More light?

[brianwestchest]

I bought a normal output Coralife T5 fixture with a 6700 K bulb and a 10000K bulb. I'm not happy with the amount of flight it puts out. I have a black hood on my tank. My plants started out growing fairly fast. I have low-light plants, anubias, java fern, Christmas Moss, etc. But, they're not growing all that fast now. I'd like to make the tank brighter without spending a lot more money. Would getting a 10000K bulb to replace the 6700K bulb make the tank brighter/ When I look a the two bulbs, the 6700K bulb is bluish and not very bright. I'm also considering getting a glass hood to replace the black hood hoping more light will get into the tank.

Thoughts?

 

[BBradbury]

Your Lighting Question

I bought a normal output Coralife T5 fixture with a 6700 K bulb and a 10000K bulb. I'm not happy with the amount of flight it puts out. I have a black hood on my tank. My plants started out growing fairly fast. I have low-light plants, anubias, java fern, Christmas Moss, etc. But, they're not growing all that fast now. I'd like to make the tank brighter without spending a lot more money. Would getting a 10000K bulb to replace the 6700K bulb make the tank brighter/ When I look a the two bulbs, the 6700K bulb is bluish and not very bright. I'm also considering getting a glass hood to replace the black hood hoping more light will get into the tank.

Thoughts?

Hello bri...

You can go to a bifold canopy to replace your standard tank cover. The canopy is all glass and would let in more light. Your low light plants are naturally slow growing, so a couple of T5s is sufficient. I have two T5s in my 55 G tanks and use the glass canopy. The plants seem to grow slowly, but they're healthy. I also have heavily stocked tanks and dose a liquid source of the "trace elements" a couple of times a week.

Your plants don't need more light. If you increase the light anyway, then you'll need to look into a CO2 system of some kind, so the plants get the extra carbon they'll need in the stonger light conditions.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B

 

[brianwestchest]

I appreciate the response. I want more light not just for the plants but also to make the tank appear brighter. I don't want to get into CO2 dosing. I will look into trace elements for the tank though.

 

[aqua_chem]

Since they were growing fast at first but now are not, I would suspect a fertilization issue as well. It could also be a macronutrient issue as well. Check your nitrates to rule that out as well.

 

[M1k3y_gumi]

You said they were growing fast earlier but in general your plants are slow growers. I don't think throwing more light at it is necessarily the way to go. Like aqua chem said try seeing if there are some nutrient factors that have changed. You want to resolve and issue rather than trying to over compensate with something that has not changed.

 

[calfishguy]

Perhaps some liquid ferts would help increase your plant's rate of growth.

 

[Rivercats]

I have three Coralife fixtures and I don't use the tank covers at all, the tanks are open top. Not having a cover will give a brighter look just because you don't have a plastic or glass barrier difusing the light. A 10K bulb will look brighter in appearance as it is in the higher blue lights. I have 10K and 6700K bulbs and yes the 10K gives a brighter visual appearance in the tank. You might look into dry dosing. The fertilizers are very cheap compared to bottled ones, I dose PPS-Pro which is very simple for beginners. Then if you don't want to go CO2 you can dose a liquid carbon like Flourish Excel or Glutaraldehyde. There are a couple other brands but don't know the names off the top of my head. The liquid carbon will increase and help plant growth.

 

[Brox]

Try a color bulb for the coralife. (colormax) I think it's called that will show more color in your tank