Plants and lighting

ent007

ent007

newbie
Sep 16, 2006
31
0
0
55
BC, Canada
Hey all, I've done about 1 hour of searches but haven't really found an answer so here goes.

I'm new to plants, I have a 58 gallon Geosystems aqyarium with a dual strip hood that takes 2 42" t8 lights, each has a reflector, one for the front one pointed at the back. (so both lights don't really work together)

I currently have 42" 40 w aquaglo on the front and a 42" 40 w powerglo on the back. The tank came with two lifeglo 2's.

I'm using two hagen C02 ladder systems as well.

My questions are:

1) which bulbs work best for plants and make the fish look good with out being too yellow?

2) which bulbs will best balance the tank with enough light to discourage diatoms but also not too much as to cause green algae?

right now, my plants have been in the tank for two weeks and there is a coating of diatoms on the all the bristle type plants. I have a Siamese Eater and an Oto in there as well.

the bulbs available to me are basically the hagen series, Power,sun,aqua,flora and lifeglo.

Nitrates tested 0, nitrites and amminia as well.

water is hard from the tap, using peat and co2 and its at about 7.4 and kh is at about 115.


Thanks all for reading.

Cheers,

NB
 
Look for a full spectrum bulb with a temperature rating around 6700K. This will get you out of the yellowish light range. I have 9350K bulbs and find those to be particularly pleasing to the eye while still being full spectrum for plants.

On the issue of algae and diatoms...

How long has the tank been set-up?
Are you dosing any fertilizers in your tank?

With your current lighting (two 40 watt bulbs if I read correctly), you are considered very low-light with only 1.3 watts per gallon. What plants are you trying to grow?
 
Wow your tanks are amazing, thanks for you quick reply. I'm not sure about all of the name as I got them off of a lady who lives down the street I met on a pond tour.

The tank is 3 months old, and I added the fertilizer that came with the CO2 kits, the plants seem ok but i'm concerned the brown algae on them will starve them? I lady I got them from said that they were hardy easy to grow type plants. There are quite a few in there.

What kind of bulbs are you using? Is there an equivelant in the Hagen series?

thanks,

Nick
 
The Hagen series bulbs are good bulbs. As webcricket stated, find which one is 6700K or higher (that's the CRI number which should be on the package or website). 5000K is more yellow looking to the human eye so you want something higher.

Diatoms are generally a new tank issue. They are the first "algae" to establish in a tank. They should disappear with time given that you get the light, plants, nutrients in order. For now, if the ottos isn't keeping up, use your finger and gently rub it off if it is too much. If it persists (after 2 months or so) then you may need to increase the amount (wattage) of light. As webcricket suggested, you probably want to do that anyway. Adding another light would be great, but remember, it's a balance your looking for. The right amount of light (both wattage and duration), the right number of plants and KIND of plants, the right amount of fertilizer. 3 40watt lights over your tank = 2.06watt/gallon and even though it's a rule of thumb, that's a good "middle of the road" amount of lighting to start with.
 
Hey all, thanks for you great replies. I have a lifeglo 2, powerglo and aquaglow. I have a fiited canopy on my geo tank so I'm going to look for a better hood with 3 light fixtures and try that.

Again thanks for all your help!

Cheers,

Nick
 
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