Alternative lighting for plants?

[Dustin3006]

So I have a marine land tank that comes with the lid and the integrated led bar. The led bar is not enough for the plants I have and opening a window isn't working like I thought it would. I want to keep my lid and led bar but maybe want to supplement with another light for a few hours a day? Is there a clip on light where I can use it without replacing my whole lid? Thanks!

 

[GamerChick5567]

For a while I was just using a 20 dollar one from target for my small tanks until it crapped out a few months back. Maybe get a bright led desk lamp or home depot work light and stick it in a way that it shines through the glass on the side? Got a worklight for my hob and the fancy led bulb I got is definitely bright enough for any plant. If I ever get a bigger tank I will probably light it with those instead of dropping a few hundred on a t5ho fixture.

You might get algae all over that part of the glass though.

 

[Dustin3006]

For a while I was just using a 20 dollar one from target for my small tanks until it crapped out a few months back. Maybe get a bright led desk lamp or home depot work light and stick it in a way that it shines through the glass on the side? Got a worklight for my hob and the fancy led bulb I got is definitely bright enough for any plant. If I ever get a bigger tank I will probably light it with those instead of dropping a few hundred on a t5ho fixture.

You might get algae all over that part of the glass though.

I'll check out Home Depot tommorow, do you know what wattage or wpg I need? I'm not too concerned with the algae I got a blue eyed lemon pleco that eats anything !

 

[GamerChick5567]

I just got a daylight flood led. The bulb is a replacement for a 75 watt incandescent. I think the bulb itself is 8 watts. It even says indoor/outdoor/ suitable for wet places... we will see if that is true with the humidity on the tank. It was a bit expensive though for a dumb lightbulb, it was 15 bucks haha. The fixture is just a clamp light that was like 6 bucks, make sure you have something sturdy to clip it to.

Also, you want something like 2.5 watts per gallon for most plants but that's for like t8 fluorescents, not too sure about how that works or converts to led lighting. Just make sure the light can reach most places in your tank and you should be ok. I think the plants in your tank, judging by your picture it looks like java ferns, vals, and anacharis, should be just fine with the extra work light. If they don't grow just add more lights or something. Home depot has a 90 day return policy if it's too much light. Either way your pleco will be happy if you accidentally grow some green fluffies.

 

[Covetous]

Watch this video. Love this guy's stuff.

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

What size is the tank? What are the dimensions of the tank? What kind of substrate are you using? What kind of planted tank are you looking to do like low tech, high tech, etc....?

These will help us with recommending the type of lighting, and so forth...


For instance my planted tank...

Tank - 45 gallon long 48"x12"x19"

Lighting - 48" Beamswork Green Element EVO 6500k LED, 36" T5HO Dual bulb using 6500k bulbs

Heating - 300w Hydor Theo submersible heater

Filtration - Odyssea CFS-500 canister filter

Substrate - 4" Flourite/Floramax mix

Co2 - DIY 2liter co2 system using yeast method

Ferts - Dry fertilizers, along with Osmocote Plus root tabs following EI dosing regime

Quite a few different plants, jungle vals are pushing 3 feet in length, riccia fluitans is growing like weeds at a crazy pace...

I have everything for a co2 injection system except a 10lb cylinder which is coming soon, co2 diffusion will be a inline co2 reactor connected to a SunSun Hw-302 canister filter.

 

[Dustin3006]

What size is the tank? What are the dimensions of the tank? What kind of substrate are you using? What kind of planted tank are you looking to do like low tech, high tech, etc....?

These will help us with recommending the type of lighting, and so forth...


For instance my planted tank...

Tank - 45 gallon long 48"x12"x19"

Lighting - 48" Beamswork Green Element EVO 6500k LED, 36" T5HO Dual bulb using 6500k bulbs

Heating - 300w Hydor Theo submersible heater

Filtration - Odyssea CFS-500 canister filter

Substrate - 4" Flourite/Floramax mix

Co2 - DIY 2liter co2 system using yeast method

Ferts - Dry fertilizers, along with Osmocote Plus root tabs following EI dosing regime

Quite a few different plants, jungle vals are pushing 3 feet in length, riccia fluitans is growing like weeds at a crazy pace...

I have everything for a co2 injection system except a 10lb cylinder which is coming soon, co2 diffusion will be a inline co2 reactor connected to a SunSun Hw-302 canister filter.

Okay so it's a 45 gallon tank, i have a led bar from marineland http://m.drsfostersmith.com/product...d=PLA_G_6194&gclid=CI37w73k_9ACFUg2gQodYyAG4A
The substrate I have is some sort of black gravel that is supposed to be for plants. It had liquid in the bag and cost 30$ for a 20lb bag I forget the name though. I supplement with some excel. No co2 systems or root tabs or anything like that. Honestly I'm new to plants so I couldn't tell you too much

 

[Dustin3006]

What size is the tank? What are the dimensions of the tank? What kind of substrate are you using? What kind of planted tank are you looking to do like low tech, high tech, etc....?

These will help us with recommending the type of lighting, and so forth...


For instance my planted tank...

Tank - 45 gallon long 48"x12"x19"

Lighting - 48" Beamswork Green Element EVO 6500k LED, 36" T5HO Dual bulb using 6500k bulbs

Heating - 300w Hydor Theo submersible heater

Filtration - Odyssea CFS-500 canister filter

Substrate - 4" Flourite/Floramax mix

Co2 - DIY 2liter co2 system using yeast method

Ferts - Dry fertilizers, along with Osmocote Plus root tabs following EI dosing regime

Quite a few different plants, jungle vals are pushing 3 feet in length, riccia fluitans is growing like weeds at a crazy pace...

I have everything for a co2 injection system except a 10lb cylinder which is coming soon, co2 diffusion will be a inline co2 reactor connected to a SunSun Hw-302 canister filter.

Also when you ask what type of tank I'm looking for the answer would be just a simple healthy planted tank. I just really like the looks I try to stick with low light plants but sometimes I impulse buy a plant that has pretty high upkeep.

 

[Dustin3006]

Thread update
I went to Home Depot and purchased a 15 dollar clip on light and a Phillips plant light 60w installed yesterday and will update to show growth on plants. Hopefully the plant light works for aquatic lights !

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

Clamp lamps are good for smaller tanks because the amount of light they produce are perfect... If you're able to get a glass top for the tank it'd be better, some people say they let out light but they actually let more light into the tank. Excel is a co2 source, so that's good there, but I would pick up some flourish comprehensive which is a liquid fertilizer supplement that will help the plants alot.

Without nutrients the plants will start dying off, flourish comprehensive will supply the nutrients plants need to survive.

I use dry ferts (fertilizers), but I've been in the aquarium hobby for 25 years, and dry ferts cost alot less than liquid ferts. But for beginners I always advise them to use liquid fertilizers until the get the hang of things, and feel comfortable switching to dry fertilizers....

You are on the right track, the best advice I could give you is to read everything you can about planted aquariums, planted lighting, planted substrates, etc... This knowledge will only help you to succeed!!!