Lighting

[tony_540]

What kind of light do I need to grow dwarf hair grass?? Can anyone help, what are great cheap lights for plants?

 

[dcutl002]

OK. I would say at least 3 Watts per gallon(WPG). Some say that they have had luck with 2 WPG. As far as a good cheap light, I dont know. I don't like recommending products because someone always says the product is no good. Odyssea has a nice T5HO unit on aquatrader with timer, internal ballast and ONE plug. Catalina Aquarium has nice units. I have always used T5HO. No experience with MH or LEDs.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

What's your tank setup like?

 

[lectraplayer]

If you're up to it, you may do well to gut your current hood and replacing the the guts with the highest power light you can get. A 2 Bulb T5 Fluorescent strip light may be a good start.

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk

 

[tony_540]

My tank is the marineland crescent 3 gallon, it has LED lights, and I plan on putting the plants into my 10 gallon (top fin) with the regular lights

 

[tony_540]

this is my setup

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

So do you want to grow the DHG in the 3g or 10g?

 

[tony_540]

In the 3g first to try it out

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

For something as small is a 3g, you can use a desklamp and put a CFL (full spectrum) bulb in it. Just make sure to dose ferts (like seachem flourish) and a carbon source (like CO2 or Excel).

 

[tony_540]

Yes I add API co2 booster, leaf zone, and root tabs

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Those are cool. However, they're not comprehensive. I believe DHG is not a heavy root feeder, so the root tabs would do little for it (although they wouldn't hurt either). Leaf Zone is only Potash and Iron. API leaf zone is like Excel (carbon source). Just add Seachem Flourish and you'll be good to go.

 

[tony_540]

But is my light okay?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

It might keep DHG alive but you won't see an explosion of growth or "carpeting" as you would with a stronger light. For that, you should upgrade the lighting. The "cheapest" way as you asked initially would be to go with the desklamp and a full spectrum CFL bulb.

 

[tony_540]

Okay thanks!

 

[tony_540]

If a get a better light, will it affect my low light plants?

 

[lectraplayer]

I think low light plants will grow better until you get around 5 (fluorescent) watts a gallon.

Tip: Fluorescent lights are usually good for about 80 lumens per watt. LED Is typically much better.

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk

 

[tony_540]

Okay thank you

 

[tony_540]

What kind of light should I get in order to grow dwarf baby tears?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

What's your budget?

 

[Sk3lly]

Tony for DHG you need a high PAR rating at the substrate. PAR is Photosynthetically Active Radiation. This is a measure of how much useable light there is for plant photosynthesis at a given distance from the light fitting. Basically it means how far light can penetrate through water. Even the worlds best light, the sun, can only penetrate through water so far. Hence why the bottom of oceans are dark.

DHG stays low to the substrate and therefore needs high PAR at substrate level.

Maybe a PAR rating of 50ish should be ok. So before you buy any lighting, you need to measure the distance from your light fixture to the substrate. Then contact the light manufacturer to find a PAR chart with given values for certain depths.

Remember with higher power lights there is a greater risk of algae blooms. CO2 helps to keep this at bay. As you move from low light to high light in your tank, pressurised CO2 will become a necessity to keep algae at bay.

Once your plants are producing food for themselves at a high rate due to the higher lighting levels they are going to use up more nutrients. This is where a regimented fertilising regime comes in, such as PPS pro or EI dosing. You can buy dry ferts and premix them yourself as they are much cheaper and a lot better.

The tank then becomes a balancing act. Light, CO2 and ferts need to be adjusted until you hit the sweet spot. This is when the plants will out compete algae for nutrients and you'll get an algae free tank.

High tech/light tanks are very interesting and hard work but the costs soon mount up. Dont look to rush into this. Do your research and take your time