jeremoose Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Hey all! I have another noob question for you all and I hope you have a simple answer. So I have a couple tanks with no hoods on them and I've been having essentially no luck with trying to grow plants in them. I just have these cheap Walmart lights that I have flipped over the edge of the tank and directed onto my plants. Can you all tell me EXACTLY what bulbs I need to use for this sort of setup? I've read a lot on what I need to grow plants and I get lost in all the numbers (which numbers are important and which aren't) and the different colors of light and whatnot. I'll be growing simple (so they say) low-light plants. Just to clarify, I don't need help choosing the lights for my tanks hoods but rather I need to find a standard light bulb that I can pick up from the hardware store that will suit an aquarium plants needs. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) Some will say 6500k...but experimenting with different color temps, I found no difference in growth..Are you using flourescent or incandescent?.. do you have a link to a pic of the light or something similar?..I maybe able to suggest something Edited October 5, 2011 by ubr0ke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted October 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 This would be very similar to what I'm using, not the exact ones though. I am using fluorescent bulbs though. I can get the exact specs off of the box when I get home in a bit here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Sorry I should of been a little more clear with my question..what does the fixture look like?.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted October 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 In that case, something similar to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) i had great growth on my plants in a little 2.5 gallon using a spiral 13 watt cfl bulb, but that was due to the light fixture being flush against the glass lid and all the light directing down into the tank, plus fertilizing them occasionally. those fixtures you linked probably throw a lot of light around and not much goes directly into the tank, especially if they are above the water much. what size tanks do you have these lights on? i'm assuming smaller, under the 20 gallon range? and the type of plants you are trying to grow would help. plus substrate type, fert schedule, co2 used, etc. it's not just lighting that's a factor in healthy plant growth. as far as cheap hardware store lights - home depot carries t8 bulbs and fixtures/fixture kits that are for aquariums, that would do fine for most easy low to medium light plants. Edited October 5, 2011 by BettaFishMommy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 line the inside with tinfoil..bulbs shoudnt matter much.. then if ur not dosing any ferts...buy a botte of seachem flourish comprehensive...follow directions on bottle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted October 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 i had great growth on my plants in a little 2.5 gallon using a spiral 13 watt cfl bulb, but that was due to the light fixture being flush against the glass lid and all the light directing down into the tank, plus fertilizing them occasionally. those fixtures you linked probably throw a lot of light around and not much goes directly into the tank, especially if they are above the water much. what size tanks do you have these lights on? i'm assuming smaller, under the 20 gallon range? and the type of plants you are trying to grow would help. plus substrate type, fert schedule, co2 used, etc. it's not just lighting that's a factor in healthy plant growth. as far as cheap hardware store lights - home depot carries t8 bulbs and fixtures/fixture kits that are for aquariums, that would do fine for most easy low to medium light plants. It's on a 20g tank and I actually have 2 of these lights on it sitting about 5" off the top of the water. I'm currently growing java moss, amazon swords, and some unidentified floating plant (it's the stuff you see floating in essentially every LFS, the most generic fish plant I can think of). The substrate is standard aquarium gravel and I have 4 convicts and 2 firemouths that are growing out in it so I was thinking I didn't need to dose any extra ferts considering these fish are pigs (plenty of ammonia). Am I wrong on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 plants need more than just ammonia to grow nicely. i dose Flourish comprehensive now and then and i find it gives my plants that little boost without me having to worry about measuring a bit of this and a tad of that for ferts, or follow a strict dosing schedule. i am the lazy planted tank keeper, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted October 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 plants need more than just ammonia to grow nicely. i dose Flourish comprehensive now and then and i find it gives my plants that little boost without me having to worry about measuring a bit of this and a tad of that for ferts, or follow a strict dosing schedule. i am the lazy planted tank keeper, lol. This is what I'm trying to be! So have we basically come to the conclusion I need to start dosing ferts of some kind and my lighting isn't the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 i think the fixtures you are using are throwing light sideways too much, especially if the bulb comes past the edge of the fixture's 'cone' at all, and the lights are 5 inches away from the water. lining the inside of the fixture with tinfoil, and extending the foil down past the edge of the fixture can help to direct the light better down to the plants. i personally would just buy a different fixture and bulbs though. how long do you leave the lights on each day? posting photos of your plants could help us determine what sort of deficiencies they have. things like yellowing leaves, brown spots, etc - each 'symptom' has a reason behind it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted October 6, 2011 Report Share Posted October 6, 2011 ive used one of those lights on a 15 gallon with no issues..plant growth is slow thats all...The reason i suggest flourish comp. is your supplying ur plants with a nitrogen source(ammonia) but thats just a small part of the ferts needed..flourish will supply the rest... try the ferts first..Im betting your lighting will be fine when you line with tinfoil...with ur plant list you would be pretty surprised how little light you can get away with..I find nutrients are far more important.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted October 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2011 i think the fixtures you are using are throwing light sideways too much, especially if the bulb comes past the edge of the fixture's 'cone' at all, and the lights are 5 inches away from the water. lining the inside of the fixture with tinfoil, and extending the foil down past the edge of the fixture can help to direct the light better down to the plants. i personally would just buy a different fixture and bulbs though. how long do you leave the lights on each day? posting photos of your plants could help us determine what sort of deficiencies they have. things like yellowing leaves, brown spots, etc - each 'symptom' has a reason behind it. I will definitely get on the foil idea I've been presented with in this thread. Also, I leave the lights on for 10 hours every day. I have since taken the plants out of the problem 20g and put them into another tank with proper lighting and they seem to have perked up but the plants were browning heavily in the "Walmart lights 20g". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted October 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) ive used one of those lights on a 15 gallon with no issues..plant growth is slow thats all...The reason i suggest flourish comp. is your supplying ur plants with a nitrogen source(ammonia) but thats just a small part of the ferts needed..flourish will supply the rest... try the ferts first..Im betting your lighting will be fine when you line with tinfoil...with ur plant list you would be pretty surprised how little light you can get away with..I find nutrients are far more important.. Alright, I'm going to hit my LFS tomorrow and pick-up some Flourish (or whatever they have) and report back. I will take some pictures, post them up before I use the Flourish, then I'll post more in about a week. Will notice almost immediate results? Seems to me the plants should perk up right away. EDIT: I think I'm also going to do a DIY co2 system when I start dosing Flourish and see what kind of crazy growth I can get from there! Edited October 6, 2011 by jeremoose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted October 6, 2011 Report Share Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) adding nutrients will not immediately perk your plants up...it may take up to a week or so.. a diy co2 will help as well...theres an artical on tropica's website showing when adding co2 and non limiting nutrients plants can adapt to very low lights..you may need to add more nutrients when you do though...especially phosphates.. Edited October 6, 2011 by ubr0ke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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