Been about 2 months.. Plants just arnt thriving.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
CoryWM

CoryWM

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 13, 2008
368
11
48
Everett, Washington
www.tankgeek.com
I'm posting here to see what I can do to help my plant growth. Currently the only thing that is helping my plants is two 30 watt life glow 2 bulbs. My tank is 65, being like 30 inches tall. 36 length 12 wide.

The only thing that is growing like crazy is hornwart? I have to cut it back pretty much once a week, it grows to top of water, then starts spreading out covering the top of the tank. I'd say each week it grows 8-12 inches. I have dwarf hair crass, and some swords(not sure which) that I really want to grow... I want the dwarf grass to carpet it.. as for substrate i'm using gravel. This tank was setup before I knew anything about fish. So now what can I do to help it.

Thanks
Cory
 
Your biggest short coming is your lighting. 30" of water is a lot of depth, T10s just won't cut it for anything but the most simple plants. Upgrade your lighting to HO T5 to help growth rate. I'd also look into flourish excel, or pressurized co2.
 
I don't think he mentioned using t-12's. Hornwort is a freakin weed. It's nice, but a lot of trimming, IMO.

If you can get some more light and proper nutrient levels (micro, maco, and carbon) then you'll start to see the hairgrass grow like that too (only out and not up... if it is in the Elocharis family)
 
cassharper;1612797;1612797 said:
I don't think he mentioned using t-12's. Hornwort is a freakin weed. It's nice, but a lot of trimming, IMO.

If you can get some more light and proper nutrient levels (micro, maco, and carbon) then you'll start to see the hairgrass grow like that too (only out and not up... if it is in the Elocharis family)
Click to expand...
Life glo 2 bulbs come in three sizes at 36" T5, T8 and T10. The T5 is HO and is 39W. The T10 is all that is out in most shops, as Hagen is just now starting to transition to the T8 bulbs.
 
I was wondering. If i do a DIY and rig up 4 of these bulbs... would it be way more effective? I read that article about the death of WPG... it gave me the impression, that it's having a ton of light.... is the lumens even that important?

here is the bulbs for the link.
http://www.1000bulbs.com/105-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent/31295/
 
CoryWM;1614484; said:
I was wondering. If i do a DIY and rig up 4 of these bulbs... would it be way more effective? I read that article about the death of WPG... it gave me the impression, that it's having a ton of light.... is the lumens even that important?

here is the bulbs for the link.
http://www.1000bulbs.com/105-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent/31295/
Click to expand...

Not so sure what you mean by that but wpg is an easy way to calculate how much light you have. Yes it kinda changes with nano and really large tanks but its still a good general rule to use.

Those bulbs don't seem that more efficient. I think you would have a massive amount of bounce back with those bulbs. I also would want to go with something between the 6700k-10000k temp. Not so much 5000k.

Lumens are an actual measurement of how much light is coming out of the bulb, while watts is just power usage. And yes there are better rules to use such as lumens per square inch but seriously wpg is just way easier.

You could just get a 36" CF or T5HO which would be about the same price as the bulbs alone you were looking at. Then you don't have to build anything or buy reflectors and supplies.
 
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