What is the difference between lighting setups for planted tanks and non planted tanks, do you use full spectrum lighting like for reptiles??? Can I use my lites I have for my turtle??? Thanks in advance
Lighting ?
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Kinda sorta. Intensity is important as well as spectrum. I personally use full spectrum lighting on my 75 gallon, fish only tank, and have a 5 gallon planted tank with a full spectrum bulb. Different plants require different intensity of light, like land plants. From the low end you have Java fern (Microsorium), Java Moss (Vesicularia), some Cryptocoryne and a few others. At the other end, many bunch plants need more light. Low light is considered to be about 2 watts per gallon, with high light up to 4 or 5 watts per gallon, or even more. Depends on what you want to grow. But you can have a nicely planted tank using full spectrum bulbs. I had a planted 75 gallon tank with 4 40 watt full spectrum fluorescent bulbs, without CO2, that lasted a couple years. The less demanding plants did best, as you would imagine.
Bob
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