Upgrade Standard Lighting for Low Light Plants?

[Lanc1988]

I will be going to get some live plants for my 29 gallon tank in the next few days and I can't figure out what type of lighting I actually need.

I plan on getting easy low light plants like java fern and some annubias. All I know is that I need a full spectrum light that is around 6700k. I would prefer to just buy a new bulb for my aquarium hood if possible. (fluorescent 24" bulb)

At petsmart I saw that they carry an Aqueon T5 fluorescent 6.7k bulb. But i'm pretty sure that isn't the T5NO that I often see people referring to in this forum? Also this fluorescent bulb seems to only be 14W which would put me at about 0.5 watt per gallon and i'm not sure if that is enough to support the plants I would like.

 

[Peyton]

I assume your stock light is a t8 or t12 bulb? You MIGHT be able to grow those plants with the light that is in your hood then.

The watts-per-gallon rule is only a rough measurement and is only applicable to t8 and t12 lights. 20w of t5 is > than 20w of t8.

 

[jetajockey]

If you are just going with those plants a basic full spectrum t8 is enough, but barely.

 

[Lanc1988]

The bulb in there now is probably 5+ years old and it says it is a GE AquaRays 20 watt. I'm pretty sure it isn't full spectrum and it has a slight purple hue to it.

So the advice would be to get a T5 full spectrum bulb like the example in my first post?

 

[jetajockey]

You would need to get the right type of bulb for the fixture you have. Or get another fixture.

 

[ejaramillo01]

You would need to get the right type of bulb for the fixture you have. Or get another fixture.

+1 Agree
You can not just interchange types of bulbs with the same fixture....

 

[Dr. Geoff]

U might wanna just give it a try and grow them with the t8 lighting u have. People have told me my lighting wasn't good enough for live plants... But I've been fine with some easier plants thus far... Bacopa, Anubis, java fern and needle Ludwig. I have a 29 tall, and put in a little liquid fertilizer with water changes.

 

[Lanc1988]

Shouldn't I atleast upgrade to a full spectrum bulb?

I attached a picture of my current bulb. Is it possible to tell if I for sure have a t8 bulb?

 

[Peyton]

Shouldn't I atleast upgrade to a full spectrum bulb?

I attached a picture of my current bulb. Is it possible to tell if I for sure have a t8 bulb?

Hard to tell from the pic without a frame of reference. It should have markings on the bulb somewhere. A t8 is slightly larger than a quarter and a t12 is roughly the size of a fifty cent piece if that helps.

If the bulb is 5 years old then it has lost at least half of it's intensity, so yes replace the bulb. Generally t8 and t12 bulbs should be replaced every 6 months.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

That looks like a T8. Just get a good full spectrum 6500K daylight and you'll be good to go. You could always get a plant bulb from ZooMed or another aquarium light manufacturer if you want to try something more plant specific. Just don't use plant grow bulbs from the hardware store, though hardware store daylights usually work very well.

 

[Lanc1988]

I just got back from going to hardware stores and walmart and it seems that I have a T12 bulb.. the T8s seem quite a bit smaller than my current bulb.

Anyway, I ended up buying the GE Plant & Aquarium F20 bulb (i'm not sure if this is the same as the grow light that someone told me to avoid). Anyway, I'm not too happy with the brightness. I also saw they had a GE Daylight F20 bulb which may be what I should get instead? Both bulbs are 20 watts, but the plant and aquarium bulb says 750 lumens and the daylight bulb was 1000 lumens. Daylight bulb also says 6500k, plant and aquarium bulb doesnt have a temperature.