Lighting for my 75g Planted

[saram521]

Ok, I have a standard 48x24x18(don't know how tall?) and I'm wanting to grow plants that need medium-high light, but not extreme high light conditions. I'm wanting bacopa sp., ludwigia sp., HM, cabomba, chainsword, small lobelis cardinal plant, mosses, and that's about it I think. Some people (like myself!) grow these plants in low lighting conditions, but they seem to turn out funky, so I want lighting that will grow these plants nicely. I get confused when reading these charts about what appropriate wpg's are for certain tank sizes, like "smaller tanks need more lighting, and bigger tanks need less..." What?! Doesn't make sense at all IMO. I'm not planning to use co2 on this tank (unless someone strongly suggests I should) but do plan on dosing dry ferts. Maybe having medium lighting, ferts and no co2 is a recipe for an algae farm, let me know if it is please! Anyways, I'm becoming long-winded here, so to get to the main point, does anyone have suggestions for how much wattage is sufficient for the plants I intend to keep, or better yet, suggestions on particluar strip lights?

 

[Bk718]

If you want to go med-high light and dose ferts then you would really need a carbon source in the tank to prevent algae from popping up.
For lights you can go with a Catalina 4x54w T-5 Fixture which is actually on sale now for $150 + shipping. The light will be more than enough for you to grow a LARGE variety of plants. (you can call them/email them and they will switch actinic bulbs for FW bulbs for free)

For co2 ill suggest to you what i had been suggesting to others.
Regulator Milwaukee ma957 from www.water-testers.com = $85 shipped
CO2 tank from Beveragefactory/locally or ebay.. would be best if you get a 20lb tank. This will cost you around $125.

Getting a planted tank starter properly can get expensive but in the end it will all pay off (plant sales)

So to sum it all up. Higher lighting + EI dosing of ferts + 30ppm of co2 = very healthy tank. Ofcourse finding that balance at first can be a hard thing to do.

 

[JAY973]

I think you have a multi-part problem and to be successful it will require experimenting on your part, but hopefully you'll find this information useful. Keep in mind avoiding algae is a full-time job in a planted aquarium and IMO can only be controlled not avoided.

In order to have good growth and healthy plants you need to establish a balance. More light demanding plants typically means adding nutrients and Co2. Lighting alone hasn't worked for me and almost all plants would benefit form Co2.

You may want to do a little more research on your plant selection to meet your water parameters and lighting possible supplementing Co2 with Excel. If not you'll incur a cost for having to make changes to meet your plant needs. IE I have a low tech tank Cryps, Hygro, Moss, Java plants and I can use aged tap water. In my high tech tank I use RO water and products to create that balance.

If you want to decide on a light T5 or PC would be better than standard florescents. You'll get better results from T5's and save a little engergy in the process compare to watts per power.

I hope some of the information help, the question is to general without specifics.

 

[saram521]

That's a great deal on that light strip Bk!

I'm not wanting to initially go the co2 route b/c I plan to stock my 75 to capacity with fish very similar to what you have Bk (angels, sae, tetras, rams, cories, etc.) and I thought it was better to have a lighter stocked tank for pressurized co2.

What if I heavily plant the tank, have 216w, and no ferts or co2? I know I'll be running into some algae problems, but I'm ok with a manageable level of algae. But will the 216w still be too high of a wattage amount for a low tech tank with no ferts or co2, creating a severe imbalance and a headache for me? I'm not wanting to focus SO much on the plants and don't want to keep plants that are demanding. Maybe some the plants aforementioned are too demanding for a low tech?

 

[Bk718]

For a tank your size i think an 2x54 strip would be perfect. It will allow you to do a low tech setup with ferns, anubias, crypts, mosses and not worry about co2/ferts (though it would still be good if you can dose atleast traces once a week)

You can also go for ahsupply 2x55 and retrofit your current light strip the way ive done it on my 55. That route will cost you about $100 as well

also for another light strip that will also give you 2x55 and is T-5, look into Nova Extreme SLR 2x54. Its about $115 shipped from drfoster

 

[saram521]

Am I correct in assuming a tank needs to be lightly stocked for the use of pressurized co2? I've never done co2 before, and I'd rather start off with diy if I do use co2, even though I know it'd be less stable.

Also, If I do decide to get the light strip with 4 54w t5's, could I simply take out 2 of the bulbs? That way if I ever want to increase lighting and go high(er) tech with co2 and ferts, I'll have the proper light strip already and can just add the other two bulbs back instead of having to buy another light strip. If I can remove 2 of the bulbs and still have successful light distribution, which 2 should taken out, the two in the middle, or the two on the outer edges?

 

[Keano-16]

1 Watt per Litre rule. Convert Gallons to litres, and there you go. 1.1..1.2, more than that you've got algae.

 

[Bk718]

Am I correct in assuming a tank needs to be lightly stocked for the use of pressurized co2? I've never done co2 before, and I'd rather start off with diy if I do use co2, even though I know it'd be less stable.

Also, If I do decide to get the light strip with 4 54w t5's, could I simply take out 2 of the bulbs? That way if I ever want to increase lighting and go high(er) tech with co2 and ferts, I'll have the proper light strip already and can just add the other two bulbs back instead of having to buy another light strip. If I can remove 2 of the bulbs and still have successful light distribution, which 2 should taken out, the two in the middle, or the two on the outer edges?

stocking doesnt really matter with co2. stocking would affect your filtration and perhaps your dosing of ferts.
if you get the catalina 4x54, they have 2 switches so you can run 2 bulbs for now and when you are ready to go higher flip the switch and BAM.. And you when you call the Catalina people you can ask them to rewire your lighting. So switch1 will control bulb 1-4 and switch2 control bulb 2-3 or any other combination you want. (durring the call also ask them to replace the bulbs..)