i know you want to help

[Pinchy11]

carpet plants

hello there,i got a new tank for christmas and i want to make my first true planted tank,i realllllly want a carpet but i dont no what plant to get wat would you experts suggest?and any other suggestions on plants,and im not sure if my light will be able to cut it.thanks!
70 litres(18 gallons) light 18 watts

 

[CTD]

I am certainly no expert but I am currently attempting to grow a carpet of Dwarf Hairgrass myself.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

With your lighting, there are very few plants you can even grow, let alone carpet plants.

Most carpet plants need medium to high light, and yours is very low. You should be trying to aim for a light that gives off 40-50Watts if you want to grow any carpet plants, or any other varity of plants.

Also once you get into the higher lighting, you will have to start thinking about putting co2 in the tank, and maybe fertilizers aswell.

I think if you got this 36W AH Supply lighting system, you would be in good shape for medium plants, which then you can grow a lot of different types of plants and even some carpets.

36 or 55 watt Bright Kits There is a link to the Lighting thing I was talking about above. You should get the 36W kit with one bulb, not x2 bulbs.

 

[Pinchy11]

(too CTD) thats great,are you having any success with it?
(too fishcrazybenbomb) thanks for the advice,but like most 15 yr olds who are unemployed i dont have enough money to buy a whole new light so i was just thinking if i could buy a new globe that has higher watts ? and also wat fertilizers should i use?how would i put co2 in the tank?

 

[jrp1588]

Is your fixture a florescent one? If so you own't be able to just upgrade the bulb. If you have screw in incandescents you could upgrade to scre in compact florescent bulbs since they are a lot more efficient. Another option would be to overdrive your fixture, though this does not give that great of results and it shortens the life of the bulb.....Or you could get a job. I started my first job at your age.

 

[jonnythan]

I have a 2x18 watt Coralife T5 fixture and am growing a variety of plants quite well. You don't need 50 watts to start growing anything.

But all of the carpet-type plants I've looked at require high light.

 

[CTD]

(too CTD) thats great,are you having any success with it?

Well no not yet its staying green and has a few runners but growing slowly i think it is going to be quite some time yet.

it is in a 75 gallon tank with three 48" strip lites with 40 watt natural day lite bulbs, i am going to add another strip lite and try DIY CO2 i have Eco Complete as a substrate.

I hope that will be enough wattage! I am too big of a tightwad to just go buy a new lite so i just keep adding strip lites as i come across them used.

Any advice would sure be appreciated.

 

[BillD]

There are lots of plants that will grow with that amount of light, although more would be better. I have a tank with no more light than that , that is choked with plants. The species include Val spiralis, dwarf sag, Echinidorus compacta, L sessiflora, Java fern , Anubias nana, Anubias barteri, red ludwiga, Echinidorus tennelus. The tank is a 30 gallon 48" long tank with one 32 watt T8 (Philips HiVision) with no reflector. The substrate is gravel with a little topsoil and peat mixed in the lower layer. It has been set up for over 2 years and the plants are growing well, to the point I have to take out 30 to 50 Vals every few months. True carpet plants may be out of the question, but dwarf Sag, and tennelus should be doable.