please help a beginner in planted tanks

S

shibby

AC Members
Nov 26, 2005
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hello, longtime fishkeeper, firsttime plant keeper.

I have a 65 gal L:48" W:13" H:25"

currently I have a 40 watt floroscent strip. So I realize that I dont have adequate lighting to grow anything. I did a bit of research and found some power compact retrofit kits from ahsupply.com. I plan up trying to fit in the 2x 55W retrofit kit into my lighthood to obtain 110watts.

all I want to grow is jungle val for the time being for a somewhat miminial effect. Once i get this lighting setup, what else do i need? co2? fertilization (dosing? root tabs?)

also, for lighting would a 50/50 (half actinic, half natural light) powercompact bulb be okay to use for plants?

thanks!!
 
You won't "need" the co2 or ferts once you have lights set up. Though it does help. Jungle vals are fairly easy to care for, especially when you get your lighting set up and this is an established tank, right? So you probably have enough nutrients for it to survive without ferts.

I think actinic doesn't do anything for plants... someone will have to double check that.
 
Welcome to AC!

Ahsupply has some great lights and the 110w over your 65g (1.7wpg) will give you decent results for a good variety of plants.
As far as co2/ferts, with that low lighting its not really required but it wouldnt hurt. You can even try a diy co2 just to see what kind of results you get.

50/50 bulb would be useless in a planted tank. You need something along the lines of 6700K-10,000K

also if you are in the market for lighting make sure that 110w is what you really want, not only now but for future plant growth as well..
 
Bk828 said:
Welcome to AC!

Ahsupply has some great lights and the 110w over your 65g (1.7wpg) will give you decent results for a good variety of plants.
As far as co2/ferts, with that low lighting its not really required but it wouldnt hurt. You can even try a diy co2 just to see what kind of results you get.

50/50 bulb would be useless in a planted tank. You need something along the lines of 6700K-10,000K

also if you are in the market for lighting make sure that 110w is what you really want, not only now but for future plant growth as well..
Click to expand...

thanks for the great info so far everyone!

I think i'm gonna go for the ahsupply setup just for ease.

according to the description of the coralife 50/50 bulb:
"50/50 lamps combine 50% 10,000K with 50% True Actinic 03 Blue phosphors"

so, one half (the 10,000K) is useful for plants, while the actinic half is useless? I"m only asking really cause i've used teh 50/50 lights b4 for general aquarium lighting and i like the hue it gives.
 
Bk828 said:
the actinic half will be completely useless. I know what you mean by the hues, but people were able to bring out some nice hues with Phillips bulbs that are in the 8,000K rating.
Click to expand...

hmm, ok, makes sense. where can i get these Phillips bulbs? do they make them in power compact size?

what hue would a 8,000K give off, compared to a 10,000K (which is supposed very whitish)

thanks!
 
Order your bulbs from AH Supply when you order the 2X55W kit. The most common bulb color is 6700k. This is an all purpose plant bulb that will fit your needs.

Might not need CO2. Not enough lights to worry about adding this. Doesn't hurt though... Ferts in small quantities might be next...
 
would a pair of 10,000K 55W power compact bulbs for a total of 110W for my tank be sufficent to grow jungle val?
 
I really think that you should go for the 6700k lights as the color in will look more "lush" than the 10,000k light (IMO) when the tank is fully planted out. It keeps the greens bright and "real" looking, at least in my opinion and I have had all three options on my tank.

The answer is yes on the light being sufficient though growth will be moderate at best, have you looked into other low light plants for your scape? Look around the gallery and I know there are a couple of tanks where the scape was based on vals that looked very nice.

Also at that light level I would not add CO2 and would stick with root tabs and trace ferts only and sparingly. The plants will tell you how often to fertilize (you'll notice decreased vigor and color).
 
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