live plants

[New]

can live plants live w/ fluorescent lights?

 

[Mr. Limpet]

That's the prefered choice for most people with planted tanks. You could look into LED's, but I hear that can get spendy.

The specs of your light are important, in relation to the tank size and plants you want to keep. Here's a link about plants and the lighting they need: www.plantgeek.net

 

[dollabill420]

T5 VHO flourecents are the best if don't want to have a whole bunch of bulbs

 

[fort384]

Moved to Freshwater & Brackish - Planted Tanks.

Agreed, T5HO are a good choice for most tank sizes. LEDs are rapidly becoming more popular, and can work quite well.

PC or CF lighting can also be very effective, again depending on tank size.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Just be careful how much light you put in your tank, too much and you'll get a truck full of algae or be forced to add co2.

 

[fort384]

Just be careful how much light you put in your tank, too much and you'll get a truck full of algae or be forced to add co2.

This is a very good point. Upgrading lighting is usually beneficial, but it can be easy to overdo it if you don't know what you are getting. If you need ideas, folks here can certainly help make suggestions on where you would need to be lighting-wise based on your goals.

 

[jetajockey]

One nice thing about having too much light is that its easier to reduce the light intensity than it is to increase it. This can be accomplished by raising the fixture up off of the tank a few inches. You can also use something to diffuse the light, like a glass panel in between the light and top of the tank. Also, on the nicer fixtures, they have separate switches for the bulbs, so you can control how many are on at a time.
Makes things much easier if you need to dial it back a bit.

I agree that having too much light is something that hinders a lot of beginners into planted tanks.

 

[dollabill420]

T-2 flourecents and SHO CLF (power compacts) are sweet too for smaller tanks