I have a 55 gallon tropical community tank that I have been thinking about planting. I have several questions because I have never done a planted tank before. I have two 48" 40W lights in my overhead. Will plants grow with this bulb or do I have to get the special plant lighting? Also, I will probably have to change out the substrate and possibly add CO2. What is the sequence of events that I need to do to make sure that the inhabitants of my tank don't suffer if I do all of these changes? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Considering Planting - Lighting Adequate?
- Thread starter gcis
- Start date
first off what spectrum are the bulbs at (K rating. should be on the bulb it's self), plants do best in between 6,500K and 10,000K. also what substrate do you have, you may not need to replace it (unless you want to do it for aesthetic reasons). with that amount of light i doubt you really wont need CO2 in your tank (though it cant hurt much)
I can't decipher off of the light the range. I just used normal shop lights (don't know what the standard range is on those). The substrate is a black and white gravel that is decent size but I've always heard that smaller is better for plants. That's great if I don't need CO2, less money is always better in my opinion!
well if ther just shop lights (usaly T8s) you probably need new bulbs just look for them in the range i said before. also shop light tend to be less affective as other lighting but thay do work well for low light low tech tanks. yes smaller gravel is better but not necessary. as long as it is pea-sized-ish it should be fine but again if you really want to replace it there are alot of cheap options but no mater what you will go through a mine cycle when you replace the gravel.
You should be able to grow low-med low light plants, java fern, moss, crypts, dwarf sag anubias maybe even swords & some stem plants. They're a good way to try out plants without too much change ($$).
Home Depot etc sell T8 bulbs, it takes some study to find the k rating. Not expensive, I think 2/$8.
Home Depot etc sell T8 bulbs, it takes some study to find the k rating. Not expensive, I think 2/$8.