Going live

This is my first posting, so here goes...
I would like to put live plants in my 55G. So...
1. How much light is enough? and what type? ( without breaking the budjet)?
2. Any opinions on moonlight? and what types?
3. Can I assemble a fixture myself, and be just as good as the megabuck light fixtures?

I have a group of scissor tail rasboras, rainbow barbs, 1 Gala shark, and a bristle nose pleco (which I rarely see, thus the reason I want to get moonlight).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello and Welcome to the USAfishbox!!

do you have any lights on the 55g yet? if not the ones at lowes could work... if you are going to use low and med light plants...

the goal is 1-3 watts per gallon. 1-2 would be low light plants and then 2-3 would work for higher light plants i believe. I would check hardware stores... on my set up i have a mixture of low and high light plants and i have 1 light thats 120w 2000k and one thats 65w 6500k... its a nice mix and ive been pretty success full at growiing some wonderful plants.

Welcome to the box. If your looking to grow low to medium light plants the coralife T-5 NO fixtures are great. That's what I use on my 55 gallon medium light planted tank. You can find them online for about $60 or less.

Lighting for a planted tank can be tricky. Too much light will lead to massive algae without fertilization and CO2 injection. For low to medium light plants: If you use T-8 lights or T-12 lights, you will need about 2 watts per gallon (WPG). If you use T-5 NO (normal output) lighting you will need about 1 wpg. The T-5 HO (High Output) lights will put you in a high light category and then your talking CO2 and fertilizers, unless you suspend the light far enough above the tank. Then there's compact florescent light which would need about 1.5 to 2 wpg for medium light on a 55 gallon.

You can buy a fixture from a home improvement store and use it as well. Just be sure to use bulbs that are in the 5000K to 8000K (daylight) spectrum for the best plant growth.

WELCOME!

If you're using T8 or T12 then the WPG rule applies. If you decide to use newerlighting technology(power compact flourescent, T5, T2) the rule doesn't apply as much because their light output is much greater. Moonlights are nice. My fixture came with 2LED moonlights, but they are so dim you can't really see much in the tank. I can only see shadows and slight twinkling made by the surface agitation. I have found and LED clip on light that you can clip to the rim of the tank, I think it has like 3 or 4 LEDS on it, and you can use that for moonlight, about $30. They aren't necessary for the plants, just cool toys for nighttime.

If you're going for budget, T8 or T12 from Lowes are perfectly fine, like the shop lights or something. T5 give off more intense light so you'd have to pick your plants carefully.

Last night I found T2 lights online. Never heard of them until last night. They're about 3/4" thick, sticks out about 2", come in ranges of 8, 11, or 13 watts, but are as bright if not slightly brighter than T5 lights. They have colors suitable for reefs but offer a daylight bulb about 6500K color temperature. They say you can even glue the fixtures in the canopy if you have one, no hard installation(though they come with brackets to screw into a surface too). You can also connect fixtures in parallel or in series, for a longer tank. The bonus: each fixture costs about $30, replacement bulbs are like $11. From what I've read this is the new thing in lighting, but right now in the states T5 technology has taken a stronghold in sales. I'm seriously considering retrofitting my power compact light fixture for these. 130 watts vs 26 watts is a big deal!

it's not all the same. it depends on the bulbs, and what you want to grow. I'm growing r. rotundilifa a high light plant, it's not staying red. it's just green but I can still grow it. nothing special just a t5 no 18w x2 corallife fixture over my 29g with lquid fert dosing of micro and marcos daily....

you could easly go to wallmart/wally world, lowes, homedepot, and buy two bulb t8 shop fixture, that has a reflector and two 6,500k bulbs, and you will grow anubuis, java fern, wisteria, sagiteria,and crypts easly, oh and moss too.

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/index.html
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/lighting/

I'd look at the plants you like, then I can help you from there....

WOW!! a lot of info to digest. Someone asked if I had lights. I do, I also know they aren't enough. They are the standard Petsmart-type hood/light combo. Truthfully, I haven't looked at the tubes to see what they are. Just assumed they are not correct for live plants.

Information on aquarium lighting is scarce at best, without someone trying to sell you something. I apprectiate the feedback very much.

I am an amatuer freshie, so I would like to stay away from the fertilizer and CO2. So I guess that means low-medium lights. Will this avoid alge buildup? or will it still be a problem?

I also have to choose plants that are low-medium light?

Will I have to add anything (chemicals, etc.) to the water? Or is lighting enough (along with normal fish-cycling...not sure if that's the correct term)?

If you're really serious about naturaly planted tanks.. read a book written by Diane Walstad.. "The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" She touts the theory of a soil substrate, covered by a containment median such as fine gravel or sand. No ferts, no CO2 and no filtration I think. The last is a bit extreme to me so that part I disregard. The tanks I have planted in that manner I am quite pleased with. My ph stays put, my naturally hard water softens over time.. and the plants grow incredibly well. My lighting is pretty much what you say you have.. fish store standard lighting... probably 4100K.. wattage is (2) 40 watt bulbs. I probably have over 30 different variety of plants and am only having problems with one and that's a Pontediriifolia... But I can live with 1 out of 30. I am looking for a bulb in the 6500K range to spice up some of the more demanding plants that will like the boost in the light temp.
The Walstad theory is really a balancing act. Soil bacteria, fish extracts (ammonia), water all playing their part in a natural cycle. Some hobbiest do get a ton of enjoyment of tweaking the process with CO2, specialized lighting and ferts and that is a hobby in itself!... Or maybe it's only my perspective cuz I'm so cheap!..<grin>
Good luck and keep us posted on your results!

I should have added one more disclaimer. The folks that like to tinker with their setups are just as profoundly strong in their beliefs and probably have systems that work perfectly. I look forward to some of those chiming in for two reasons: 1. It forces me to do even more research to support my beliefs and garners me more information and 2. They too teach me something that I've not considered!.. Debate is healthy!.. Bill

Sunrisor.. here is a link that gives you a 10 minute read explaining everything I tried to share:
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Walstad_method

If you're a beginner, just get the measurements from your current hood and then go the Walmart. They'll have aquarium daylight (or just daylight) bulbs to fit the hood at half the price of LFS. You can also add a standard growlight bulb if you're using plexiglass for your top ($14 fixture & bulb at Walmart)

I've had good luck with everything from mosses to Cryps and Swords by mixing grolights with the daylight bulbs. The moss mixed tanks seem to produce far less algae than the Amazon swords - and require little/no ferts. If you go with Amazon swords/etc - you will need some fertilizers.

I would also go with a planted tank substrate, these are formulated to add the appropriate levels of minerals over an extended period without the mess of decaying organic material. Floramax is the one I've been using with a lot of success.

Favorite easy mosses: Java, Christmas, Weeping, Flame, Pellia and Marimino

2sci...I've read a ton of good things about Floramax with only three negatives relating to using it. 1. The bio effects of the product wear off after 3 years or so of use. (no big deal!), 2. The product contains iron and one user was cleaning the walls of his tank and the substrate attached to the magnetic cleaner and scratched the tank walls.(again no big deal if you pay attention to what your doing) and 3. COST... (my first post to this thread I noted I was frugal..ok cheap). To set up a 55 I paid $10.00 for a 50 lb bag of pool filter sand (gain size of .45 mm to .55mm) and $1.19 for cheapo potting soil. I still have 20 lbs or so of the sand left over so my total substrate cost was just over $7.00. The best deal I could find on Floramax is just under $1.00 per pound.

me all I did was use orangic mulc from lowes/home depot/ace hard ware (make sure it's all organic), the I laided down play sand, then I laided down black flourite sand.(from the company seachem)... I do brightwell's dosing flourin gro, multi and axis once weekly , and fe and & k twice a week. 1ml per every 10gallons...

my lighting is coralife 18w x 2 on top of a 29g. plants grow 1/2- 1 inch every week to two weeks... my filter is 250gph , my heater stays at 76. yes even certin plants like to stay at a certin temp.

remember more light means more c02, more c02 means more ferts... it all depends on if you want to do some gardening in your tank every week, or if you want a simple low maintence tank to enjoy.

sunrisor wrote:

WOW!! a lot of info to digest. Someone asked if I had lights. I do, I also know they aren't enough. They are the standard Petsmart-type hood/light combo. Truthfully, I haven't looked at the tubes to see what they are. Just assumed they are not correct for live plants.

Information on aquarium lighting is scarce at best, without someone trying to sell you something. I apprectiate the feedback very much.

Not to much info to digest, and it will all come with time.

More than likely you have T-8 lights with your tank. You should be able to look on the bulb to get the watts, type, and kelvin.

You should't have to use any ferts or CO2 if you keep it low to medium light. A suffienct bioload, water changes, and regular feeding of your fish should be enough for your plants. You will be limited on what kind of plants you can grow with this conditions, but there are many plants out there. Here is a list of some; Java Fern, Water sprite, water wisteria, Java moss, hornwort, anubias, ect. You can do some research online for low light aquarium plants and there should be plenty of resources to find the info.

yes some people will tell you what works for them i lived by trial and error, i went to the fish store how many watts does this plant needed but a mix of what i liked by searching on line then going to the store... i keeped what grow and stayed away from what didn't grow... keep up with ferts, water changes, and keep the bulbs clean and you have minor if any problems...

this is all low light plants, anubias,and vals/sags, don't know what the flowing plants are and a 125g. this is from a guy on apc.

the advice sounds good on lighting.
the smaller the gravel the better. i like turface pro choice . very cheap an you can but it for 15 buck at a lesco or spot that seals with turf.