lighting question

C

chilligirl

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Nov 9, 2007
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okay, so, I got up the nerve and bought three live plants the other day. I've never kept live plants before, as I've not been confident in my ability to keep them alive.

with good reason it seems! my plants are already failing, one in particular. My water params are perfect, albeit only trace nitrates, but I am using a liquid fertilizer. I suspect this is a lighting issue. The tank (90 gallons) gets filtered daylight (filtered through a frosted window and a curtain, on the other side of the room). The light it came with is, I fear, woefully inadequate, although maybe I'm wrong...

The light is a Coralife single strip 48" colormax full-spectrum t-5. It says "ideal for freshwater and planted aquariums", however, it's only 28 watts. I read that for plants it should be 1 1/2-3 watts per gallon.

Is this light I have somehow more intense, making it enough lighting for a few plants? Or am I right in assuming the light is the problem?

Or is this just a matter of needing to wait a few months until my tank is more established (it's a new tank, cycled from seeded media, stocked with 6 angels, 2 gbr, 2 a.borellii, 2 nannacara, 3 platy, 6 glowlights, 3 yoyo loaches, and a bushynose pleco)?
 
Unfortunately you're right and the light fixture is inadequate for the tank size. T5 lighting is more intense than the standard T10-T12, but you would still need to triple the wattage to reliably grow plants.
 
thanks. Sadly, better lighting will have to wait awhile due to budget constraints :( So I guess the current plants are doomed. Oh well, at least I've got a good supply of plants from the lfs - their plants are beautiful, great selection, and 3 for $12, which is super cheap for around here!
 
Yeah - 5 more lust like it and your light would be good.

4' if a good place to be as you can get GE 9325K bulbs in there (T-10) or any other combo. So long as you're at ~2wpg - or a bit less if you're not planning to add CO2 - you'll be good. Tek makes awesome reflectors for T-5 bulbs, AH_Supply makes awesome PC reflectors. T-5s are a bit more efficient than PC, but you can get more wattage per unit area from PCs. In the long run, T-5s are also a tad cheaper to run, bulbs are a little cheaper...

At any rate, you want >5K, <10K bulbs that are pleasing to your eye. If available, look at the CRI for a given bulb before you buy. The closer to 100 it is, the more of a natural, white, look the light will have. Pinkish low K value bulbs have CRIs in the 60-70 range, blueish 10K and higher bulbs have even lower scores. A good 6700K bulb will hit around 90 on the CRI scale.
 
okay, so it's been a long time since I knew anything about lighting, and I've forgotten it all...Can I stick a higher wattage bulb of the same length and diameter into the light I've got? Or can it ONLY take 28 watt bulbs? I'm just thinking of lights around the house you know, where I can stick anything from a 40 watt to a 100 watt bulb in the same lamp...

This light strip does have a reflector in it. It says, on the box:

"48" single linear strip T5 fluorescent lamp fixture (dimensions: 48"L x 2.75"W x 1"H)
28 watt colormax full-spectrum T5 fluorescent lamp
on/off switch and built-in electronic ballast
sleek, designer-black aluminum housing
highly-polished reflector
adjustable tank mounts
acrylic lens cover

on the back of the box it says "This coralife aqualight T5 is a sleek and streamlined fixture designed to enhance and complement all aquariums. Its compact and slim-profile style is suitable for applications where space is limited. The fixture is equipped with a modern, deisgner-black aluminum housing and a highly-polished aluminum reflector for optimal lighting. It also includes a protective acrylic lens cover which allows easy access to the lamps. The Colromax Full-Spectrum T5 fluorescent lamp has color-enhancing phosphors that provide full-spectrum light from 350 to 750 namometers. It offers high-intensity output that enhances the natural beauty of freshwater fish and plants.

Can I get a better (stronger) bulb for this? Or do I have to get a whole new lighting system?
 
You can put any bulb in it that you want... You will only get what the ballast will give though. You'd have to overdrive the ballast to get more output from the unit.
 
well, I checked that thread on ODNO, and, while I'm somewhat mechanically inclined, I can't figure out what the heck it's talking about, lol. I also worry that if I'm rewiring things, it will be a fire hazard...My hubby, who is NOT mechanically inclined, is really uptight about any of my DIY stuff lol.

How can I tell how much the ballast will put out? I can't see any rating on the box - it just gives the bulb rating. ugh :(
 
oh, it's 120 V/60 Hz, if that means anything?
 
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