Ceratopteris Thalictroides - 1WPG.

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MrMalta

MrMalta

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Messages
202
Location
Toronto, Canada.
I just recently purchased two ceratopteris thalictroides (indian fern) and three elodea densa. I only have 1 WPG, but would these plants still stay alive? .. It's fine if they don't grow, they look amazing right now I think.

But am I looking at a near death for either of the two?
 
Both would prefer to have a touch more light, but they have a chance of surviving in your aquarium.
 
I bought an Odyssea light once and returned it. The quality is not comparable to Current USA or Coralife. The bulbs you get are not quite suited to a planted tank. Plants don't use the actinic light. It makes fish look nice, and you can use it in a FW tank, but plants don't utilize that wavelength. The bulbs provide 192 watts total light, but since the plants don't use the actinic bulb, your usable wattage for the plants would be 96 watts.

The other bulb, the 12000K, is a bit out of the range recommended for a planted tank also. I usually see 5000K - 10000K being recommended for a planted tank. I have a mixture of 6700K and 10000K over my tanks.

You would probably get a better lighting system and a better value for your money by going with Current or Coralife. Catalina Aquarium Lighting has a nice website, but I don't have experience with them.
 
My tank is 36 inches.. so I am looking at the right fixtures right?

I dont believe the Catalina website delivers to Canada. The Current USA fixtures look great (the nova extremes and orbits), although they all come with antics I'm sure if I called I could see if that could get switched. But I can't find any prices so I'll have to give them a call I suppose
 
I have had both Current and Coralife light fixtures and I would say the Current is my favorite. I purchased my Current fixture from DsFS: Compact Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Single Satellite Compact Fluorescent Fixtures

It came with a 10000K bulb and an actinic bulb. That's the way it came and that's the way I had to buy it. I also purchased a dual daylight bulb (6700K/10000K) to substitute for the bulb it came with. Click on "view compatible bulbs for these fixtures" above the green chart to see other bulbs you can buy.

Check out Aquarium Lights Hellolights.com. I bought my Coralife here and it also came with the actinic bulb. You could pick the daylight bulb you wanted from a drop-down box and it was half off, if you purchased the fixture at the same time also.

If your tank is 36 inches long, then yes, you would want a 36 inch light. One of the things that bugged me about the Coralife light I got was that the reflector didn't span the length of the fixture. There was a slight, but noticeable, dim spot on the far left side of the tank. This was in a 20-inch long fixture for a 10 gallon tank. The reflector in the 24-inch fixture did span 20 inches but it would have hung over the sides of the tank. The Current fixture lit my tank a little better. I don't know how long the reflectors are in the other Coralife fixtures. Maybe the larger ones have better reflectors.
 
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp17943/si1315905/cl0/allglasstripletubestriplight36oak

I think this is the one I have decided to get. I went over there today to my local big als and the manager was telling me he suggested the light in the link above.

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...2/cl0/coralifefwt5aqualightdoublestriplight36

He also said that this light, in the link above, would still be great for plants except I'm missing a light, its double strip not triple, but it's about 80 dollars cheaper.

I can also get a new glass top which I will need for about $30 from the same store.

So, out of these two, which do you think would be best?
 
In the first link, how many watts is each bulb? I couldn't find the wattage. These look like normal output fluorescents, not compact fluorescents. CFs are usually preferred over NO fluorescents for better plant growth, but that depends on your desires for this tank. How many watts are you looking to get over your tank?

In the second link, the T-5 bulbs are a little more efficient than the T-8's of the first link (two T-5 bulbs compared to three T-8s) but it says one T-5 bulb is 21 watts and it doesn't say what wattage the Colormax bulb is. I guess it would also be a T-5 since they both fit inside the case. 42 watts won't be much light unless there's something I'm missing from these links. The 36-inch length is not offered here in this link.
 
For the first one I forget the wattage per bulb. But it gave me around 2.8WPG.

Which is about what I was looking for, 2 to 3. The plants I have now, in another post I was told to just get a tad above the 1WPG that I have now. So why not get more than a tad more and get a bunch more for future plant growth.

Why are the T-5's more efficient?

Maybe I should just ask, if you could have a light from #1 Big Al's Aquarium Supplies: Fish Tanks, Stands, Decorations, Filters, Lighting for under $200 before taxes - which would it be?
 
Keep in mind that once you exceed 2WPG you'll probably need to look into CO2 supplementation. If this isn't something you're willing to deal with, then you'll want to stick to 2WPG or less.

T-5 produce more light with the same amount of energy as a T-8, and both produce more light than a T-12 with the same amount of energy.
 
Oh really? I didn't want to get into CO2.

So if I got about 2WPG with the triple tube and supplemented one light for like a "black light fluorescent" instead that wouldn't have any effect right? It would be my light for at night time. So it'd basically be the only time it's on. Actually, that's if it has seperate power cords, which im doubting it does. We'll see. But definatly don't want to get into CO2 right now.
 
You should check out the lights at catalinaaquarium.com they have great lights and really good costomer service, you can order on line or call them and they will build one to your specs. and it does not cost any more than the ones you see online.
 
Do they deliver to Canada? .. I also have been looking at BigAls though because there I can pick one up and save on shipping - and the wait!

Actually since I'm getting a glass top now I wouldn't need a 36" light. I could save money for less watts since I don't want to get into CO2 and purchase a 30" or 24" light and sit it on the glass and find one that could give me roughly 80 watts for 2WPG.
 
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I'd probably go with 2 of the 36" T-5 Fixtures. It would put you a touch over the 80 watts you're aiming for, but should be close enough to minimize the likelihood you'd need CO2. You could always swap out one of the bulbs for actinic if you find that it's still too much light.
 
Found this link with the dimensions. Looks like it's only 3" wide, so it should be no problem to fit two over your aquarium.
 
Awesome. Thanks a lot Purrbox. I'll have to pick them up during the week then. The only problem is that with my filter on the back I kinda have to set them in the middle so they would be sitting over where I can lift up the glass .. or I guess I could get legs for them and that wouldn't be a problem, right?

$203.38 incl. tax!

Then I see this one, http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...fefreshwateraqualight36powercompactlight1x96w which is $123 for 98 watts in one light as a power compact. What's better?

EDIT* I just read some other stuff that the power compact, if I were to get it I would need to get into CO2. So I guess it's the two Coralife T-5's, which look good IMO anyways.. and I could always swap out the bulbs for several different ones. :)
 
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I ended up getting the Nova Extreme T-5HO with dual bulbs and 76 watts! $99 on sale at my LFS when the Coralife lights I was gonna get were $89.

Good lights? =)
 
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