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Advice needed! Lightings for aquatic plant

5K views 21 replies 7 participants last post by  MoneyMitch 
#1 ·
Hi guys,

Would like to know if I am able to have aquatic plants in my tank without the CO2 system and soil.

Am planning to just have a few plants to make my tetras secure and currently using T5HO POWER GLO(Pinkish white) and ACTINIC GLO(BLUE) 24W.

Is the lighting sufficient? Just a few plants like cabomba etc.
Any recommendations are welcomed.

Thanks in advance
 
#2 ·
You don't want the Actinic bulb for freshwater. That is a bulb for saltwater tanks. You want at least one 6700k bulb for the plants and perhaps a full spectrum bulb. Depending on the number of plants you choose to plant, you may go with 2 6700k bulbs.

I'm learning as well about live plants. If I'm wrong I'm sure someone with more knowledge will correct me. But I've been reading all evening on lighting and Actinic is def for saltwater.
 
#3 ·
Yea, actinic is definately for saltwater. I have just converted my marine tank into a FW, so was thinking the lightings (if i dont have any plants at that time) would not be a big issue. Thank you for the information about the 6700K bulbs, will check it out. cheers
 
#4 ·
actinic is ok for the time being but not idea. you want something like a life glow 2 or a coralife plant gro as your full spec for plant growth and i would suggest a ultra sun by zoo med or an ultra daylight by phillips
 
#5 ·
Either use Life Glo (if you want to stay with Hagen brand bulbs) or get yourself a Daylight from your Home Supply store, cross check, but here they're always rated at 6500K which is perfect for planted tank.
That's what I use is "normal" daylight flourecent's; you're welcome to check out my tanks under my aquariums to the left and see the plants for yourself there.
 
#6 ·
actnic will work fine it is 100% blue in the terms of Wavelength, and seeing how plants only respond to red and blue this will work fine in combination with any other light i would suggest something that is high in the red region as far as wavelength chart goes.

It is a myth that you NEED those "flor glo or power glo" lights those are a waste of money and are nothing but hype. any light you find at walmart or homedepot will work fine 3000k is what most floro tubes are at walmart and are under 10$ for a 4 footer.

if i were you i would stick with the actnic and just buy one of those daylight bulbs at walmart or where ever.
 
#7 ·
Several previous responders have set you in the right direction on light. You want full spectrum balanced lighting, this can be achieved a number of ways. The sun at mid-day has a colour temperature of approximately 5500K and as plants have obviously evolved to grow under this light it makes sense to replicate it for success. Blue and red colour is used by aquatic plants, green is reflected but having green in the mix provides for a balanced colour that allows the fish and plant colours to appear natural. A full spectrum rated around 6500K does this. If you have two tubes over the tank, a good combination is one full spectrum and one cool blue.

I don't know what sort of hardware stores you have in Malaysia, but you can usually find good tubes made by Sylvannia or Phillips that will work fine. Get the full spectrum daylight and the daylight deluxe or ultra daylight; this combination I used for 10 years. I now have the Hagen Life-Glo and Zoo Med series tubes, they are considerably more expensive than the Phillips or Sylvannia, but I have not noticed any particular difference in plant growth under any of these, provided of course the correct spectrum and colour temp requirements are met.

Absolutely get rid of the Actinic tube. I have never tried one of these so I do not know precisely why they are not usable, but every authority on planted aquaria I have read in 15 years has recommended against them, so presumably they are not much good. They are designed for marine tanks with live corals as you obviously know, so while they are blue, perhaps they are too intense for freshwater plants.

With respect to CO2, that can be dismissed easily with a simple "not necessary." Check the photos of my aquariums to see what is possible in low-tech or natural systems; no CO2, moderate [some would say low] light (less than one watt per gallon of full spectrum/cool white mentioned above), and a balanced complete liquid fertilizer is all that is needed. I have regular small-grain gravel in all my tanks, and have had this for 20 years. I do have root fertilizer sticks next to the larger swords that are heavy feeders, but for years I had these plants without so that is not even necessary.

You mentioned tetras, forest fish which occur in dimly-lit water, so another reason to go with the less lighting; I would not subject tetras to high light such as you now have. Tetras will display their true colouration when provided with a dark substrate, background and minimal lighting. My 115g and 90g aquaria are full of various characins and some catfish.

Byron.
 
#9 ·
Absolutely get rid of the Actinic tube. I have never tried one of these so I do not know precisely why they are not usable, but every authority on planted aquaria I have read in 15 years has recommended against them, so presumably they are not much good. They are designed for marine tanks with live corals as you obviously know, so while they are blue, perhaps they are too intense for freshwater plants.



Byron.
how would a light be too intense for a live plant? was curious to when this info was dated, and would also like to ask why get rid of it when it would combo so well with a tube high in the reds. you say its meant for saltwater and reefers which are pretty much the same as live plants. Ive added a new fixture and have 1 actnic over my tank a while back and havent seen anything but positive from my ferns and amazons, i will admit it is in combo with a daylight from walmart but i have 80 watts over the tank. why should he get rid of it and waste cash when its not necessary?
 
#10 ·
First of all, thank you very much for all the inputs and i have read everyone of them with great interest.

As my light fixture is of 2 T5HO tubes, is it possible for me to use normal fluorescent lamp on it? We do have Philips over here in Malaysia, but i think that they did not specify the K ratings of it.

Yes, I still feel actinics are mainly for marine, don't get me wrong but i like the blue color of it. Having said that, if it is better to change it, then i will. Currently, in terms of specialized aquarium tubes, there aren't much choice in Malaysia, some notable brands would be Gieseman, GLO, ATI, Nirox and some other China brands.

As for the GLO tubes, they have 3 tubes to choose from which is Life, Power and Actinic (i think). I have checked and Life has a K rating of 6700K, which is the nearest to that of suggested by most of you all. I am worried if i were to replace my actinic, the tank would be very brightly lit. I would prefer a dimmer lighting but also capable of having plants in it.

Just a suggestion, what if I replace the actinic with LIFE GLO? Thus giving me a combination of LIFE and POWER GLO?

I am not planning to go all out planted tank, just a few plants will do to make the tank more lively and loving. Am currently using black substrate with a black background. As i want to show off the color of the tetras.

Sorry for the long reply, as I am still new with plants as well as the lighting.
 
#12 ·
If you go shopping for any "normal" bulb, you usually find the K rating on the bottom of the box very fine printed.
Alternatively go by 'name' anything I found here so far that was called "Daylight or Natural light' in the home stores was rated around 6500-7000K.

You already have the "power glo" in your tank right? Adding a "life glo" will be to the same effect then adding a "daylight" just for about 20x the price (here at least lol)

Being concerned about the brightness...The existing Power Glo is @ 18000K which is high end enough to add the 2nd bulb at a lower wattage and K (eg. light the "Sun glo @ 4200K) so you'd have the color mix in the light, but it would also not make it too bright to your looks :)
 
#15 ·
I don't see any Sun glo @ 4200K over here in malaysia. There are only 3 types of it which is Life, Power and Actinic. I don't think my T5 fixture can fit those normal fluorescent tube? Yes, i so think HO is too intense for FW/planted tank but i was trying to cut cost and not having to get a new set of light fixture. lol.

What is cool white? I mean what kind of color does it emit? And only normal fluorescent have that?

As i am currently using my T5HO fixture, i would prefer to use bulbs that can be fitted into that fixture for now but i am taking everything down to make sure i have the right advice if i were to get into a planted tank later.

I would certainly try the Life GLO.

Can anyone one of you recommend good and hardy plants? I would prefer something like cabomba but any other recommendations are welcomed. What kind of floating plants that are available in the market now?
 
#16 ·
I don't see any Sun glo @ 4200K over here in malaysia. There are only 3 types of it which is Life, Power and Actinic. I don't think my T5 fixture can fit those normal fluorescent tube? Yes, i so think HO is too intense for FW/planted tank but i was trying to cut cost and not having to get a new set of light fixture. lol.

What is cool white? I mean what kind of color does it emit? And only normal fluorescent have that?

As i am currently using my T5HO fixture, i would prefer to use bulbs that can be fitted into that fixture for now but i am taking everything down to make sure i have the right advice if i were to get into a planted tank later.

I would certainly try the Life GLO.

Can anyone one of you recommend good and hardy plants? I would prefer something like cabomba but any other recommendations are welcomed. What kind of floating plants that are available in the market now?
"Cool white" refers to light that is higher in the blue colour, something like but not as drastic as your actinic. Warm white is the opposite, higher in the red. "Full spectrum" is basic, a balance of colour that replicates the sun at mid-day. These "colours" are indicated by the Kelvin number. The mid-day sun is approximately 5500K, and the full spectrum tubes that are rated around 6500K tend to provide the best single light; it has the blue and red for plants, plus green to balance so colours appear natural. The higher the K number, the more blue and less red ("cooler"), the lower the K number the more red and less blue ("warmer") the light.

As you know the "Glo" series, I'll use those as illustration. Life-Glo is full spectrum (6700K) and the closest thing to natural sunlight with just a slight increase in blue. The "Sun-Glo" at 4200K is warm, and would cast a reddish hue to the aquarium, distorting the natural colours of plants and fish on its own. The Power-Glo is higher in the blue but also has red but less green, so it tends to be purplish in hue.

A T5 fixture will only take T5 tubes. A regular fluorescent fixture will take T8 or T12 tubes but not T5. The "T" number is the diameter of the tube, nothing more, but the pins at the end are different on the T5 so they won't fit the regular fixture and vice-versa.

If you could only use one of the tubes in your dual T5 fixture, and put a Life-Glo or comparable tube in, it would be fine. But most fixtures only work if both tubes are lit. Try yours and see if one can be removed.

As for plants, the majority will grow fine under full spectrum light. Cabomba is not one of the easier, but with your light it may do quite well. It will need liquid fertilization. Floating plants include Ceratopteris (Water Sprite) which comes from your part of the world, and is one of the best. Others include Amazon frogbit, duckweed, salvinia, and most of the stem plants will float if left that way. Cabomba for instance.

Byron.

Byron.
 
#17 ·
If you're unsure about the size, just unscrew one and take it to whatever home store you have there, assuming there's no Homedepot there :) The brand name really does not matter, what matters for the plants relaly is the spectrum and if you can find something labeled as 'daylight' and maybe even look on the fine print on the lable where it'll say 6500K you're all set and just compare the bulb size to make sure it'll fit your hood :)

Plants you can grow easily are Vallis, Java Fern, Hygrophilia, Swords and Anubias. There's many more, but these are the first to pop in my mind now.
 
#18 ·
Byron,
Thank you very much for the cool and not so cool light explanation. I can use both the T5 fixture, not a problem, just that i would like to know what combination suits best. From your advice, it seems that its best to go with Life and Power GLO. And thanks a lot for the recommendation. Same goes to Angel, thanks!

Its pleasing to hear that my lighting can fit cabomba in. hehe! Liquid fertilization, will try looking up on that in the fish shop. Is it expensive over there?

Angel,
We do have something similar to homedepot here. hehe!

Will do a brief reading on all the plants recommended.
 
#19 ·
If you wanna get the Glo series, just know this power glo is fairly intense (compared to the regular daylight) which isn't necessarily "wrong" fro plants, but to avoid algae issues you want this higher light (Life&Power) balanced with proper nutrition's in the tank. If that is out of balance or non existing you'll easily face algae

Here's a site that I use for supplies that gives you a good price idea, I use Nutrafin & Saechems on my 55g (the only one with ferts used)
Plant Fertilizers/Additives, Plant Care | Pet Solutions
 
#21 ·
Got that angel, thanks.. So far, there hasn't been any algae problem. Will monitor closely.

As for the actinic case, I still like actinic a lot in tanks as they give us a more natural look and indirectly intensifies the color of the most fishes (depends on the fishes' color). But I am not sure myself as I am just a newbie in lighting. hehe! Just my 2 cents.
 
#22 ·
Byron so are you telling me that the actinic i have over my tank is bad for my plants? its been in there for a while now in combo with a daylight from walmart and plants are doing better than they were with my previous setup Much better.

im sure you can agree with my thinking here, plants need blue and red. the actnic provides the blue while the daylight is intense in the reds which provides a great lighting balance, i would just like to understand this further cause as i said my plants are doing great and cant imagine why actnic would be bad, just b/c some book says it or some prof say it is bad doesnt necessarily mean that. i am the kinda person that likes to see the facts behind things in order to understand it.
 
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