Lighting

[SJS]

Hello all! I'm a first time poster here, so please have a little patience.

I have a 29 gallon tank and I'd like to increase the lighting in terms of a brighter light. I have purchased one of those "Spectra Max" bulbs and I just don't feel that it's giving the plants what they need to grow and thrive. Right now they thrive but seem to grow little. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

[djlen]

Welcome to the forum. The amount of light you want/need depends on a couple of variables. The types of plants you want to grow and the amount of work you want to do once they start growing. Higher light grows most plants bigger and faster, but requires much more time spent on the care and feeding of them.
Limiting light slows things down a bit, but is, for the most part less work(pruning) and less worry(proper fertilization and in many cases algae).
A "low/medium" lighted 29 would have between 1.5 - 2.5 watts/gal.(50 - 80 watts). This is a good starting point, IMO. There's a lot to learn about planted tanks and the lessons are less painfully learned at lower light.
A "medium/high" lighted 29 would have between 2.5 - 4.0 watts/gal. (80 - 120 watts). This is a very rewarding light situation, but I would only suggest it for someone whose learned their tank and their plants.
I'm sure you'll get other opinions, but I feel that starting out with a high light tank can cause a lot of algae and other issues along the way.
Click on this link for an interesting article on lighting by Karen Randall: http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1998/mar/aquatic/default.asp
Whatever you decide, you'll get plenty of support here.
Good Luck
Len

[Lazonby]

SJS,

If you are using a standard plastic hood on that 29g, especially if your tank was bought as a "kit," ditch it. Go to Lowe's, Home Depot, or wherever and spend the $5 it takes to buy a custom cut piece of glass to fit the top (allow room for the filter/heater). Your hood is limiting the lighting, that is, if you are using one.

You really need power compact flourescent lights; only they can reach the bottom of the tank to sufficiently grow plants. Using a 55 watt CF plus a normal flourescent light isn't bad; two CF lights is perfect, but almost too much unless you want to inject CO2. Regardless, shoot for a bulb with a temperature rating of about 6500K. Many times, those "plant" bulbs are nothing but a gimmick. Even tomato growers use far stronger lights without "plant" bulbs! You could also think about sunlight to help supplement your existing tank lighting.

By far, a source of carbon, particularly CO2, is far more beneficial than strong light. Carbon supplies the basic building blocks of life, while light is only a catalyst for fast growth (in most plants). Balanced lighting is better than strong lighting as long as there is a constant source of carbon. Fertilizers supply the "vitamins" so to speak. In planted tanks, it's all about balance. There is no one miracle product.

[cpr4cpu]

welcome to the forums SJS, like djlen says, planted tanks require a lot of learning to be truly successful at. Plantbrain (Tom Barr) is the genius around here so be sure to look up his posts using the search function.

As for getting started, ahsupply (.com) is a goo dplace to start looking for light upgrades. I build my own, but some are not so adventurous. For bulbs, I buy mine from Home Depot. They are philips plant/aqaurium, I also use Daylight Deluxe and Natural Color bulbs (all from Home Depot). I tend to have 6 or more bulbs over my tanks so I can vary lighting to suit my growing seasons.

Compact Fluorescent is the way to go if you have the money. I invested $0 so I tend to go cheap over what works best.

Reply back with your tank size, what you have for substrate, filtration, etc and we can help get you on your way.

[SJS]

Alright here is the tank specs.
L x W x H
29.25 x 11.5 x 19

The powerfilter is a Whisper Powerfilter 60. I don't know if my previous reply was posted or not so here's the rest of the requested info. Substrate is a pea sized gravel, I also have one of those Hagen/Nutrifin CO2 systems the plants. When I do my water changes (every other week) I usually add a few caps of liquid plant fertilizer to give things an added boost.

Thanks,
Steve.

[revfred]

I'm new to aquatic plants as well. But what I have learned so far . . . and have taken the recommendations . . . is that a good nutrient rich substrate is important. I used Red Fluorite. Best price . . . even with shipping was fromhttp://www.bigalsonline.com .

I was wondering about the fertilizing schedule . . . every other week. It seems that with a gravel substrate you might have to fertilize more often. Maybe those with "wet green thumbs" might have some input on this.

Certainly increasing your lighting is a must. I'm wondering if with the present lighting and increased fertilizing with low-light plants might work.