Lighting for Plants

[FishEggs]

Greeting and salutations to all.

First let me say thanks for all the great information and advice that you all provide I should have done more research b4 i started the aquarium but of course like most newcomers i was bit spontaneously.
Before i get to my questions i'll start with what i have. About 6 months ago i got a free tank off of freecycle and it came with a hood and light strip. i believe the tank to be 40g (36"w x 20"t x 12.5"d). the light strip (which i already know to be inadequate) is an old 24" fluorescent fixture (the kind with the little starters) and i put a 20w powerglo t8 bulb in it. The substrate i have in the tank was meant for live plants (dont remember the brand) and i put a layer of pea gravel on top of it. the water is from a well so i'm assuming it's hard and tests at a ph of 7.8-8. i use an aquaclear 50 HOB filter and keep the water temp at 78*f.

i have a few plants from the LFS that have survived. i believe one is an Aponogeton longiplumulosus and one is a java fern which are thriving. then there is a slowly diminishing pennywort and a just barely hanging on amazon sword. Which brings me to my first question. On the amazon sword and a few other plants (green myrio) which i tried to keep the stems got black and then the leaf or top of the plant died off and i was wondering what is causing this?

i also have a few fish and they all seem happy and healthy. 3 scissor tail rasboras, 3 zebra danios, 4 whitecloud minnows, 2 cory catfish, 8 ghost shrimp, 1 albino clawed frog, and 2 newly introduced clown loaches plus an unknown number of MTS's (just showed up out of the blue or more than likely the plants) Now that you have all the info i have i can get to my dilemma. I would like to do more aquascaping and have more and healthier plants but am unsure of how much light i should use and if it's possible to use too much light. also what type of bulbs/fixtures are better to use mostly factoring in cost? Are vho's better than ho's or pcf's? And why are they so darn expensive when you can buy a dbl 48" shop light for $15?

Any and all suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated as well as any plant recommendations. I'll post a pic as soon as i figure out how.

Thanks so much

 

[JDogg]

ok, if you want more then low light plants (like the java fern and upon) you will need more light.

but how much? that depends on how much work you want to do...

do you want to inject CO2? and dose a lot of ferts?

if you answer to the above is yes then the amount of light you can put on the tank is limited only by how much you can cram onto it

if you want to go a little more of a "low-tech" approach i would pick up a glass top and go with something like THIS i believe that will give you about 50 watts of light (1.25 wpg) you will still be limited with your plant choice (you could even add another single 36" strip light and be better off @ ~1.9 wpg), but you will do better with the plants you have. you may still need to dose a few ferts (Flourish perhaps) and i would put a root tab under the sword. but you will not need CO2 and massive amounts of Ferts IMO.

HTH

 

[Purrbox]

Looks like your aquarium is a 38 gallon. Looked up the measurements on Aqueon's (formerly All-Glass) standard aquarium page.

To grow plants you'll want to bump your lighting to at least 38 watts. This will give yourself a broader selection of plants, but not much. If you go to the 57-76 watt range you'll be able to grow a very nice selection of plants without much more care (minimal fertilization). You could easily go 76+, but then you'll need to look into CO2 and fertilization.

Shop lights are fine as far as providing a light for an aquarium, the biggest problem with them is that they are meant to light a room not the confined area of an aquarium. As a result you'll loose a fair amount of light out the sides of the aquarium because of the shape of the reflector. Other lighting options are more expensive because they allow you to provide more light in a smaller fixture and the reflector is usually better shaped for aquarium use.

 

[FishEggs]

ok i'm not quite ready to go into CO2 and fert doses yet but after looking at Joy's and some of the other planted tanks here on AA i'm pretty sure i will want to go that route in the future. I can start with some ferts but i am cautious about hurting the fish because i dont know much about it yet. i was looking at the pcf's that have 2x96watt bulbs but was wondering if they would work with just 1 bulb in it and would 96watts be too much with out co2 dosing if the daylight hours were shortened? Or should i just go with a 2x39watt t6 ho fixture which would be 78 watts total for now and upgrade later?
I looked at the one JDOGG suggested but it doesn't even state the wattage and isn't that the first thing you should list about a light fixture? i found a few on ebay that look to be better and cheaper one being the 78watts and the other a total of 192watts. But thanks for the link JDOGG. i'm sure i'll end up buying something from there since the lfs prices are indeed highway robbery
I'm assuming the root tab is fertilizer any specific type that i should use? and is that why the leaf stem is going black and dying off or is that due to something else? when i first set up the tank i had a water sprite that did the same thing and a green myrio that just last last week the same happened. i tried to get a pic of the amazon but it's a little fuzzy and hard to see.

 

[JDogg]

I looked at the one JDOGG suggested but it doesn't even state the wattage and isn't that the first thing you should list about a light fixture? i found a few on ebay that look to be better and cheaper one being the 78watts and the other a total of 192watts. But thanks for the link JDOGG.

36" t8 = 25 watt, so the double bulb one will give you a total of 50 watts

 

[FishEggs]

ok i'm still new to this so i'm not familiar with the bulb types and sizes and wattages. thanks

 

[Purrbox]

i was looking at the pcf's that have 2x96watt bulbs but was wondering if they would work with just 1 bulb in it and would 96watts be too much with out co2 dosing if the daylight hours were shortened? Or should i just go with a 2x39watt t6 ho fixture which would be 78 watts total for now and upgrade later?

Yes you could just run one bulb with the 2x96 watt fixture, but you'd be in that grey area where you may or may not be able to get away without CO2. Since you definately aren't ready for CO2 at this time, then I would advise against the fixture. The 2x39 fixture may be a better option, but due to being HO may still push the aquarium into needing CO2 if using both bulbs. You would probably be able to run just one bulb though.

I'm assuming the root tab is fertilizer any specific type that i should use?

A root tab fertilizer is a solid fertilizer which is inserted into the substrate near the plant roots to provide spot fertilization which is particularly helpful with heavy root feeders. I personally like Seachem, but you could also make your own with the right supplies.

and is that why the leaf stem is going black and dying off or is that due to something else? when i first set up the tank i had a water sprite that did the same thing and a green myrio that just last last week the same happened. i tried to get a pic of the amazon but it's a little fuzzy and hard to see.

The plants are dying due to insufficient light. The Java Fern is one of the few plants that can grow in very low light conditions. Java Moss and Anubias are a couple of others. Most other plants will require the extra light we've recommended or will die as you've seen.

Your fish will be perfectly fine with appropriately dosed fertilizers.

 

[FishEggs]

I decided to go with the dual 39w t6 bulb fixture. It comes with a 12000k and an actinic true blue 03 bulb. Are these ok spectrums to use on freshwater planted? I know they are usually used for saltwater.

Thanks

 

[Purrbox]

It's commonly accepted that actinic bulbs have little to no use for plants. You'll probably want to swap it for something in the 6500K to 10,000K range. The other is a bit high but should be doable.