Oddysea T5 light owners, I need plant advice

[wildroseofky]

I recently bought a 24" Oddysea dual T5 light. I was using three CFL bulbs in metal dome lights but wanted something less space consuming. My tank is a 29 gallon high and the water is 16 inches deep. My tank has a mixture of low, medium, and high light plants. They were doing great with the CFL's. Now that I switched to the dual T5 they are suffering. My moneywort and ludwigia are getting leggy and loosing their lower leaves. My ludwigia has also lost its' red color. I knew the light wasn't the best but I actually like the fixture. I am wondering if new bulbs would help or should I have ordered the quad fixture. Everything I could find said dual T5 would put me at medium to high light but it obviously didn't. I am going to be setting up another tank in the near future and could use the dual on it and get another light but wonder if I should still get new bulbs. Would that make any difference in the light quality.

 

[jlk]

I run a dual Odyssea T5HO on one of my 55's without an issue but I am not growing anything fancy or that requires high light. I actually like the fixture, too! I would suggest switching out to better quality bulbs before considering a different or quad fixture but I will let the plant experts further advise as to what is your best option here!

 

[Rivercats]

I don't know much about those fixture but I've heard they don't have the best reflectors which could be a lot of the problem. You can research about that. Some don't agree but Geisemann bulbs are really worth it IMO. I've seen a big difference in plant growth and how color when using 1 6000K Midday bulb and 1 Aquaflora "pink" bulb. I use this combo in my Aquatic Life T5HO fixture in my 55g and I can grow everything but high light carpeting plants.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

I have the same fixture on my 55 and practically can grow anything so the only thing I could think of is do you fertilize regularly? Maybe a nutrient deficiency? I use two co2 generators and supplement with liquid co2 along with liquid ferts and root tabs along with this light and have great results. I have both red ludwiga and moneywort and they both grow like weeds in my tank so I'm not sure...

 

[flitabout]

I have the Quad on my 37 tall which is and the light is 21in from light to substrate. I have what I would consider high light. But that is with 4 bulbs. For the price I paid for them I love them. I will be replacing the bulbs with the Geisemann in about 6 months.

 

[wildroseofky]

The reflector is like aluminum foil. More like the dual side of the foil and not the really shiny side if that makes any sense. I do use fertilizer and glut per Rivercats instructions. I am going to change the bulbs and see if that helps. I had my tank looking good and had to mess with it again. I cannot seem to leave well enough alone. It was doing great with the CFL lights. Now my plants are leggy and the color is fading. To top it off, I came home to find that something had eaten my new downii. It was there last night but now it is completely gone. Same thing happened to my water sprite. I planted 10 of them and have one left and it has been chewed on. I have mollies, guppies, neon tetras, ghost shrimp, blue pearl shrimp, ramshorn, Malaysian trumpet, and mystery snails. I wonder which one ate the downii. Luckily I planted a few in my two other tanks so it was not a complete loss.

 

[Rivercats]

Mollies love to eat on plants. One thing you can try is adding veggie matter to their diet. I feed cooked, deshelled, slight smashed peas about every 3 days along with their regular food. Then I cut 3/8" zucchini strips, nuke them 6-7 seconds, run them under cold water, put them on veggie clips and hang them on the glass higher up in the tank away from plants. I do the zucchini every other day. My angels will eat on my plants if I don't keep veggies in their diet so I feel your pain1

 

[foster53]

I'm using 4 of the Oddysea 36" Quad fixtures on my 125 gal. tanks. I am in the high light region with those fixtures. I can grow any plants in there that I want.
That being said, the bulbs are of poor quality. Changing them out to a quality bulb would probably do wonders for your tank. I use Zoomed 6500K HO bulbs, and they seem to work well. Like Rivercats said, the Geismann bulbs are about the best out there at the present time. When its time to change bulbs, I am going to them.

 

[delfisherman]

I am using just standard 6500k GE T5ho 24w bulbs i got from 1000bulbs.com and my plants grow great and they are only $3 a bulb. I bought 10 for when they burn out and its the cheapest route.

 

[wildroseofky]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I was feeding my snails dandelion greens and different types of salad greens from my garden until the frost killed everything. Luckily we had a warm spell again and more dandelions grew so I am picking some and going to freeze them. That way I can feed the fish and snails all winter. I also ran out of plant wafers so will be buying more. I found the little buggers eating my money wort now. I have two Juvenal male mollies in my 10 gallon with ramshorns and they haven't eaten any of the plants yet. I am trying to figure out how to make my own plant wafers.

I will check out the GE bulbs and all the others mentioned. I am always looking for a deal. I have got to do something soon because my tank is looking empty. I cut off the leggy plants and replanted them. I am going to buy some more plants to give me more diversity. I am also slowly changing the drift wood. Like I said, I cannot leave well enough alone.

 

[wildroseofky]

I ordered the GE lights from 1000 bulbs and they have made a big difference in the amount of light my tank is getting. I even found a replacement bulb for a T8 plant grow light I bought 2 years ago. My plants are growing nicely but the stupid mollies are still eating everything. I have been adding plant wafers, salad greens, and veggies to the tank but they want to eat my camboba, wisteria, and downii. They used to eat the duckweed but have decided to leave it alone. I keep taking plants from my other tanks to fill in but you can see by the photo they are still eating faster than I can replace the plants. I am moving the mollies to another tank soon.