29 gallon lighting

andyjs

andyjs

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Jun 6, 2009
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So the setup is a 29 gallon and the only current plants are:
3 narrow-leaf chain sword
3 jungle val (all currently sending out runners, so there will be more soon)
3 small swords (one melon, two ozelot)
duckweed and some other small floaters which I will probably have to remove pretty regularly to keep them in check
I don't plan on adding much more, if anything.

So, what kind of lighting should I be looking at for these plants? Currently, I have a 15w double tube (so 30w) fixture that I DIY'd a while ago, but the 18" bulbs aren't wide enough for the 30" tank. I'm planning on getting a 24" double tube shoplight (40w) and building a wooden canopy to mount them in. Would 40w be enough? I also have a single 20w fixture that I could also add to the canopy for 60w, but would this help the plants, or just lead to more algae? I also have most of the parts to a DIY CO2 system laying around if it would be necessary with either 40 or 60w

For ferts, I'm currently using Flourish root tabs. Will my plants benefit from liquid ferts as well? I know the swords are big root feeders, but what about the others?

I'm not looking for extreme growth or really dense plants, I just want what I have to stay green and maybe spread out a little
 
For the plants you have 40w is probably enough. Do your root tabs have both macros (NPK) & micros w/iron? Should be fine too, swords like some iron etc even if macros are ok from fish waste, nitrates 10-20ppm.
 
I agree, 40watts is fine. The plants will really take off after adding the CO2.
 
Ok, thanks guys. I started working on the new canopy today. I'll probably pick up the 40w fixture on Monday. Now I just need to dig out the parts to my CO2 system and see if I'm missing anything. For a 29 gallon, will 1 2L bottle be enough or should I go with 2?
 
Ok, I just went out and got one 2L which I will probably have hooked up tonight. Next time I'm out, I'll get another one somewhere. I made my own rubber stopper tops for 3 bottles when I first set up the system, and I managed to find my bubble ladder diffuser, gang valve, and CO2-resistant air tubing, so everything's ready to go but the bottles
 
So the tank has been running about a month with 60 watts of light. The different plants have given me different results:
The val is doing GREAT. I put 3 plants in, I now have 9 from 3" to about 24".
The chain sword I had all but given up on until I changed the CO2 injection setup last week to make it more efficient-it may have saved them.
The swords were doing ok, then went downhill for some reason, but are also bouncing back after the CO2 revamp. I replaced the marble queen with a flame sword, which has been doing GREAT the past few days (a new nice big RED leaf every couple days).
The floating plants were doing well-too well, so I removed 99.9% of the duckweed, so the red-root floater could get a better hold. It is doing great and getting super red and looks great.

The CO2 system was the 2 2Ls going to a bubble ladder diffuser. This wasn't working that great. Slime kept clogging the ladder and causing the bubbles to clump together and come out quicker causing less CO2 to dissolve in the water. I changed it up first by adding a filter bottle to keep the slime from reaching the tank. Then, I hooked it up to the intake of my canister filter to try out that method of injection. It made a HUGE difference. The plants were doing ok before, but they were doing 100% better almost overnight

For ferts, I'm still just using the root tabs and also dosing a basic iron supplement.

I'm not really seeing any problems with the plants right now, but what are some basic symptoms of common nutrient deficiencies?
 
Thanks! Those were pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I have seen some minor symptoms of a few of those. I'll have to try adding some various ferts and see if I can improve the plant growth even more
 
no problem.
 
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