Best lighting for 5 gal planted tank?

[onebettanewbie]

I have a 5 gallon tank with 1 betta. It's been set up for a month and a half and has 2 anubia barteri (one large and one small) and about six strands of wisteria. So far, they are healthy. This weekend I am adding microsword. The tank had some java fern but I took it out because staghorn algae was growing on it. It has an All Glass fluorescent light hood with a 14W "aquarium" light and is currently on 8 hours a day, on a timer. (I cut back from 10 hours, to 9, and now to 8.) I'm not sure what "aquarium" light means. It doesn't say what the temperature or color spectrum is, but it is the bulb that came with the hood.

I read the pinned threads on lighting but I admit I'm still confused. I sounds like I should replace the fluorescent tube with a power compact. Should I buy an incandescent light hood and insert a 14 watt spiral "daylight" bulb? Just to state the obvious, I want the plants to do well (I'm sticking with "easy" plants) and try to avoid algae. I don't want to add "too much" lighting for my little 5 gallon tank. I'll add more plants if you recommend it. I've been told the microsword will spread fairly rapidly. So what kind of lighting should I have for my little 5 gallon? Your advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[An t-iasg]

I used this light on my 5.5 gallon betta tanks: the 12-inch, 18-watt light. It won't span the length of the tank but there are no dim spots. Click where it says "view compatible bulbs for these fixtures" and get the dual daylight, 6700K/10000K bulb. You'll have to buy this fixture with the included 50/50 bulb and then you'll also have to buy the daylight bulb, but I could grow a lot of plants except the ones needing high light in this tank. (I also had CO2.)

Compact Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Single Satellite Compact Fluorescent Fixtures


PS...the incandescent hoods that will fit the spiral compact fluorescent bulbs aren't really recommended. There is too much restrike due to the spiral shape and not all the light gets into the tank.

 

[onebettanewbie]

I saw your posting for this in another thread but was hoping I could get away with something cheaper The "More Information" link says:

"If you wish to use automatic light features, plug the power cords into timers before plugging into the GFCI outlets. If you wish to create dawn/dusk and lunar effect, plug each power cord into separate timers. You may also plug the wall transformer into a timer, or plug directly into a GFCI outlet, which will turn the Lunar Lights on permanently."

Eeeek! Multiple power cords? How do you have yours set up? I only have two outlets connected to the ground fault interrupt. The heater and filter are in one. The timer is in the other along with a temporary air pump connected to a borrowed biological filter. The air pump/biological filter is coming out in a couple of weeks, water parameters permitting but still I'd like to keep it to one timer.

I had a CO2 system in the beginning but it caused my PH to drop so I took it out. My PH is now stable at 7.8.

 

[Purrbox]

Since you've already got a 14 watt fluorescent over the aquarium, that's actually more light than a 14 watt spiral compact fluorescent would be once restrike is factored in. The problem that your running into is that the WPG "rule" doesn't work on these small aquariums. I'm running 36 watts over my 5.5 gallon aquarium and I'd say it's probably somewhere around medium to high light.

If you're going to get into the higher lighting levels, you'll need to look at carbon supplementation to avoid algae issues. Since you don't sound like you want to get back into CO2, you might want to look at Flourish Excel instead. It's a very good carbon source and works well as long as you aren't trying to grow Anacharis, Vals, or Riccia which it is incompatible with.

How old is the bulb? Flourescent bulbs need to be replaced every 6-12 months due to spectrum shift. You don't need to stick with the aquarium bulbs. A bulb from your hardware store with a color rating between 5000K and 10,000K and that'll work just fine.

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, this light comes with two power cords but you don't have to use the lunar light every night, or at all if you don't want to. Those lighting directions are talking about if you want to use the lunar light to come on to simulate the dimmer light of dawn before you turn the main CF bulbs on, or right after the CF goes out to simulate dusk if you want the tank to go dark more gradually than the CF just turning off. I think more people with saltwater tanks use the lunar lights. They do look pretty neat in freshwater, but I don't use them very much, if at all. I use a power surge strip and I have the CF light on a timer. The lunar light is not on a timer, and most of the time the plug for it just is tucked out of the way of the other cords. I have an extra outlet in my strip if I ever want to use it but it's not a part of my everyday light routine. I have the room light on a timer too and it comes on about an hour before the tank lights and goes off about a half hour after the tank lights turn off - varying a bit with the seasons. The fish seem perfectly fine with that routine.

You are going to see a pH drop when you use CO2, but usually it's nothing to worry about as long as your KH is stable. It's ok if you don't want to use CO2 also, and like Purrbox mentioned, you can use Flourish Excel with good results.

 

[onebettanewbie]

If I gave the impression that I want to move up to higher light levels, I gave the wrong impression. My ambition for the foreseeable future is to just have healthy easy to grow plants and avoid algae ****. As mentioned, I already had one case of staghorn algae growing on my java fern. If I can get away with keeping my current light hood, just changing the bulb every 6 months or so, I'd be really pleased. The current light bulb is about 2 1/2 months old. If there's a better bulb for the same light hood (full spectrum or a "grow light" perhaps?) I'm all for it. I'll do ferts if I have to, but I'd rather just rely on betta poo if I can.

 

[Purrbox]

Okay. If you're just looking at getting rid of algae and keeping your current setup, you may need to look at some minor dosing. Probably just a good trace fertilizer (Flourish "Comprehensive" or Tropica Plant Nutrition) and some potassium (KCl - NoSalt in the grocery store) after each water change.

For lighting I'd just stick with a bulb that has a color spectrum between 5000-10000K. You can pick it up at the Hardware store, just make sure the color rating is appropriate and you'll be good to go. Lower if you prefer more of a yellow look, higher if you prefer more of a blue look.

 

[onebettanewbie]

Thanks, I will start there. I spoke to the store that sold me the light hood and they said it the bulb is "plain white," whatever that means, so I will stop at the hardware store and see what they have.

How much fertilizer & potassium do I add after a 25% water change? Does this have any affect on my betta? He's my #1 priority.

 

[Purrbox]

You would want to dose enough traces to get 0.1-0.2ppm of iron and enough KCl to get 20ppm. You dose based on the total volume of the aquarium. You can use Chuck's Calculator for the KCl and czcz's calculator if you go with Tropica Plant Nutrition or Fert Friend for Flourish "Comprehensive".

Neither of these ferts will harm your betta, and he'll thrive with healthy plants in the aquarium.

 

[Karackle]

I just wanted to say thank you because I got some really useful information out of this thread! I also wanted to tell you that, for what it's worth, I have a 5.5 gallon planted tank with a Betta and the 14w "aquarium light" that came with the hood, I dose with Flourish "comprehensive" and Flourish "excel" when i do a water change, and usually an extra dose of excel between water changes, and my plants are doing quite well with little to no algae. I have Wisteria, Purple Cabomba, 2 red and 1 green Cryptocoryne Wendtii and an anubias (nana i think) and they're doing really well. I have a journal of the tank here if you want to look. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f19/my-5-gallon-journal-101228.html (it may or may not be helpful) Although now of course I'm thinking about getting a new bulb at the hardware store! (i assume as long as it's the correct wattage and length i just pick the spectrum i want?) Thanks again!

 

[onebettanewbie]

I saw your journal before. Very nice! I won't post any pics of my tank until I've removed the borrowed biological filter and I can fix it up more. I planted Microsword last night. I hope it does well.

Turns out the local hardware chains don't carry much of a selection of 15" fluorescent bulbs. Just the standard "cool white." I found a daylight bulb online with 6500K that I'm going to order. The local pet store said they could order one for me with 6700K but it's $18 and would take 2 weeks to arrive.

I expect to be able to pick up some Flourish tonight. The plant guy at my local pet store said it is just called Flourish so I guess it's "comprehensive." I'll check the label before buying it. He said with our local water that I don't need to add KCI.

 

[Purrbox]

Some people just call it Flourish, but if you look closely at the label you'll see comprehensive right below the name. It's not actually the name which is why I put it in quotes, but it helps to differentiate it from Flourish Trace which isn't nearly as good of a trace supplement as Flourish "Comprehensive".

 

[onebettanewbie]

I bought Flourish comprehensive. The directions say to use 5 mL for 60 gallons. Best guess I have about 4 gallons of actual water in my tank, so I figure I should use .3 mL Flourish. Not sure how to measure that. Use an eyedropper and put in one drop?

Once you factor in the shipping costs, it turns out that buying a bulb online costs as much as letting the pet store order me one, so I asked the pet store to go ahead and order the "Ultra Sun" 6500 super daylight bulb.

 

[Purrbox]

Don't use the package instructions for Flourish Comprehensive. You want to dose enough for 0.1-0.2ppm of iron. Using the FertFriend calculator you would want to dose 0.5-1ml of Flourish for your aquarium (est 16 Liters). Your best bet is to pick up a child medicin dosing shringe or dropper from the Store. You may even be able to get one for free from the pharmacy.

When it comes to buying bulbs online your really have to order a few to make the shipping costs worth it. I've found that if I'm able to order 4 or more I can make it worth it to order online.

 

[onebettanewbie]

Okay, I'll try that. Thanks!

Since I only have the one tank, and I want to see how this bulb works out, I didn't want to order multiple bulbs.

 

[An t-iasg]

I got disposable pipettes like the small size shown here:

Disposable Pipettes

I did get some medicine syringes at the pharmacy (ask for a 1 ml one or else it will be too big for your needs). The syringes held me over for a bit until I could get the pipettes. They are easier to use and more accurate IMO. You don't have to throw them away after every use. Just rinse them out and they will last a while. You'll be able to tell when they are wearing out - they'll suck up a bunch of air bubbles along with the liquid.

 

[onebettanewbie]

The pipettes look nice but for now I'll have to use a medicine syringe. With only one fish and one tank, I don't need enough items to bulk order and the shipping costs would be more expensive than the pipettes. I asked at a couple of local pet stores and it's not an item they carry. I will keep them in mind though for when I have other stuff to order.

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, that's what I did too - waited until I had enough other things to order so I wasn't paying more in shipping than what the pipettes cost.

To clarify, I don't mean that the medicine syringes are inaccurate but I meant that the one I got had so many black lines on it that it was hard to me to judge the amount properly. For a child's medicine dose, you would need graduations in .1 ml. But for an aquarium, graduations in .25 ml is fine and that was easier for me to see. But it's whatever you can get easily and what works for you.

 

[onebettanewbie]

I have a dropper that is marked in mLs, 1 mL, 2 mL, etc. That should work out well for the Flourish. The one I use for the Prime is in mg but I ignore those and just use drops. I'll see what the local drugstore carries, maybe I can get one with more useful markings on it.

 

[Purrbox]

I use the Children's Medicine Dropper with just markings for 1ml, 2ml, 3ml, 4ml, and 5ml. I find that this is accurate enough for my needs. I can eyeball the 0.5ml between marks. I also did some testing and determined that 1ml ~ 15 drops. So I just figure the dosage based on drops for really small amounts.