Glow fish tank and plants

[Loganhorse]

Can this be done? I'm not wanting a massive plant tank just something to add on to my tank with glow fish in it. This is my first so I know nothing about plants.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Glofish do fine in planted tanks. Which kind do you have? Zebra danios, tetras, or barbs? The glofish derived from danios (the original glofish variety) are very active swimmers. A 20 gallon or larger tank is preferred.

 

[Loganhorse]

I have 3 danios and 2 tetras. Would the LED glow light I have be ok to use with plants? Is there anything special I would need? Can I use the gravel I have now or would I need substrate? Like I said I know nothing about using plants in a tank if someone could help me along.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Oh no... please don't tell me you bought that tiny "glofish" tank I've seen at petsmart? If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's tiny (way too small for zebra danio glofish) and comes as a kit with a very low powered LED light.

Can you link to the tank you have or post its specifications (i.e tank size, filter, and light)? When did you buy this tank and from where, if it's the one I'm thinking about?

Edit... is it this one?
http://m.petsmart.com/mt/www.petsma...sp?productId=12262422&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

 

[Loganhorse]

No, I have a 10 gallon tank and hood combo from petsmart.

http://m.petsmart.com/mt/www.petsma...jsp?productId=3804453&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

Filter: tetra whisper 10

And the light is just a simple glow fish LED light strip. It was simple and easy at the time.

 

[jehenry89]

The tank itself is fine but you will need to purchase a better light. I didn't open the link but if its the tank I am thinking of, the light that those tanks come with is like an LED flash light. Lowlight might be a good choice for you. You can get a standard 10 gallon hood or single light strip/glass canopy that would work with a good selection of hardy low light plants such as java fern and anubias which are rhizome and can be tied to a rock or peice of driftwood. Lowlight is around 1 watt per gallon with an ideal color temperature between 5k and 7k.

If the glofish tank kit, the LED light that comes with it is removable from its slot so if you still wanted to use it as a night time light, you could just place it on top of the glass canopy.

 

[Loganhorse]

My hood has 2 spots to screw a bulb into the hood. The glow light I have wasn't included with the tank

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Does that incandescent hood still have incandescent bulbs in it or did you swap those out to full spectrum CFL bulbs?

Petsmart has a lot of good beginner type plants. You can get some anubias, java fern, and crypts.. anubias and the fern should be attached to either rocks or driftwood.

I'd recommend a good liquid fertilizer like Seachem Flourish and Excel. You'll also need some root tabs for the crypts.

 

[Loganhorse]

Does that incandescent hood still have incandescent bulbs in it or did you swap those out to full spectrum CFL bulbs? Petsmart has a lot of good beginner type plants. You can get some anubias, java fern, and crypts.. anubias and the fern should be attached to either rocks or driftwood. I'd recommend a good liquid fertilizer like Seachem Flourish and Excel. You'll also need some root tabs for the crypts.

I removed both bulbs and started using the LED strip because my water temp kept rising.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

I removed both bulbs and started using the LED strip because my water temp kept rising.

Did you use regular incandescent bulbs? Or the curly cfl's?

 

[liberator123]

what you could do is set it up so that in day time you use cfl daylight bulbs (5k-7k kelvin is my recommendation), and in the night time, you use the blue LEDs. this way your plants will grow and you can still have that blue glo light tank in the night.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Ahh.. I see. Well, I've never used that glofish LED light.. but from the looks of it, it's only meant to enhance the colors of the glofish with blue light. That's too dim and the incorrect spectrum for plants. You'd have to upgrade the lighting system if you want to go planted, IMO.

But, I'm only guessing here, but what if you tried (experimented) with LED screw in bulbs in those sockets? LED's produce little heat and may give you just enough light to support low light tolerant plants. Does that hood have any reflectors in them? Sorry I'm totally clueless with incandescent hoods like that.

But here's a 5,000k LED bulb that might help. I'd get two if you have a home depot around you and see if they help. You can probably use this in conjunction with the glofish LED light.

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Cree-9-Wat...ht-Bulb-BA19-08050OMF-12DE26-2U110/204476611/

If not, CFL bulbs would work... plus they stay cooler than incandescent bulbs (not as cool LED though). You'd probably get a brighter light out of CFL compared to the LED bulbs I linked to if there's no reflectors in that hood. If you try CFL, get something that says full spectrum and/or daylight on the package.

Something like these:
http://m.homedepot.com/p/EcoSmart-1...FL-Light-Bulb-4-Pack-E-ES5M814450K/100687001/

And just set a timer and not have the lights on longer than 7 to 10 hours, depending on how bright it gets. For example, if you start to see algae, reduce the photoperiod time.

Anyways, I hope this helps -- especially coming from someone who haven't used that hood. Hopefully someone with experience using that can chime in.

 

[liberator123]

tbh cfl bulbs don't get hot enough to worry about (its the high wattage incandescent is what gets too hot). get x2 13 watts cfl bulbs and trust me it will not radiate heat that will effect your aquarium. 26 watts total would give you medium light imo.
the only time i would try those led bulbs is if i really like the look of led lights. its all preference. for me, id rather save money and wouldn't bother with those.
btw, you can even have both blue lights on and the cfl on at the same time to create an interesting color! then just keep the blue light on at night.

 

[Loganhorse]

What I had before that was causing the tank to heat up was a 2 blue Incandescent bulbs, so then I went to the light strip, like stated above all for color.

 

[NadiaG]

I have a 10g with glow tetras in there. I use one fluorescent bulb
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lights-Of...-Aquarium-Bulb-1ct-Fish-Aquatic-Pets/10448675
And one incan 15w pink light from petsmart. They both in the hood fixture and it does not hit up at all. I run those 6,5 hours a day and then switch it with a blue glow light strip for the night. The strip light is attached on a top rim of the tank. In this case at day time your plants will get all the necessary light and at evening you can enjoy the blue glow. I have anubias in there and it is loving that set up!!! So do the fish

 

[liberator123]

im not sure what your question really is...
is the glo light led just blue light actinic? if it is (and i think it is), then plants will not grow and they will end up slowly dying. they need proper kelvin ratings. i would recommend doing 50/50 with 6500k-10000k/actinic. the plants will be happy, and so will the fish. imagine living everyday where theres only blue light... pretty bad lol
the best solution to this is what i just suggested above. daytime use both actinic and daylight lights, then at night just use the blue actinics.

 

[Loganhorse]

im not sure what your question really is... is the glo light led just blue light actinic? if it is (and i think it is), then plants will not grow and they will end up slowly dying. they need proper kelvin ratings. i would recommend doing 50/50 with 6500k-10000k/actinic. the plants will be happy, and so will the fish. imagine living everyday where theres only blue light... pretty bad lol the best solution to this is what i just suggested above. daytime use both actinic and daylight lights, then at night just use the blue actinics.

I guess what I really need now is just the proper lighting set up.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Just pop in the CFL's... daylight or full spectrum should be listed on the packaging. Also Kelvin color temp. Should be anywhere between 5,000K to 7,000K. 13 to 14w should suffice. CFL's shouldn't affect your water temp as badly as those inefficient incandescent bulbs did. Incandescents waste like 90% of its energy through heat or something like that.

The only other option I can think of, is if you want a true upgrade, is to ditch that hood... get a glass versa top... and get a capable LED fixture like a Finnex Fugeray Planted+ or a Current-USA Satellite LED+. But that's another story.

 

[Loganhorse]

Just pop in the CFL's... daylight or full spectrum should be listed on the packaging. Also Kelvin color temp. Should be anywhere between 5,000K to 7,000K. 13 to 14w should suffice. CFL's shouldn't affect your water temp as badly as those inefficient incandescent bulbs did. Incandescents waste like 90% of its energy through heat or something like that. The only other option I can think of, is if you want a true upgrade, is to ditch that hood... get a glass versa top... and get a capable LED fixture like a Finnex Fugeray Planted+ or a Current-USA Satellite LED+. But that's another story.

That sounds very expensive! Any links to that?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

That sounds very expensive! Any links to that?

Glass versa top:
Aquarium Hoods & Canopies: Aqueon Versa-Tops

Finnex Fixtures:
AquaVibrant

Current Sat+
Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED+ Fixture: LED Aquarium Light Fixtures

Finnex fixtures in action:
Finnex LED owners unite! or at least join the club

Current Sat+ in action:
Satellite+ Club: Showcase your Current Sat+ Tank! Links to journals & more!

Learn about PAR instead of watts per gallon for LED lighting:
LED Lighting Compendium
PAR vs PUR measurement of light, efficency

Research, read, and have fun!
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