lighting on a 75g.

[andruboz]

my new 75g came with a single 4 foot light fixture and a 'daylight' bulb. nice and bright but will it keep my sword plant alive? i am thinking not. does home depot carry a bulb that will work or do i
have to spend the big bucks at the lfs?
do i need to buy a 2 bulb fixture?

the tank is 20" deep but the sword plant is raised up about 6 inches off the bottom.

post 300. :)

[NJ Devils Fan]

I have a 72g planted tank and when I got it, I also only got a single bulb light fixture. Since then, I bought 2 double bulb shop lights from Home depot for about $15 total. I got 2 6500K bulbs for about $3 and 2 5000K natural daylight bulbs for about $15 or so. I have a total of 160 watts. My plants are doing great. I would also recommend doing the same, and injection CO2 and adding some liquid fertilizers. You will be able to put any plants in your tank and not have to worry about them not growing. In the low light conditions you have now, not many plants other than Java moss and Java ferns will grow alright because they need more light to photosynthesize.

[Jak Crow]

NJ. What specific fixtures did you get and how did you position them? Are they on the tank or hanging?

[NJ Devils Fan]

One of them has this little cage thing on the bottem and the other is just small and plain. They are sitting right on the tank. When I get the digital camera back, I will take some pictures for you.

[TwoTankAmin]

There are a number of different swords. Some need very high light while others will do well with less and some will even be OK with lower light. You did not specifiy which sword you have.

No matter what light levels are needed by any given sword, the one thing they all need is root fertilizers. Swords take most of their nutrition through their roots. Additionally, they should have laterite/fluorite/diy substitute in the lower portion of the substrate that will bind micronutrients so the plant roots can suck them back out.

[Jak Crow]

Originally posted by NJ Devils Fan
One of them has this little cage thing on the bottem and the other is just small and plain. They are sitting right on the tank. When I get the digital camera back, I will take some pictures for you.

That would be cool. Thanks.

[NJ Devils Fan]

I forgot to mention, the small one is infront above the part of the lid that opens, so, when I have to open it to feed the fish, etc, I just life it and put it on the bigger one.