Ran into a wall with DHG...

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M00n3at3r

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Hey guys, so about 5 months ago I plants some dwarf hair grass in my planted 29g. I have flourite gravel under a thin layer of black gravel, I dose weekly with flourish comprehensive, do weekly 50 wc, and run a 6500k zoomed bulb that is on a 8 hour timer. I haven't seen any growth since planting them. It hasn't died, but it hasn't grown either. I understand that DHG does need high light and high nutrients, but without upping to CO2, can you help it grow any faster? What are my options for lighting on a 29?
 
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Byron Amazonas

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I assume the present tube is T8? And probably a 24-inch tube? This is what I have on my 29g, and I consider it moderate light at best. I wouldn't expect carpet-type plants to do well; the fact that yours is remaining alive is pretty good in itself.

As for increasing light, you could go to a single tube T5 and use a HO tube, if you can find this fixture (most T5 seem to be dual tube, and as both have to be lit to work this is a lot of brightness). With this increase, additional fertilization may also help. Flourish Comp twice weekly instead of once, or perhaps Flourish Comp once with Flourish Trace once. I have found the latter to provide more nutrients to the plants (increased growth) without problem algae as I did have with twice weekly doses of Comp. Every tank is different though.

Another light option is of course LED, if you can find a good one. I have no real experience here, so will leave this topic for those who do. We did go into this a lot in another thread last week, might want to hunt that down in the plant section.

Byron.
 

Kannan Fodder

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I have a Fluval Spec 2g that comes with a bright LED, and planted dwarf hair grass and anubias nana for a betta. Both plants seem to be doing well, but because I leave the light on for 12 hours or more, I have a slight algae problem starting. The DHG seems to be slowly spreading.
 

M00n3at3r

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Byron, thank you as always. Do you think the t5 hood would fit in the old hood? Then I can keep it a clean look. Is it just a simple one from a home improvement store?
 

FreshyFresh

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You can get twin-tube 24" T5 fixtures, but like said, that would be a LOT of light for a 29g. I'd be inclined to run two 24" T8, 6500K's if you could find or make one somehow. Or.. look around for a hood or strip light that has ~3 incandescent sockets for 3, 10 watt ~6500K CFLs. There is one out there intended for reptile tanks IIRC.

That's the problem with 29's. They're pretty tall for their footprint, so getting light to the bottom without 'over lighting' the rest of the tank is a challenge.
 

Byron Amazonas

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Joel is correct. Another option though for dual T5 is if you can get NO (= normal output) rather than HO tubes. I cannot get NO tubes where I am, but I have heard some in the US use them, so I guess they are available somewhere. Probably not very popular, since NO is basically equivalent to T8 in output, but at higher cost.

I don't know the hood you presently have, but if the inner workings can be taken out (this is usually fairly easy) you might then pick up a fixture from a home improvement store and fit it. I've no idea what fixtures might be available in your area, but worth taking a look round. I did this when the ballast on my dual T8 over the 5-foot tank went last month. T8 is no longer being made for tanks, as the focus is now on LED. An electrician wanted $250 to "fix" the fixture, though it was so old it had fuses as well as individual ballasts and he wasn't sure he could deal with those. I looked around and found a dual T8 shop light at Home Depot that would fit easily inside the housing, so I just pulled out the old stuff and with two screws fitted the shop fixture. Cost me a total of $30 and I have the equivalent of a brand new fixture.

Byron.
 

dougall

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You can get twin-tube 24" T5 fixtures, but like said, that would be a LOT of light for a 29g. I'd be inclined to run two 24" T8, 6500K's if you could find or make one somehow. Or.. look around for a hood or strip light that has ~3 incandescent sockets for 3, 10 watt ~6500K CFLs. There is one out there intended for reptile tanks IIRC.

That's the problem with 29's. They're pretty tall for their footprint, so getting light to the bottom without 'over lighting' the rest of the tank is a challenge.
If you think a 29 is tall, try a 37 ;)

another couple of options to consider would be a dual T5HO fixture with separate power cords per bulb that way you don't have to have both bulbs on all the time, and could maybe have higher light in the middle of your photoperiod for an hour or 2.

or Hagen make the single lamp GLO fixtures, the reflectors in these are awesome, and should give you more usable light than a dual T5NO fixture.


but ultimately, as Joel said, your problem will be getting enough light at the bottom of the tank to grow the hairgrass, without having too much light in the rest of the tank.
 

FreshyFresh

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If you think a 29 is tall, try a 37 ;)
LOL. I hear that. I do like the center brace on 37's though. Braceless 29's always seem to have that disturbing bow to them. I had a United Pet Group 29 crack diagonally across the back on me out of the blue about a year ago. Been pretty gun shy on them since.
 

M00n3at3r

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Thank you all for the replies. Like I said I want to avoid having to do co2 so I will see about either a 2 bulb t8 or single bulb t5. I'm running into the light getting to the bottom with my 15g column as well. I mostly have java fern in there but even with a single t5 there isn't much light getting down.
 

TL1000RSquid

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I run dual 30" t5NO on my 29, works well the only downside is the only bulbs I can get are coralife/aqueon
 
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