New to panted tanks

[PAwrangler08]

Hello everyone. Quick question. I have a decent amount of plants in my tank. It doesn't seem they last too long. But are doing fairly well. Anyway I have been looking at the Current USA Sat+ LED. Was wondering if 1 would be sufficient for moderate lighting on a 120gal. Depth is 24". I would be going with the 48"-60" LED fixture. Any other suggestions are appreciated too.

Thanks.
-Blair

 

[PAwrangler08]

By the way this is my tank. Not the most recent but good for now. Since I took this picture a little while ago the plant on the right has been eaten and taken out. And I have added more plants. I'll get a list together shortly.

 

[PAwrangler08]

Ok. So I have 4 dwarf subulata, 3 jungle val, 2 rosette sword, 2 broadleaf ludwigia. I have Eco complete and PFS substrate.

 

[PAwrangler08]

Any help from anyone? I did do some research and found that PAR at 24" is only 21 with the Sat led +. I'm not sure if that going to be enough. Any suggestions with lighting and other plant keep suggestions is welcomed.

 

[molly100a]

Amazon swords are heavy root feeders, are you adding anything. What kind of lights are you using now. Are you adding any ferts to the water?

 

[PAwrangler08]

Amazon swords are heavy root feeders, are you adding anything. What kind of lights are you using now. Are you adding any ferts to the water?

The only thing that I add is microbe-lift special blend. And that's only every other week now. Right now I just have generic old T12 fluorescent lighting. 3 24" bulbs. And I'm not adding any ferts to the water.

 

[molly100a]

I don't know what microbe-lift special blend is, never used it. I would up the lights to 6500k, get some root tabs or red clay for the swords. What kid of fish are in the tank.

 

[PAwrangler08]

I don't know what microbe-lift special blend is, never used it. I would up the lights to 6500k, get some root tabs or red clay for the swords. What kid of fish are in the tank.

Special blend was used with nite-out ii it's an organic waste degrader and stimulates plant growth.

Currently I have a community tank with...
2 parrot fish
2 kissing gouramis
2 blue gouramis
2 gold gouramis
5 tiger barbs
5 tetras
6 neons cardinals tetras
Banded leporinus
Striped rapheal cat
2 bumble bee cat
Polka dot cat
Chinese algae eater
Rainbow shark
Mollies
5 gold barbs

And agin this is a 120 gal tank.

 

[molly100a]

I would just up the lights to t5ho and get some Seachem Ferts for the water and root tabs. Swords are heavy root feeders and need iron. I think that's the only issue hear, you should see improvement. In my tanks I use dirt capped by ecco complete or fourite, t5ho and t8 all are 6500k. You want to mimic daylight. How long are you leaving you lights on?

 

[PAwrangler08]

I would just up the lights to t5ho and get some Seachem Ferts for the water and root tabs. Swords are heavy root feeders and need iron. I think that's the only issue hear, you should see improvement. In my tanks I use dirt capped by ecco complete or fourite, t5ho and t8 all are 6500k. You want to mimic daylight. How long are you leaving you lights on?

Usually have them on from about 930am to 9 or 10pm is when the last light goes off.

 

[PAwrangler08]

This is my tank now.

 

[molly100a]

Your tank looks good, just add ferts and up the lights.

 

[PAwrangler08]

Your tank looks good, just add ferts and up the lights.

How many T5HO's should I use?

 

[molly100a]

On that tank I would start out with a double strip. If you look on line you can get inexpensive ones. It all depends on if you intend on using Co2 or high light plants. You could go with 2 double strips and get higher light. With my freshwater planted tanks I do weekly water changes, plants love water changes, 25 to 30%. Check out online stores like The LA Shop.com or Fishneedit.com and ebay. Also with my tanks I leave the lights on for 10-12 hours. You can always cut that back if you see an alge problem. That's a huge tank you load it up with plants.

 

[molly100a]

I meant to say you can load it up with plants, not you load it up with plants. Also check out Aquatic Jungles, Dustin has a lot of great information and videos. I've learned so much from him.

 

[PAwrangler08]

On that tank I would start out with a double strip. If you look on line you can get inexpensive ones. It all depends on if you intend on using Co2 or high light plants. You could go with 2 double strips and get higher light. With my freshwater planted tanks I do weekly water changes, plants love water changes, 25 to 30%. Check out online stores like The LA Shop.com or Fishneedit.com and ebay. Also with my tanks I leave the lights on for 10-12 hours. You can always cut that back if you see an alge problem. That's a huge tank you load it up with plants.

Wasn't planning on doing CO2. Seems like too much for me. Was probably going to end up doing high light. Which seems to be the problem I'm going to running into since the depth is 24".

Forgive my ignorance but who is Dustin and how do I find his videos? Lol

Thanks for all the help!

 

[jehenry89]

Are you dosing both macro and micro nutrients as well as root tabs for the root feeders?

 

[PAwrangler08]

Lol disregard. I found it.

 

[PAwrangler08]

Are you dosing both macro and micro nutrients as well as root tabs for the root feeders?

As of right now I'm not dosing anything.

 

[jehenry89]

As of right now I'm not dosing anything.

I don't know how much you know so I will give you all the info I can think of that might help you, so don't be insulted if I say something you already know lol. Both micros and macros need to be dosed, most times several times a week depending on how many plants you have. Because you don't have co2, it wont be as much as those with co2. Nitrates should always stay around 10ppm. Once you start dosing nutrients, you might have to play with the lights and dosing a little to get the optimal settings for your eco-system. For low light plants, 1 watt per gallon is good. Moderate is 2 watts per gallon and high is 3+ watts per gallon. You can find this out by a quick google search of the plants you have. Depending on what light need type plants you have, base that off how many light strips you get. It looks like in the picture, it would be moderate which would be two strips of 60 watts and make sure they are 6,500k, that light temp is optimal for plant growth.

Co2 isn't needed to get a great planted tank. A lot of people do low light, low tech setups and low tech, high light setups with great success. However, Co2 is a good option if you have the money for it and plan on keeping this tank running for many years to come. Also, if you have the time for it. If you get Co2, your plants will be growing faster and therefore need more nutrient dosing, trimmings, ect. So if you travel a lot or are very busy,a lowtech set up may be best for you. Remember, you can always upgrade to co2 later on.

I hope this helps a little.