How long to leave lights on for?

[Smitty]

Ok, I went through the stickies and the top and did a quick search, but I'm not very good at that, which is probably why I couldn't find the answer.

I currently have a 55g tank with plants. I have 2x67 watt and 1x40 watt lights going on, no C02 (and I really don't want to). My plants aren't doing as well as I would like.

How long a day should the lights be on? Right now I have them on from 11 AM until 7 PM (8 hours). Should I increase this?

I know... what kind of plants... I'm bad at that.

I will post a pic tonight once home from work because I did get some new ones, but the biggest problem one is an amazon sword. It is sending out shoots with new leaves, but the big plant's leaves are all dying and it isn't growing at all.

Thanks!

 

[theotheragentm]

What kind of lights do you have? If that is usable wattage that the plants can use, you need some kind of carbon supplement and dosing.

 

[fort384]

Agreed- depending on what spectrum of lights you are using, with that much wattage, co2 and fertilization may be required. Also, post a pic of your sword. There are some nonaquatic swords that are sold as aquatic plants. If you have one of these varieties, the amount of light will be inconsequential.

 

[Purrbox]

As a general rule of thumb you want to have your lights on for 8-12 hours each day. Longer for growing in a scape and shorter for maintaining a scape or fighting algae. From your description of plant growth I would suspect a nutrient deficiency instead of a lack of light. Pictures along with additional information about about your current dosing schedule would be helpful. But the problem is most likely the lack of CO2. Since you don't want to deal with CO2, you'd be better off cutting back on your lighting.

 

[Smitty]

I have 3 bulbs in two fixtures. The bulbs are only 40 watt bulbs... forgot about that.

I have 2x6500 and 1x4500... two of the bulbs are in a fixture rated at 65x2 (so that isn't the wattage of the bulbs, my bad).

 

[Purrbox]

That could still be too much light over a 55 gallon without having CO2 injection. Definately worth taking a look at your fertilization schedule first, but it may still come back to cutting back on light.

 

[Smitty]

As to fertilization I have an in-gravel kind (I bought two bags of it at 25lbs each and 1 bag of rocks that was 25lbs). I also put in 1 cap of Flourish Iron and 1 cap of FloraPlan (per the instructions 1 cap is for 50 gallons).

Current Pictures:

From what I call the front:



From the back (yes, you can see both sides like a center piece.



From the side.



One of my dogs wanted to pose too...



Here is the sword. It used to be at least 2x's this size.



Some new plants I picked up... forgot to write down their names. Darn things don't want to stay in the ground though (the ones on the right). Any hints on getting a stick to stay down??? Also they are turning black-brown on the bottom.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I keep mine on for 10 Hours a day, but thinking about increasing to 11 or 12hours of day so my plants will grow in a little faster. Don't go anymore then 12hours though, eventually the plants need to rest and if they don't get that they will suffer, also they only can suck up so much of that light, once they are at a max, the light is useless, then that's when the resting of the plants come in.

 

[Purrbox]

It sounds like you are using a plant substrate. This does not count as fertilization even though it may be nutrient rich. As such you're only adding the Iron and FloraPlan (which after some research I learned is a MicroNutrient). You need to start dosing Nitrate, Potassium, and Phosphate.

 

[Smitty]

Ok, I'll bump the lighting up from 8 hours to 10 hours and also look for the additional ferts. If needed, I will add C02 but will avoid if I can

I don't want to do a DIY on it... I don' t like the idea of having to mix it all up every 2 weeks or so (I'm bound to forget)... but if the cost of a C02 system is too much then I guess DIY will have to do.