plant lighting and setup questions

[pwmin]

I have a 125 currently and I want to get a start on growing some easy plants so I'll have a better understanding of what to do when I go up to a big tank. I was thinking about doing 1/3 of my tank as planted w/ some rocks to help them from being dug up (second third bare sand, last third driftwood).

First question: lighting. All I have right now are 2 standard light fixtures w/ 36-inch bulbs and one w/ 2 x 18-inch bulbs, which would be about 90W total. Is this enough to grow certain plants or should I just put some of the money towards all new bulbs towards a good lighting fixture? If I keep the fixtures I have, I was thinking about 50/50 bulbs in the dual 18" fixture and then the home depot bulbs in the 36" fixtures. Would that be okay or is there a better combination of bulbs I should use?

Second question: setup. Will it even work only supplying one half of the aquarium w/ lights? I was going to put some more eco-complete or similar on the plant side and use a divider to keep all that from mixing w/ my sand on the other 2/3 (I have some plant substrate throughout the whole tank now, just not deep enough, i don't think).

Third question: plants. I want to do Amazon plants, so what plants are farily easy to take care of and don't take a lot of light? I've read through some of the plant threads so don't flame me for not searching, please

I was thinking about getting a large piece of slate and drilling holes to put the plants through to help hold them down. Is that even a good idea?

 

[cmj15]

for plants you could use java ferns, java moss, anubias, crypts, and i guess you could use amazon swords but they won't grow fast, don't think the slate idea is the best but i guess it could work

 

[pwmin]

none of them are found in the amazon, though, right? i dont really care if theyre slow growing. i already have a couple swords, but theyre not looking the greatest. i'd rather not have to fuss with CO2 if I don't have to.

 

[pwmin]

what do i need to do to get more replies? i would think with all the knowledgeable people on this site that after 35 people viewing it, it would have more responses. i'm not whining, i'm just trying to figure out the best way to get some responses.

thanks

 

[WyldFya]

Your lighting is inadequate to grow just about anything but java moss, java ferns, and anubias. You don't want to use 50/50 bulbs, as only half of the light put out is usable. You need to read the stickies, as that is where most of the information is, and they would have answered many of your questions. As to the slate idea, that won't work for java fern, anubias or java moss, and your current lighting won't support any more plants, so you need to work on your lighting.

 

[WyldFya]

South American plants
biotopic plant list

Alternanthera reineckii
Azolla filiculoides
Azolla caroliniana-Fairy moss
Bacopa australis
Bacopa lanigera-Hairy Water Hyssop
Bacopa myriophylloides
Cabomba aquatica
Cabomba caroliniana
Cabomba furcata
Ceratopteris pteridoides
Ceratopteris thalictroides
Ceratophyllum submersum
Echinodorus angustifolius
Echinodorus amazonicus-Amazon sword
Echinodorus aschersonianus
Echinodorus bleheri
Echinodorus berteroi
Echinodorus bolivianus
Echinodorus cordifolius-Radican sword
Echinodorus grandiflorus
Echinodorus grisebachii
Echinodorus horizontalis
Echinodorus isthmicus
Echinodorus latifolius
Echinodorus macrophyllus
Echinodorus magdalenensis
Echinodorus martii-Ruffled sword
Echinodorus opacus
Echinodorus osiris-Melon sword
Echinodorus palaefolius
Echinodorus paniculatus
Echinodorus parviflorus
Echinodorus portoalegrensis
Echinodorus quadricostatus-Cuban broad leaf chain
Echinodorus subalatus
Echinodorus tenellus-Narrow leaf chain sword
Echinodorus uruguayensis
Egeria densa-Elodea densa
Egeria najas-Elodea najas
Eichhornia azurea
Eichhornia crassipes-Water Hyacinth
Eichhornia diversifolia-Variable Leaf Water Hyacinth
Eichhornia hetrosperma
Eichhornia natans
Eleocharis acicularis-dwarf hairgrass,needle spike rush,hairgrass
Gymnocoronis spilanthoides-Senegal tea plant,temple plant,spade leaf plant
Heteranthera reniformis
Heteranthera zosterifolia-Stargrass
Hydrocleys martii
Hydrocleys nymphoides
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Hydrocotyle ranunculoides
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Hydrothix gardneri
Hygrophila guianensis
Lemna minor
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Lilaeopsis carolinensis-micro word
Ludwigia helminthorrhiza
Ludwigia inclinata
Ludwigia palustris-water primrose
Ludwigia sedoides
Mayaca fluviatillis
Myriophyllum aquatica
Myriophyllum mattogrossense
Najas conferta
Najas guadalupensis-guppy grass
Nitella flexilis-Stonewort,smooth stonewort
Nymphaea glandulfera
Nymphaea lotus
Nymphaea rudgeana
Nymphoides microphylla
Ottelia brasiliensis
Phyllanthus fluitans- Red root floater
Potamogeton acutifolius
Potamogeton ***i
Reussia rotundifolia
Sagittaria subulata-dwarf sag or narrow leaf Sag
Sagittaria lancifolia
Sagittaria montevidensis
Sagittaria subulata-dwarf sag or narrow leaf Sag
Salvinia molesta-Giant salvina
Salvinia cuccullata
Salvinia auriculata
Vallisneria americana v. 'Biwaensis'-corkscrew val

 

[pwmin]

Thanks. I did read the stickies and they didnt really answer my questions (somehow, I missed the plant profile one...oops). the only amazon plant i found in the other stickies for low light was bogwort and swords. 90W for 1/2 of 125g (62.5g) is in the range for low-light in the sticky, but idk if it works that way or not (i.e. have to have light for full 125g even though plants are only in 1/3 of the tank - well for now until they spread, maybe)

I will have some fish that may dig, so i thought maybe the slate would help with that instead of using a bunch of river rocks, so thx for raining on that parade

 

[WyldFya]

The sticky lays out how lighting works quite well. Your problem is that you think that 90W is 90W, but that isn't true by any stretch. The bulbs you get will dictate if plants can grow, and by the sticky, your 90W at 125 isn't even 1 wpg, assuming your using T12 lighting. You need to list the specific types, sizes, wattages, lumen or lux (if you know how to find this), color temp, and number of lights. The stickies state that the deeper the tank, the more light that is needed to maintain specific lighting levels. Your tank isn't shallow at all, and will require ~1.5-2 WPG of T12 or PC lighting to be considered a good low light.

 

[pwmin]

I don't think you're understanding that I want to know if I need to light the whole 125 gallons when i'm only wanting to have light in 1/2 of the tank and 1/3 of the tank is the only part that is going to have plants. I think I have the standard T12 bulbs? (theyre just the regular lights that come w/ complete tank setups. Kinda like these: http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...v_dropdown4_link10&parentPage=family&keepsr=1

I also want to know if I can get those bulbs to work okay (the ones i've seen go up to 30W per 36" and 15W per 18" and I have two of each). I'm pretty sure you're saying that I should invest in some different lighting fixtures instead of trying to get those to work by buying new bulbs. Since the 50/50's wont work, I have no idea what might work or even if it's possible. I'm a total lighting noob, please excuse me.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be an arse

 

[WyldFya]

The sticky lays out how lighting works quite well. Your problem is that you think that 90W is 90W, but that isn't true by any stretch. The bulbs you get will dictate if plants can grow, and by the sticky, your 90W at 125 isn't even 1 wpg, assuming your using T12 lighting. You need to list the specific types, sizes, wattages, lumen or lux (if you know how to find this), color temp, and number of lights. The stickies state that the deeper the tank, the more light that is needed to maintain specific lighting levels. Your tank isn't shallow at all, and will require ~1.5-2 WPG of T12 or PC lighting to be considered a good low light.

Read the highlighted sections much closer.