Confused as to what I need to support plant life...

[AlexZ]

Hi-
So I know these questions have been asked around in one way or another, but I am still confused, so...
I have a 60 gal freshwater, with about three or so inches of a fluorite-sand mix. I have two 54 watt T5HO LED bulbs. At the moment I only have two anubias in the tank. It is about 24" in height, and 48" long, and I was warned lighting would be a bit difficult with these dimensions. Would this lighting be able to support any carpet plants? The only supplementation that I have is flourish excel-would I be able to get away with adding additional K, P, and N supplements and metricide 14 as opposed to a pressurized CO2 system? Would most low-moderate light plants be okay without a pressurized CO2 system?
Everything is so confusing ; )
Thanks!

 

[Caliban07]

Hi-

So I know these questions have been asked around in one way or another, but I am still confused, so...

I have a 60 gal freshwater, with about three or so inches of a fluorite-sand mix. I have two 54 watt T5HO LED bulbs. At the moment I only have two anubias in the tank. It is about 24" in height, and 48" long, and I was warned lighting would be a bit difficult with these dimensions. Would this lighting be able to support any carpet plants? The only supplementation that I have is flourish excel-would I be able to get away with adding additional K, P, and N supplements and metricide 14 as opposed to a pressurized CO2 system? Would most low-moderate light plants be okay without a pressurized CO2 system?

Everything is so confusing ; )

Thanks!

My advice would be to give the current light a go. The worst that will happen provided the plant is not below its light compensation point and has sufficient co2 and nutrients is that the plants will grow a bit slower. I would also add reflectors to the tubes to minimise loss of light a concentrate the light towards to substrate if you are overly concerned.

Excel or metricide 14 is fine if you are happy with the cost. It won't be as effective as injected co2 hut you should get healthy growth.

You can dose NPK dry just like table salt to cover the macros using an EI starter kit. You get the dosages by using an online calculator. Dead easy.

The only other parameter I would focus on is good flow. The plants will do much better with a gentle sway as they need to overcome problems with nutrient availability and you want to push the nutrients to them.

Other than that. I recommend weekly water changes of around 40-50% and just keep the tank free of decaying leaves etc.


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