New to this, using low light, easy plants

[ScottS]

Alright, my first venture into live plants. Yikes.

First, I have some corkscrews. I simply planted them in the sand, not too deep.

I have some Anubias Petites. I planted them in the sand up front adjacent to some slate.

I also have an Anubias Nana. I wedged it between two pieces of slate, but the roots are above the sand. Is that okay?

My other Anubias Nana, I can either put in the sand or tie to a small piece of driftwood. Is one better than the other?

Since these are allegedly about the easiest and low light plants, is there anything else I need to do?

 

[mgamer20o0]

as long as the rhizome isnt in the gravel/sand is fine. i personally like wood or rocks to tie anubias too. while it is possible to get the roots only in the gravel i think they look better and do better on rocks/wood.

keep the light on 8-10 hours a day. what size tank what kind of lighting do you have?

 

[ScottS]

It's a 46 bow front, so it's about 18" deep and the lighting is what came with the hood. I presumed a better bulb was my next step. I've been looking to see what bulb would be best without having to buy a new tank cover and hood.

 

[DragonFish71]

I have anubias nana planted in my 29G tank gravel and it's doing well enough that it's shooting up a flower. I don't have the rhizome completely covered though. I buried it where it's about half under the gravel. It's one of those versitile plants that looks great planted partially or tied to something. I have found that the easiest way to tie it down is using a rubberband. I did that for my 20L, I bound it to a piece of lava rock. Rooted on wonderfully. Now I'm experimenting with a new way to display it that I haven't seen done before. Once it's going good, I'll post some pics.

As for lighting, I just use the aquarium plant bulbs that came with my hoods. I know I can replace the burnt out bulb cheap at Wal-mart.

Java ferns and anubias do well in low light tanks. They are slow growing plants anyways. They only thing extra I do for mine is I use API Leaf Zone as ferts once a week.

Beautiful tank!

 

[timwag2001]

nice tank. i like your slate formation.

 

[mgamer20o0]

really buying new bulbs wouldnt help. they can only out put so many watts.

 

[ScottS]

Would a double strip light like this be beneficial for my setup? I really like what the real plants do for the tank. I looked at a retro kit from Current, but it was too big for my present hood. The linked setup only has two 21 watt bulbs, but they are different spectrum and they are T5's fwiw.

Thanks all!

 

[happygirl65]

I think that would give you a nice amount of ligt providing you want to stay with lower light level plants.
BEAUTIFUL arrangement by the way. I love the rocks and the placement of your plants and driftwood. Very nice work.

 

[mgamer20o0]

personally would go with some ho t5 light but it depends. what do you want to do with the tank? low light med light high light?

 

[ScottS]

I presume a T5HO fixture is different from a regular T5 fixture? I'm terribly ignorant on this aspect. The T5 retrofit from Current fits into a 5" deep hood, but mine is only 4" deep. The easy answer is just get a new fixture, but I've not seen a replacement cover for my tank and the current cover only has a 4" panel of glass to let light through.

I'd be happy enough with low light. I don't want to increase my eqpt needs and time for maintenance anymore than the regular water changes and gravel vacuuming. I'm happy enough with the way my tank looks now, I just want to be able to preserve it and keep my newly purchased plants green and healthy.

 

[mgamer20o0]

t5ho is t5 high output more power goes though the bulb putting more light into the tank. i would check out some of the other t5ho set ups. though the lights you linked will give more light into the tank it you might not be able to grow all of the low light plants. if you are ok with anubias java ferns moss and maybe some of the others then go with it. there is nothing wrong with a easy low light tank.

 

[ScottS]

t5ho is t5 high output more power goes though the bulb putting more light into the tank. i would check out some of the other t5ho set ups. though the lights you linked will give more light into the tank it you might not be able to grow all of the low light plants. if you are ok with anubias java ferns moss and maybe some of the others then go with it. there is nothing wrong with a easy low light tank.

Thanks, but is it just the bulb, or does a T5ho require a whole different fixture/ballast?

 

[mgamer20o0]

fixture ballast....

i dont have the links on this comp but look though my other posts i link to two good and cheap places to get t5 lighting.