Plant Newbie

[HarmonyMahi]

Hi all!

I just bought a 46-gal (I know, kind of a random, weird number) bowfront tank. I've always had smaller tanks, but now that I have a larger one, I really want to let it go crazy with plants. :D

Thus far, I have a forest of anacharis (started out with about 8 stalks, now I have about 40!) 3 small amazon swords, 1 ozelot sword (which is kind of dumpy now after the move), 1 anubias nana on wood, 1 anubias barteri in the dirt, 1 dwarf sagittaria, and one micro sword which refuses to be the crazy grower I heard it was. They're all pretty hardy, and have lived through a plethora of my insane tank changes, snail bombings, and other things. :o

My KH and GH are both 9, my pH is 8.5, the temp is about 82F, and I have a CO2 bubbler. As for the lights, I bought a Coralife Plant Lamp at Petsmart or somewhere. It said it was for growing plants and I was like, hey I'm growing plants, so I bought it. I have 2 of those. I use a bunch of plant fertilizers, iron supplements, etc.

OK so, from what I've said, does it look like I have a good setup for my plants? This is their last tank, I swear (went from a 15 to a 29 to this one), so no more uprooting or anything. Any and all suggestions will be welcome and appreciated! :)

[jujubee]

I am new to plants as well, but it sounds like you are on the right path. For those lights you have, how many watts are they putting out? This will be imprtant in determining what plants you can grow. Good luck with you tank. I have a 46 gallon bow front that I would love to plant one day.

[HarmonyMahi]

I'm pretty sure they're each putting out 20 watts... so 40 watts in all. Is that enough? :confused:

[jujubee]

40 watts isn't really enough on a 46 gallon tank. Usually for low light plants you want 1.5 watts per gallon which would be roughly 70 watts. For plants with higher light requirements (as i think some sword plants are and also dwarf sag) you would need more like between 2 and 3 watts per gallon which for your tank would be between roughly 90 and 120 watts. Hopefully someone with more experience with those particular plants will respond as I am pretty new to plants.

[HarmonyMahi]

Hmmm I guess this means I need more wattage... new bulbs... more driving... :rolleyes:

[christopher1260]

I just picked up a 55 watt compact flourescent kit from www.ahsupply.com. It is awesome. My plants have never looked better and the kit was an excellent value. It was really easy to install. I would recommend it to anyone.

[HarmonyMahi]

I was looking into compact fluorescents... I just can't find a length measurement on any of them! My tank is 36" across the top, and I can't figure out if these lights will fit it... :confused:

[Torf]

I was looking into compact fluorescents... I just can't find a length measurement on any of them! My tank is 36" across the top, and I can't figure out if these lights will fit it... :confused:

Using an existing hood with CF bulbs will probably require some modification. The bases and ballasts and whatnot aren't going to be compatible with your stock hood.

One thing that can be done is to research bulbs first to get an idea of what you need as far as size. If you have enough room in the hood to wedge a couple of 55 watt bulbs in there (Don't forget new ballasts either!), you should be fine with that light level. I run 108 watts over a 55 gallon (actually more like 48, but the marketing says 55), and it behaves like a good med light tank. I managed to cram 8 of the little spiral twist CF bulbs into the cheap hoods. At 13 watts each, they put out enough light for most plants. The bulbs I got are TCP spring lamps. VERY small compared to the regular store brands, and the color temperature is 6500K instead of the typical 2700-3100 store fare.