Need serious help with lighting

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Kallie

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Apr 27, 2016
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Hi so i am new here and really need some help !

I am new to planted tanks!
And I am struggling with the lighting

My plan is to setup a low tech tank (No fancy setups like Co2 and any other stuff like that ((only because I live in a small town in South Africa the nearest big city is about a 60 km drive ))

My tank is 12" x 12"x 43"
Substrate: layers of (organic potting soil, blue clay, swimming pool sand )
No plants yet
No livestock

I have access to standard T8 30w lights.
Please help on how many bulbs do I need pleas!!
 

Tifftastic

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Sep 9, 2008
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Do you know what kind of plants you'll be doing yet? That is really going to make a difference. Also, are those dimensions LxWxH? Because that's a really tall tank and that could be an issue using T8s to get it properly lit.
 

rufioman

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Aug 16, 2010
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^word for word what I'd have said. Some plants need higher amounts of light, some do not. Find out which plants work best for your low-tech, I use Anubias and Amazon swords. I use a generic high output t8 light :)
 

Kallie

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Apr 27, 2016
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The dimensions is WxHxL its a long but shallow tank
I can't use Amazon swords as it grows 6 feat tall
I am planning on java moss, javafern,hornworth and some plants native to south africa its 6/7 species of plants that doesn't grow taller then 12 inches and they don't need high lighting they all are medium to low

I am really struggling to know how much bulbs i need
 

Kallie

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Apr 27, 2016
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The dimensions is WxHxL its a long but shallow tank
I can't use Amazon swords as it grows 6 feat tall
I am planning on java moss, javafern,hornworth and some plants native to south africa its 6/7 species of plants that doesn't grow taller then 12 inches and they don't need high lighting they all are medium to low

I am really struggling to know how much bulbs i need
 

Tifftastic

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Sep 9, 2008
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Tiff
If your tank is only 12 inches tall and you are wanting all low/low-med light plants then you only need either a single T8 bulb that will stretch the length of the tank (though I'm not familiar with any manufacturers that make that length) or two (one for each half of the tank) shorter bulbs. Typically you want about 1.5 watts per gallon for java fern and other low light plants.

BTW, not all species of sword plant will reach that height. There are plenty of dwarf species.
 

Kallie

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Apr 27, 2016
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I have a old light fixture I can easily modify it to fit 3 feet bulbs and it has reflectors in (for really long fluorescent lights i think 6 feet )but it hase 2 sides one bulb each side, Wil 2 bulbs work?


This tank is my first diy tank I made it my self thats why I am struggling with lighting

I know about the dwarf sword plants and thats the sad part they are now illegal in south africa because of invasive reasons
 

Tifftastic

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Sep 9, 2008
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A 36 inch bulb has an output of 30 watts. Your tank is roughly 30 gallons, so two of those bulbs will give you 2 watts/gallon, which will be more than sufficient.
 

Kallie

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Apr 27, 2016
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Thanks a lot i appreciate

Whe my tank is setup completely i will post some pics

I will do the light fixture tomorrow

And just got a call from a friend he hase some plants for me (just in time )

Just for interested sake what does java fern or java moss cost there over the pond
 

Tifftastic

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Sep 9, 2008
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Not sure how much it costs here. In Washington state (where I lived all of my life until I moved here) I got java moss for free from my LFS and java fern was $3.99 for a small plant from a chain store or $2.99 and up depending on the size from my LFS. I bought one with 10 leaves for $7.99 because it wasn't attached to anything and there was another I wanted (and didn't get) that was $50 because it had at least 30 leaves and was attached to a good size chunk of mopani.
 
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