I need help with an established planted tank.

I have a 29 gallon tank that currently has 3 German Blue Rams ( 2 female , 1 male), 1 female fancy tailed guppy, and one bristle nosed pleco. It currently has a 20 watt aquarium plant growth bulb, and an 18 watt florescent bulb of unknown variety. I have 2 1/2 to 3 inches small grade gravel. I have the following plants in the tank:wisteria, elodea, java moss, aponogeton crispius, dwarf sagitaria, Bacopa Australis , corkscrew vale, anubias nana, ludwigia arcuata, and varrius small sword plants ( They are still surviving through being moved 6 or 7 times in the last 3 years . I mean moved houses not just the plants.)




I would like to start taking care of my plants and not just the fish, as I recently added most of these plants. Can you give me instructions on how to best plant and fertilize these plants. I don't think I am quite ready to dive into CO2 . Advice please!!!:help::help::help::1zhelp::1zhelp::1zhelp: I am appealing to all of you plant gurus out there.:bowing:

The problem is this is a 29 gallon which makes my options limited. My husband will never go for spending $100 on lights. The T5 lights that would fit my tank 2 Coralife dual T5 fixtures which would give me: 18 x 4 = 72 watts, * 1.2 for T5's = 86.4 watts works out to $90 not including tax. I don't seem to be getting any closer to finding the solution for my lighting problem. My 10 gallon tank has 18 watts plus full sunlight for 6 hours a day on the sunny days. I know next to nothing about doing electrical work. I have no idea how to go about doing a DIY hood that would provide 3-5 watts per gallon for a 29 gallon tank. Any suggestions?
The only reason im not doing the CO2 yet is because I have heard I will need a hydrometer, a GH test , and a KH test kit. The 2 closest LFS don't have these test kits. I also know that CO2 is no use unless you have proper lighting, and fertilizers or nutrients in the water. Is this information incorrect?

phanmc said:

How about around $80? Dr. Foster & Smith have T5HO lights that would suit your needs for around 72 not including shipping
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+16770&pcatid=16770

If you can't spend money on the lighting then look into CO2 injection. Read up on the DIY yeast method or buy one of the brand name ones like Nutrafin or RedSea.

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It looks like the link you showed has 4 bulbs in the pic, but when you look at the description for the freshwater setup you are only getting a 2 bulb setup, which means I would have to get 2 for a total without shipping of $142.38 for just under 4 wpg if the 1.2 watts per gallon out put per actual watt boast about T5's are true.
Am I wrong in what I am seeing?


http://www.innovativelights.com/esu-58121.html
$99.48 with shipping gives me

18 x 4 = 72 watts, * 1.2 for T5's = 86.4 watts
over 29 gallons = just under 3 watts per gallon.

phanmc said:

48w of T5HO is all you need for your setup (low maintenance non-CO2). Going much higher will require you to use CO2 and ferts on a regular basis.



No need for a hydrometer and if you are simply using a DIY yeast method no need to know your ph and kh either. PH and KH can be used to determine how much CO2 is being injected, which is important in a pressurized CO2 system where you can overdose CO2, not so important in a yeast system because the output is so low.

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I am planning on doing the DIY CO2, I just thought I needed to increase my wpg before doing the CO2. I have heard that the plants will not benefit from CO2 if they don't have enough light to process the addition.

It sounds like I should be getting my DIY CO2 set up started. It seems this must be the time of year for upgrading lighting on fish tanks. All of the links in this post about where to get the lights at the prices shown are all out of stock. The T5HO is metal halide isn't it? I have heard there are heat isssues with using the metal halide. Input please! I would eventually like to grow some of the high light requirement plants that have the red coloring.