Using Metal Halide and/ orActinics in a Planted tank?
- Thread starter Liz Sagara
- Start date
It's uhm.... 250 watts... that's high. Maybe I can just put some nice 30 inch T5's in the Actinic spots and call it good. Any suggestions?
that's 6.25 watts all on it's own.... seems too high but maybe not...
As a side note: the Blue Rams in my 20 gallon tank spawned today. They cleaned off a leaf and there's little tanish eggs on the leaf now. This is less than 24 hours after I put her in the tank...
that's 6.25 watts all on it's own.... seems too high but maybe not...
As a side note: the Blue Rams in my 20 gallon tank spawned today. They cleaned off a leaf and there's little tanish eggs on the leaf now. This is less than 24 hours after I put her in the tank...
That is far too high lighting. You would have to have co2. If your bulbs are normal output t5, then you will be low lighting. What kind of plants are you thinking of keeping?
On a completely seperate note my Rams spawned in my 20 gallon tank. They cleaned off a leaf and now there's tan-ish eggs on the leaf. All in under 24 hours of placing her in the tank...
Well this time around I would like to try carpeting plants. so high light. 3-4 watts per gallon. BUT If I could get some HO T5's to put in instead of the Actinics would that be enough for that? I don't' think so I found one for 62 watts 2 bulbs but that's only 1.55 watts per gallon. Not enough for carpeting plants or even medium light plants. I think I will use the Metal Halide and use Seachem Flouris Excel for Co2 supplements. What do you think? What kind of plants could I get that would look good in the 16 inch tall tank? Both carpeting background and mid ground/foreground. I plan on putting a large peice of driftwood I've been eyeing from my LFS in there, RO water to help lower the PH with some larger rocks. I sort of want to follow the plan I used in my 20 gallon tank but on a larger scale EVEN WITH THE FISH! I WANT TO MONSTERIZE THE WHOLE THING (up to like 5 inches in the fish) LOL!!! Cuz I'm an MFKer at heart just not in checkbook. I have this vision of Angelfish or some Apistogramma cichlid with some larger tetra's like 20 of them some rainbows maybe (if I can find ones I like) or hatchet fish 2 Bristlenosed Pleco's (cuz I love them) A female or male betta or 2.... but not all of those fish get along or would fit in a 40 gallon. But those are fish I'm interested in. I'm more sure on fish than I am on plants... lol...
62 watts for 2 36" bulbs is normal output. Do not go by wpg, it isn't very accurate. Do not do the MH, excel will not be able to help you enough. You will need co2. NO T5 fixtures cannot fire a high output (HO) t5 bulb. The opposite will work, but you cannot use HO in your NO fixture. Stick to low light plants, and just run the NO T5 bulbs (both 6000K-10000K). A low growing low light plant is Marisilea minuta, it will not grow fast under that lighting, but it will eventually carpet. More light doesn't equal more growth, directly. More light that is kept in balance with all the other parts of photosynthesis equals more growth. More light, that is out of balance with the other parts of photosynthesis, will only result in the quicker usage of nutrients until one is void. When that nutrient is void, the plants will not photosynthesize properly, resulting in algae.
I like the Marisilea minuta. How much does it usually run for and what other "low light" plants would you suggest for a set up like mine? And what of the fish I mentioned... Like any of those?
