Hey guys,
I am going to be starting a new 10 Gallon planted aquarium, I have had live plants before, but never a " planted tank ". So I have some experience with live plants, but still have a few questions for this new tank im starting. I dont know specifically what kind of plants i am going to be using, probably just what ever i can get at petco and petsmart, nothing too exotic.
My first question is about lighting, I'm going to be using 120v LED bulbs i got off Ebay, they are STUPID bright. Just one is 6.4Watts, 560 lumens @ 6000K temperature. They put out an insane amount of light. I cant decide how many bulbs im going to need. I want to make sure i have enough light for the plants to grow, but i don't want to have so much light that nothing but algae grows, i HATE Algae. I am going to be keep dwarf puffers in this tank, so algae eater like otts aren't an option, they will get picked on until they die. Each bulb is 6.4 watts, im torn between using 3 bulbs ( 1.92watts per gallon ) or 4 bulbs (2.56 watts per gallon ). I have also read before that " watts per gallon " is snake oil, so im really looking for some input on this. Here is a link to the bulbs i have, i have like 17 of these bulbs i was going to use for another project, but decided to go a different route. http://www.ebay.com/itm/13076584386...eName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648
here is the bulb i have
Here is just one bulb over the tank, as you can see its very bright! I just mocked one up real quick to get an idea of how bright one over the tank would be, im going to make a custom light fixture and it will look all professional.
My second question is about how i am going to get nutrients to the plants, i was going to do a " dirt " tank with potting soil or what ever under the gravel substrate, but i decided its not worth the effort and i dont want a chance of cloudy water, i HATE cloudy water. So i am just going to use regular substrate that i had laying around and use " Seachem Florish Tabs " buried under the substrate right at the roots of each plant. They are like little tablets that you put under the plants that slowly release nutrients to the plants roots. I wasnt planning on using Co2, and would really like to avoid it if i can, but i wouldnt be apposed to using a DIY setup if i absolutely had to.
heres a pic of the tabs i mentioned
Thanks for any input guys!
I am going to be starting a new 10 Gallon planted aquarium, I have had live plants before, but never a " planted tank ". So I have some experience with live plants, but still have a few questions for this new tank im starting. I dont know specifically what kind of plants i am going to be using, probably just what ever i can get at petco and petsmart, nothing too exotic.
My first question is about lighting, I'm going to be using 120v LED bulbs i got off Ebay, they are STUPID bright. Just one is 6.4Watts, 560 lumens @ 6000K temperature. They put out an insane amount of light. I cant decide how many bulbs im going to need. I want to make sure i have enough light for the plants to grow, but i don't want to have so much light that nothing but algae grows, i HATE Algae. I am going to be keep dwarf puffers in this tank, so algae eater like otts aren't an option, they will get picked on until they die. Each bulb is 6.4 watts, im torn between using 3 bulbs ( 1.92watts per gallon ) or 4 bulbs (2.56 watts per gallon ). I have also read before that " watts per gallon " is snake oil, so im really looking for some input on this. Here is a link to the bulbs i have, i have like 17 of these bulbs i was going to use for another project, but decided to go a different route. http://www.ebay.com/itm/13076584386...eName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648
here is the bulb i have
Here is just one bulb over the tank, as you can see its very bright! I just mocked one up real quick to get an idea of how bright one over the tank would be, im going to make a custom light fixture and it will look all professional.
My second question is about how i am going to get nutrients to the plants, i was going to do a " dirt " tank with potting soil or what ever under the gravel substrate, but i decided its not worth the effort and i dont want a chance of cloudy water, i HATE cloudy water. So i am just going to use regular substrate that i had laying around and use " Seachem Florish Tabs " buried under the substrate right at the roots of each plant. They are like little tablets that you put under the plants that slowly release nutrients to the plants roots. I wasnt planning on using Co2, and would really like to avoid it if i can, but i wouldnt be apposed to using a DIY setup if i absolutely had to.
heres a pic of the tabs i mentioned
Thanks for any input guys!
