Plants, anyone?

[HennaHonu]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for any plants I can get a hold of. I'm just starting a 40 gallon that is nearly empty. I have 2 watts/gallon with 10,000 K, Actinic, and moon lighting. I am happy to pay for shipping.

I also have a 10 gallon, also with 2 watts/gallon and 10,000 K + Actinic. I have 2 nanas in there now.

Thanks!

 

[black hills tj]

10000K and Actinic lighting is less than ideal for plants. Just so you know...

 

[HennaHonu]

Uh oh

Oh really? What should I have gotten? Everything I read said it was really good. I looked for actual pigment spectrum data for individual plants and plant groups, but didn't find much.

 

[kangster]

i think those lights are for saltwater tanks and do very little for the plants...
i heard a bulb with kevin temperature of 5000-10000 is ideal for plants...even though i dont really know what that means this number is usually labeled on the box

 

[black hills tj]

The 10000k bulbs won't hurt your tank, but the actinics won't be of much use. I run two 10000k bulbs and two 6500k bulbs on my 75g planted tank. Plants can use the light at the lower end of the spectrum better than the high end. A 10000k bulb will produce a more true white light, and a 6500k bulb will produce more of a yellow light.

 

[kangster]

i just got this new light bulb called "FloraSun" for my 10 gallon and it says it is 5000k with 15 watts...
i had a 14 watt regular fllourecent that came with the set when i bought the tank...
it seems like the light is actually dimmer than the previous one...maybe because the other one was producing more true white light and this one has a peak at blue and red...
well i will have to get use to the dimmer lights if the plants enjoy this...

 

[FishEggs]

it's not really dimmer it's just a different color. you should switch out the actinic bulbs for 6700k bulbs and the plants will show their appreciation.

 

[Yellow Eye Tang]

hey since we are on the subject here.... you say the plants use the lower spectrum of light? Is this for ALL plants or a certain type? I have a 20g planted tank running DIY Co2 and just dont seem to see the growth I would expect out of a 10000k/actinic bulb. My bulb is 65w so I assume it is good for the plants even if half the bulb is actinic. Should I go out and invest in a full 10,000k bulb or do they make them strictly for plants? I'm also using Florish Excel as a fert.

 

[FishEggs]

first off flourish Excel is a liquid carbon source and if you have DIY co2 you dont need to use Excel. you're basically double dosing co2. i dont think there is any harm in that but without the other ferts, your plants wont grow any better. you need to use Flourish Comprehensive (it should be a brown liquid) with the diy co2 and also might need potassium if your plant leaves develope holes in them.

it's all basically a balancing act between Light, Ferts and Co2. the more light you have the more ferts and co2 you need for the plants to grow faster but if you get one of them out of balance the algae creeps in to use up the excess.

 

[Yellow Eye Tang]

just out of my curiosity... what natural elements in a tank are there naturally? Do you have to dose these things or are they there by any other means?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Actually, 10000k bulbs are pretty good for planted tanks as well. But there are some that are better than others, depending on where the actual peaks are for each of the colors. My preference is 6500k-6700k for my planted tanks, and no actinics. Actinics do nothing except maybe enhance the colors of the fish if on during the day. They do nothing for the plants. But another positive is for those who don't want to run CO2, they have the option of lowering the w/g by either running actinics with the daylight bulbs, or running 50/50 bulbs. I do this on my 26G so I don't have to run CO2, I run a single 65W 50/50 bulb. It's just for java moss anyways, so I don't need anything more than that. And the 50/50 helps with any algae issues due to too high lighting with no CO2.

Also, when you calculate the w/g, you do not include the actinics. So if you used the actinics in the w/g, then you actually have only 1w/g or less.

 

[HennaHonu]

Since we've gone a different direction: What sort of fertilizer should I get? I've been looking around the forums, but it's hard to figure out with the abbreviations.

 

[mgamer20o0]

dry ferts. Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - Home

 

[black hills tj]

Rex Griggs dry fert starter pack

 

[mgamer20o0]

i normally say rex but he had a lot of heath problems and was back ordered a lot. the guy who runs the site i linked is a member of the san fran plant club and ships out right away.

 

[black hills tj]

i normally say rex but he had a lot of heath problems and was back ordered a lot. the guy who runs the site i linked is a member of the san fran plant club and ships out right away.

Really? I didn't know that. I haven't ordered from Rex in over a year or so though.

 

[mgamer20o0]

yea its been some time. a few people had a couple months before they got their stuff he seems to be getting it out just a lot slower these days.

 

[HennaHonu]

Ok, back to the light question. I'm confused about something. Plants use photosynthetic pigments to harvest electrons from light. These pigments absorb electrons at different wavelengths. All plants contain chlorophyll a, which absorbs light most effectively at around 440 nm. Chlorophyll a is also effective at 680 nm, but it actually reduces the wavelength to 440 before absorbing it. Carotenoids are in most aquatic plants and absorb light between 550-620 nm. Here's the absorption spectra for these:
http://www.life.illinois.edu/govindjee/paper/fig5.gif
So, looking at the spectrum from the 50/50 bulbs below, they should be great for the plants. Why aren't they better?

 

[black hills tj]

Most of the use-able light in a 50/50 bulb is in the blue-green range. Yes...it does spike in the red/red-yellow range, but a 6500 or 6700k bulb will give you more of the yellow/red-yellow instead of just a peak at that wavelength.

When it comes down to it, a 50/50 bulb does produce a fair amount of use-able light for plants, but a straightforward daylight bulb like a 10000k or 6500/6700k bulb produces the most ideal light.

 

[HennaHonu]

FYI - I am still looking for plants. I like anubias nana's, crypts, and moss in particular. I am open to new low-med light varieties of course =]