planted tank advice

[cgthebeast]

So I have a 36g bow front and I have decided to improve my plant selection from just amazon swords. I currently have 6 Amazon swords of various sizes, 7 cuttings of Ammania gracilis stems,Ludwigia repens rubin, and 3 java ferns.

I dose metricide 14 every other day full strength, 1 ml per 5 gallons andFlourish Planted Aquarium Comprehensive Plant Supplement Additive every Wednesday. I have flourish root tabs with iron supplements also for the amazon swords and ammonia gracious.

I currently have high medium lighting from a HOt5 4 bulb fixture, it I'm only use 2 of the because I originally had this fixture over a reef tank and have yet to replace the blue bulbs. So this 24x4 bulb fixture with awesome reflectors

I want to make my current plants thrive, and I eventually want to run co2 but alas, I am a poor teenager that's wandering what to do for the next improvement.

1. What bulbs would be best to replace my blue ones on my fixture. I have no idea what k to buy to make the reds pop in my plants.
2. I'm looking for a co2 kit or easy setup that's around 40-50$ (if one exist)

Any help offered is great, thanks

 

[Old Scales]

If you get your 4 bulb fixture with all bulbs between 5000 - 8000K and you use your glut daily as you say, you should have a fantastic planted tank with what you have. Just be sure you are giving them a good balanced MACRO & MICRO fertilizer routine. Many awesome tanks are in here with what you have. Pressurized CO2 is great but not nearly the only way to a beautiful tank. Personally I like 3 6000K and 1 5000K Geiseman bulbs for my Aquaticlife T5HO fixture. You should really look at GLA's PPS-Pro dry fert system. MUCH cheaper and longer lasting for a tank your size. Good luck, OS.

 

[cgthebeast]

Well the 2 bulbs I'm using right now are 10,000 k and I'm still a little confused on the Marco and micro fertilizer.
I will be sure to look at the dry ferts

 

[dcutl002]

In my opinion 10,000 kelvin bulbs are too high. I use 6500 k and 6700 k. I combine daylight and plant bulbs for a wider color spectrum. But that's me.

 

[dcutl002]

Also, amazon swords are root feeders. Put tablets in the gravel for them. I use seachem tablets. Secondly, use the liquid additive for the water. It takes both for that "jungle" aquarium. Deuces.

 

[cgthebeast]

What does the color spectrum do? I know curtain one improve colors but still confused on that

 

[dcutl002]

Plants absorb different colors. They reflect green which is why they are .......green!

 

[dcutl002]

Aquariums - not just a hobby. It is biology, chemistry, and physics (light).

 

[cgthebeast]

That is to true

 

[dcutl002]

I hope you have as much fun as I do. In time, the plants will be more important to you than the fish.

 

[cgthebeast]

Yeah, I heard that what happens lol

 

[cgthebeast]

How is the stegosaurus t5 light bulb? It has a 6,500 kelvin rate but I haven't really heard of this brand before