Carpet Plants

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FishL0ver

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Dec 29, 2018
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Hey, I have a planted 10 gallon tank. I really want a type of carpet plant that can live in 10 watt lighting. The carpet plant I'm looking for has to be able to thrive in 10 watt lighting and be compatible with shrimp.
 

fishorama

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Jun 28, 2006
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Is it a single fluorescent tube, incandescent bulb (or 2) or LEDs? I've used the first 2 but not LEDs.

The good news, a 10g is shallow, so more light reaches the substrate if it's not shaded by tall plants. You might "try" glossostigma or staurogyne. Skip dwarf hairgrass & dwarf baby tears unless you have co2 (I'm guessing you don't; neither do I. I've kept both alive for only a short time, without much coverage spread, meh). HM (baby tears) vs HC (dwarf baby tears) --HM is much easier but...slow...

Dwarf sword plants ie chain swords (e. tennelus now or lailliopsis sp?) might work, as will dwarf sags but they might seem kind of large for a "ground plant" in a 10g. Crypt. parva is also nice but VERY slow growing.

A full carpet takes some work & time. Work on you tweezer planting skills, you're going to need them, lol!
 

tanker

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F F fishorama has some good ideas for ground cover plants. I have not had much success with LEDs. I had PC lights for years and had lots of plants. Last year I switched over to LEDS, and my plants no longer "flourish". They still grow, but much slower.
 

the loach

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I have not had much success with LEDs. I had PC lights for years and had lots of plants. Last year I switched over to LEDS, and my plants no longer "flourish". They still grow, but much slower.
It's because manufacturers of aquarium LEDS have to hide specs, such as the Lumen per Watt ratio, because they still can not compete with other types of lighting.
They are only advertised with stuff like "saves half of the energy", yes because it only has half of the output as well.
 

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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I think knowing the Make/Model of the light fixtures will help.

You most certainly can grow most all plants under them; But unfortunately the number of watts is basically the amount of power they will used when plugged in, which doesn't necessarily equate to the amount of light produced (You can argue that it's not the same for any sort of fixture because of the efficiency of the reflector)
 

the loach

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A reflector can not increase lumen.

Most off the shelf aquarium led fixtures are under powered. But the good thing about leds is they have them on a roll as well, and you can easily stick an extra 4 feet inside your hood for the plants, where this would be impossible with any other type of lighting. Not that expensive as well.... still do mind the specifications as there is a enormous selection in leds.
 

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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A reflector will affect the amount of light that is directed at your aquarium,

having 1,000,000 lumens will not help your plants grow if it's all directed upwards... That's the whole reason reflectors are used with flourescant, incandescent and halide fixtures... the light will radiate 360 degrees from the emitter, the reflector will direct that.

LEDs are unidirectional, and will use lenses/optics to focus or spread the light accordingly.
 
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