 20 watt 6500K 1190 lumen bulbs and but those in the tank. I now have 2 of those in there along with 2 soft white bulbs that have the same ratings as the others, except their K is only 3000.


As for the algae, is their any better way to eliminate it. I don't have a ton of algae but it builds up on the glass and on my white ribbon plants, so it's a pain to clean it off of the leaves. The algae stuff that I was using says it's safe on plants, but if there is a better and safer way to get rid of it I'd be super glad to hear it.

Thanks!

 

[fort384]

What kind of algae is it? I found that stabilizing my co2 concentration above 30 ppm seemed to help a lot. I still have some brown algae issues, but it seems to be coming under control by balancing my macro levels.

I would look at your co2 levels though and start there- with as much light as you have, that could be a big help in getting it under control. There is also a Sticky in this forum that has some good algae fighting resources. Also, there are some great minds here in this forum that will help you out if you post specifics on types of algae and water chemistry (they have done wonders for my tank...)

 

[mackdaddy81]

I am pretty sure it is green spot algae because it is growing in little spots on the glass and it is growing on the leaves of my white ribbon plant. As for my water, the PH is 7.2, and my ammonia is 0. I don't know what my nitates and KH are, but my are healthy so I think that that is all OK too. To test my CO2 I should probably get a KH test kit to determine the CO2. However, when I started the CO2 my PH dropped to 6.8 from 7.4, so I raised it with some kind of PH increaser from petsmart and I added some baking soda to raise the hardness so this PH would fluctuate. I read somewhere that this would affect the results of a CO2 test. Is this true? Should I do some partial water changes and then try and test the KH?

Thanks for all the help! I can't wait to get my plants to grow nice and big, and all of this is helping!

 

[fort384]

My pH is around 6.4-6.6 and all is healthy. Co2 injection will decrease your pH. I don't think there is any need to add chemicals to bring it back up. In fact, I have read that using these chemicals can actually cause algae. I am sure some of the experts can weigh in here, but I would think that could be part of your problem.

As far as your macros, I would consider dosing N/P/K since you have decent light and are injecting co2. You would be surprised how quick your plants will soak up nutrients, and algae, being opportunistic, will capitalize on any imbalance. At the advice of some folks on here, I started dosing all macros and was amazed at the results I have achieved in only a month or so.

 

[mackdaddy81]

I am sorry but this is probably a stupid question. What is N/P/K?

Thanks!


Oh, and i do fertilize with an iron enriched fertilizer called plant grow.

 

[fort384]

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which are the main 3 macronutrients plants need to grow. They will survive in environments that are poor in these areas, but will show difficiencies. Also as I said above, algae will capitalize on any imbalance because it is a simpler organism that can grow in nutrient poor environments if other conditions (light, temp, etc) are met. Ferts are available in a dry form or a liquid form. Right now I am using flourish N, flourish P, and flourish K. Easy dosing in liquid form but more pricey. When they run out I am going to mix my own solutions using dry fert, which is much more economical.

I also dose a comprehensive formula for micronutrients, and dose chelated iron.