Vals in 45?

severum mama

severum mama

is a big bowl of wrong.
Dec 30, 2006
2,177
0
0
46
North GA
Hey, I'm going to transfer my 29 gallon low light angel tank into a 45 gallon tank. The 45 has a twin tube NO flourescent strip light, which is 60W. That's a lot more than what the 29 had. I have a lot of vals that would make a pretty nice background plant in the 45 (I can pull these out of my discus tank) and I'd like to add them. My problem is, the 45 is 2 feet tall and I'm worried that the vals won't get enough light even with the twin tube strip. A new light really isn't in my budget right now so I hope it will work out. What do you think? Also, I have pool filter sand in the 45. Will the vals be able to grow in sand? I've never tried that before.
 
I had Vals in sand, must have been 25 years ago. I remember they took over the tank, runners everywhere.
If I understand your first question...From all I've seen I don't think a few extra inches in tank depth will make any difference in the light the plants get.
 
Not sure about the light requirement of vals but I have the same tank setup that's 2ft tall with a 96W fixture on top but I guess it's too deep to grow glosso and microswords. I was told they're high light plants to begin with so... I'm s.o.l. :(
 
I just looked at the light and noticed that it has 2x25 W bulbs... not good. As a temporary fix I can use the light strip that was on my 29 gallon (that I tore down today). It's not much light, but if I set it in front of the twin tube light, I guess it would help.

The new and improved 45 gallon is up now, and it looks pretty good, so I'm hoping it will continue to look good. The new plants I added are vals and crypts from my discus tank. It was pruning time in the discus tank, so they had to come out anyway. Pics coming later, in another thread.
 
Your saying the strip holds regular light bulbs? Not fluorescent. I don't know why they label those bulbs as "plant grow". I never have been able to get a regular bulb to grow a plant. You can always try the screw-in compact fluorescent daylight bulbs, (not the soft-white ones) at least until you can spring for a new fixture. I've got a couple of fixtures with them, they work pretty good.
I understand what your going through, wish my cash went as far as my wants!
 
No, I meant normal output (NO) flourescent bulbs, as opposed to power compacts or T5's. They don't put out the lumens that PCs or T5s do, so I put that in there to clarify.
 
Sorry bout that, I understand now.
Just a thought here, I took an old fluorescent light fixture that had a terrible dull white reflector, and put aluminum high heat tape behind the bulb. The stuff is used on furnaces and ducts, very reflective. I got a little more light out of it.
Have to be creative since on out of work with an injury!
 
Thanks for the suggestion, but the strip I'm using actually has an aluminum reflector already. I hope that will help enough.:)
 
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