need some help with plants

[SilveRx]

my equipment are

marineland penguin powerhead (550??)
penguin biowheel 170
eb jagger 150wat heater
and whisper air pump
powerglo floursent (sp?)

would this be sufficent enough to grow willow moss or java ferns or any other plants?

 

[savga]

The lights that come with most aquariums are usually to weak to grow many plants successfully. Java fern and Java moss are very hardy low light plants however. You may be able to keep them alive. Getting the plants closer to the lights would improve your chances. You could plant the moss and fern on top of driftwood to raise them up a bit. Floating plants (like duckweed, watersprite, or brazilian pennywort) might be worth a shot too since they will be very close to the light. Check out the fresh water planted tank article in the articles section of this site for more detailed info. Rex Grigg knows his stuff.

 

[SilveRx]

o ok thanks for the tips

so how do you bring extra light in?

 

[savga]

To get more light you can either get a new light fixture or you can get an upgrade for your existing hood if you are handy at that sort of thing. www.ahsupply.com has upgrades and kits for lighting at a reasonable price, but even those aren't cheap.

 

[malkore]

more bulbs = more light

 

[madasafish]

Also, different types of bulb *can* mean more light. A power compact bulb delivers more light than a normal output fluorescent. However, bulbs with different "K ratings," or "Kelvin ratings" such as a 5500 or 6700K plant bulb will *not* give you more light.

If you go with power compact bulbs, you need an entirely different type of set up. And unless you're willing to spend more money on that, a CO2 system etc, your best bet is to go with low light plants such as java fern, java moss, Anubias species, hornwort, hygros. These are all great plants...

HTH

 

[marcus russo]

also we would need to know size of tank and how many wpg your current light puts out!