How much better is flourite then regular gravel?

[Ansel Marrow]

Will I notice a difference? I have just plane jane gravel, I was considering buying a big 25lb bag of seachem laterite, and what difference I would notice. I have a giant selection in a 37gl eclipse including large amounts of java fern, wisteria and red luiga with some anacharis aswell. Im currently using the default eclipse lights, and also woul like to know if I bought some nutrigrow plant lights if that would make a difference. I also add leaf zone aquarium fertilizer. TIA. Just wondering if it would enhance my plants health and logetivity, because evntually they all get yellow and die.

Edit:name changes cuz im an idiot.

 

[Guest]

Ok you are very confused. Seachem doesn't sell laterite. They sell Flourite which is a much different substance than laterlite. And it doesn't come in 25 lb bags it comes in 15 lb bags.

With your setup Flourite is not going to make a lot of difference. Neither is switching out your bulbs for some "magic" plant growth bulbs. You have 30 watts of light over a 37 gallon tank. What you need is more light. A lot more light. The reason your plants die is lack of light. At a minimum on your tank you should have 90 watts of light to grow even low light plants. And there are no higher wattage bulbs that will fit in your Eclipse hood.

As I see it you have two choices. Scrap the hood and get a canopy and put some lights from www.ahsupply.com in it, or get another tank and start from the beginning.

 

[Ansel Marrow]

Man thanks for the professional reply. Yeah its flourite..god knows why i said laurite. Ok thanks for the info, damn i thought the eclipse lights would be decent...oh well...

 

[Ansel Marrow]

Where can I lso buy a decent hood? What specifications should I be looking for? 120w per bulb or more?

EDIT: duh the link is right there...

 

[Guest]

If you just want something to put the lights in then AH Supply also sells enclosures. But by scrapping the hood you are going to have to buy a filter also. My suggestion would be to get a 2x55 watt kit and enclosure from AH Supply and then get a nice little cannister filter like a Rena XP-2. Realize that you might end up needing some form of CO2 injection with that amount of light though. That's the reason for the cannister filter. If you do need CO2 or decide to get CO2 you can plumb the reactor right into the return line of the cannister filter.

 

[betowess]

The AH supply lights are absolutely terriffic. Much, much better than any by Custom Sea life of Coralife, two of the big production names in Aquarium lighting. I own a 65 watt Coralife with a pretty new 6700k bulb and compared it visually to a 36 watt AH Supply bright kit I recently put together (also with a 6700k bulb). The 36 watt AH Supply was much brighter than the 65 watt Coralife.

The secret is in the design of the reflector and placement of the PC bulb on AH Supply's bright light kits. These lights are 162% brighter because of the reflector design and bulb placement than PC lights like Coralife etc. If you have questions you can call Kim there and he'll help you out too. HTH

 

[TankGirl]

I will have to second that about AHSupply. They are very helpful. One time I ordered several things and he called me to ask me what I was putting together to make sure I was getting the right thing before he shipped it out! The prices are excellent, as well. I retrofitted my 10-gal hood for $14.