light for plants?

Question

i have a 18" fluorescent lightbulb on the light on my 29 gallon aquarium, i am going to turn it into a planted aquariums soon. If i get a full spectrum bulb for that light on top of this full spectrum wall lamp from target thats 13 would i have enough light for most plants?

In total it would be-1 18" full spectrum fluorescent tube, and one 13w full spectrum tube.

i really dont want to dish out teh money for plants and have them die on me!

im looking at getting..

Red Tiger Lotus
Anacharis
ContortionVals
Giant Wendtii ‘Red’
Dwarf Hairgrass
Java Fern
Banana Plant


i have heard from some ppl on teh interent that even tho some of these might do better in higher light that they usually do fine in lower light

Answer 1

well dont waste all your money on light as the plants need only a few hours of daylight. just put the aquarium close to the window. if you leave the light on for ages then this will increase the rapid growth of algea, killing your own plants and overtaking the tank

Answer 2

It depends on the plants that you buy. A lot of aquarium shops might sell you plants that aren't really underwater plants and then they die after awhile (they are bog plants and need to come out of the water, too). A 29 gallon aquarium is pretty deep, so the plants really won't be getting that much light. I have done well in the past with cryptocoryne, pygmy swordplants, java fern, java moss and valisneria. oh, and crinum bulbs, but they are pretty big. If you get some light from nearby windows, you might be able to grow plants that need more light than these.

Also be sure that the fish you have won't root up or eat your plants. Cichlids are mostly a big no no.

Answer 3

The target light will have a very poor spectrum for plants, and is not worth the money, spend the extra on better lighting. You can get double fluorescent lighting fixtures (or a second one similar to the one you have) from decent locally owned aquarium shops.

Answer 4

I have a 29 gallon aquarium. I experimented with the plants from the pet store and was unable to get any of them to thrive in my tank. I did get an interesting variety of snails (not good) in the process.

Then I went to the zoo, and when I was admiring their fish tanks, I noticed that they had pothos plants in their tanks. Pothos is a very common, inexpensive houseplant. I bought some, pulled them out of their pots and took all the dirt off of them, then trimmed the roots, secured several stems together with rubber bands (I use silicone rubber bands because they hold up underwater) and planted the roots in the gravel of the tank. It looks great. My fish eat the plants, so about every 3-6 months I have to replace the plants, which costs about $6. They don't require any special lighting, either.

Answer 5

One tube will only give you enough light for only the easiest of plants to grow, and that includes 1 species of moss and about 3 kinds of plants. Check out ahsupply.com for retrofit kits. For sufficient plants growth you want at least 2 watts per gallon of tank volume. 3 watts per gallon will allow you to grow just about anything.

Answer 6

Get a Zoo-med Tropic-sun or Flora-sun. If you're going to keep fish, buy a clown loach; your plants are almost guarenteed to have snails and snail eggs on them, the loach will gobble them up and then eat uneaten food on the bottom of the tank when the snails are gone.

Answer 7

I did an test in extreme college the place I placed plant life, i think of they have been beans (i began with the seeds), in a field with a delicate and in front of the gentle became colored plastic (blue, green, yellow, crimson, and a administration that had in basic terms a lamp). i do no longer bear in mind what the outcomes have been and picture I in basic terms have been given a C because of the fact the professor became extra drawn to style over substance. Years later, I did some shop on with up and from what I bear in mind, the perfect gentle is sunlight. once you placed a coloured filter out, it filters out gentle of the wavelenght of the colour of the filter out, plus, marginal quantities of sunshine of different wavelenghts. the traditional quantity of sunshine is decreased, and, it is the comprehensive quantity of sunshine, in all colours bandwidth it is the perfect for plant life. colored filters do no longer make plant life improve any speedier in any respect. those that use black gentle for marijuanna do in an attempt to regulate pests, to electrify the plant intercourse in the event that they are starting to be for seeds, and for different particular purposes, no longer that i might comprehend something approximately this.

Answer 8

Hey. Did that full spectrum suggestion work out for you? If it did glad I could help and to answer this curretn question, yes it would be plenty.

Answer 9

more wattage...

if light is an issue with you, get plants that do fine in low lights....
here are some

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_lowlight.php

Answer 10

I live in an aquarium and i think that all lights look the same...
And i have a question for u...
WHY DO U HATE..... ........ BLAK LITES