Too much light?

[GobyGuy5]

If I get 4-5 watts per gallon in a shallow (12" high) aquarium, will that be too much light for some plants as a Java Fern or Underwater Banana plant? If so how many watts per gallon will these plants tollerate?

[Ross434]

Yes, this will definitely be too much light for a lot of plants. There are still a lot of species that will thrive and will display unique and exotic colorings under this amount of light. Try red, yellow, and orange plants. Dont have the species names atm sorry

[Godslayer]

If you are going to keep that much light you will need CO2 and nutrients or algae will own you. Java Fern will do fine with that much light but it is classified as a low light plant. With 4-5 w/g light you have a world of options as far as plants go.

Bob

[GobyGuy5]

what do you mean by nutrients?

[Godslayer]

By nutrients I mean the nurtrients plants need for the rapid growth that will be a result of such high light values. Nutrients can mostly be supplied by fertilizers but there are a few others that you will need to supplement.

[djlen]

If you don't learn about balancing your aquarium with nutrients for the plants you are most likely in for a nightmare. You are looking at a lot of light for that high a tank. Algae will rule.......
Tell us more about the tank....size, gallons, fish, plants etc. Do you know anything about your kH, pH,nitrates? Give us something to work with.
Len

[damion]

:eek:

[superjohnny]

Originally posted by damion
Some leaves from my amazon swords is turning yellow. What's the problem?

It's Gods way of punishing you for going around and hijacking other people's threads :D

GobyGuy5 start out with less light... about 2w/gallon or less since you have a shallow tank. Plant some plants and get them growing. Add more light and maybe CO2. You have to take this in a natural progression... kinda ease into it a bit. Going straight for 5w/gallon and you are going to have a swamp, not a fish tank.