40 breeder lighting options...

[Dark Rose]

Well, I've almost got my upcoming medical expenses squared away, so even though my 40 breeder project has been slowed, I've got some extra time for good research...

It'll be a planted tank, and I want the highest lighting I can, WITHOUT needing to get into Co2, not sure I'm really ready to jump into that yet...

I know watts/gallon isn't a good standard, so what kind of PAR ratings should I be looking for, or just what type of lighting?

Dual T5NO, dual T5HO, quad T5NO or T5HO? Have also been looking at the Odyssea 36" LED setups...

What type should I be checking out for my goal of highest light with no Co2?
If I remember right, tank is 16" deep (standard 40 gallon breeder, so 36x18x16 I believe). It does have a glass canopy if that makes any difference...

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[bbortko]

I'm growing green tiger lotus, Amazon swords, onion plant and anubias with a 48" current satellite+ on my 125. The tank has 3 sd, 2 sevs and a melanurus so I haven't tried anything to fancy, actually all plants came from my planted 36g bowfront when I redid it. In the 36g I use a aquaticlife dual t5ho, when I redid the tank I went pressurized so I can't really say how the new plants would be without co2 but I'm happy with the fixture and have one on my 40b without plants.

 

[Dark Rose]

Well, I'm hoping for some nice carpeting from dwarf hair grass, micro swords, maybe some java moss, but as for larger plants, haven't decided yet. I'll have to make plant choices in the low-med lighting range I'm assuming, to avoid high lighting CO2 requirements...

Edit: Just found an article suggesting that under 30PAR would be considered low lighting, and about 40PAR would be the upper limit of not needing CO2, anything above 40 would probably have algae issues without CO2 injection, does that sound correct?

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[bbortko]

I don't remember too much technical stuff but there is a sticky in the planted tank section that does a good job of explaining the technical side.

 

[Dark Rose]

Cool, I'll go digging for that tonight during my long stretches of boredom at work, lol.

Thanks!

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[glenCOCO]

I was in the same boat as you not too long ago. If you're dosing excel then you might be able to get by with a dual t5HO 2x39watt fixture as long as you hang it. If it sits on the rim you might run into algae problems. I have a 4x32watt t5HO fixture sitting on the rim but only run 2 bulbs. One at 10 hours and the second for 3 hours as a "noon burst". The burst gives the light that the high light plants need without the risk of algae. I can give you a plant list in a short while but I'm able to grow most plants, as long as they're not co2 hungry ones. I'm actually thinking of having the burst go for 4 hours since I haven't ran into any issues with algae. I don't dose anything, but I do use osmocote+ root tabs.


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[glenCOCO]

Bacopa C.
Lobelia C.
Telanthera C.
glosso
microswords
java moss.
glosso
pellia
pennywort
japanese hydrocytle
s. repens
anubias nana petite
african fern
java fern (trident)
Java Fern (M. pteropus)
Red root floaters
Duckweed
Pennywort
rotala indica
rotala green
starugyne bihar
microsword
hygrophila
marsilea quadrifolia
baby tears
bacopa
anacharis
star grass
limnophila aromatica
ludwigia arcuara
ludwigia sp. red
riccia
Wisteria
Tiger Lotus
Ludwigia Repens
Crypt wendtii green

I think that's it, lol



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