Lighting watts

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

LobstersGoPeenchPeench

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 23, 2008
629
1
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Iowa, United States
what wattage bulb should i get for my 29g tank. its going to be heavily planted with some swords. maybe some mondo grass. some anacharis. some duckweed on top. also its going to have
a school of tetras
a crenicichla compressicep
about 5x juli cory cats
and a south american dwarf bumblebee jelly catfish

oh and what type of a fish safe mineral/vitamin should i put in the back of my emperor 330 so my plants benifit from them, helps with their growth. it has a cage where i can pour some minerals or extra carbon in behind the filter cartridges.

oh also what would be a nice small algea eater i could get that wouldnt eat plants just incase of a outbreak?

very much thanks to anyone who posts.
 
with regards to lighting andhaving a planted tank, i think it depends on what kinds of plants you want and how much money u want to invest. i have been dabbling in the low tech planted tank setup for my dwarf crenicichla for the past year. i do not have much knowledge on co2 systems and high light co2 dependent plants.

if you go low tech. id recommend maybe a 30" flourescent fixture with two 24" bulbs. that was my latest upgrade and before that i ran 2 18" single bulb flourescent lighting systems on my 20long. i also dose with flourish excel and supplements.

i think another option would be some sort of power compact lighting system and some co2 injection. that will of course be pricier but potentially more rewarding.
 
LobstersGoPeenchPeench;3795598; said:
well. im just saying for my simple 29 gallong hood what bulb should i go with? im not trying to get really advanced with it
Click to expand...

With just replacing your bulb inside the hood you will never be able to grow many plants. Its just not enought lighting.

The best bulbs to run for plants are ones that have a kelvin color or spectrum rating of 6700K. But anywhere from 6-8000k will wok fine. Just read the packages.

try some anacharis and amazon swords out for a few months and see what happens after you change the bulb. You might get lucky with those. If not i would consider buying a power compact fixture for your tank. That will be 65watts and although still very low light it should allow you to grow more or better plants.
 
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12765&pcatid=12765&r=2

ive tried all of hagen's light bulbs and i had the best growth with this one.

i know from ur other thread u had mentioned mondo grass. hes a link to what it looks like and some commentary on it.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12765&pcatid=12765&r=2


here are 3 of the easier plants ive found to grow under low light that also grow quickly. alot of people recommend anubias and crypts and there not bad, but you end up with alot of alfae on the leaves since they grow so slowly. not sure on scientic names of the first two, ive heard both called water sprite. the thrd one is hygrophilia difformis aka watersprite.
http://www.deltaguppies.com/images/jpg/P002.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cwbt2D65i9k/RXMd0CG_y-I/AAAAAAAAAAk/HfQqcMgZqWg/s320/water_sprite.jpg
http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/img/Hygrophila_difformis_2.jpg
 
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