the light on my tank is not that strong how do i no all the plants in my tank are getting light??

Question

i placed it on the top back . and iwant my plants to grow ..


are all the plants in the tank getting light or does the light haved to be placed right on top of the plants???

Answer 1

The light will spread out in the tank - as long as there's nothing to block the light (taller plants, floating objects), your plants will be getting some light.

Some plants do need higher light intensity than others. This is usually figured by watts of light per gallon. Plants that are low-light intensity should have at least 3 watts per gallon, intermediate intensity, at least 4 watts, and high intensity 5 watts or more.

You can figure out how much watts/gallon you plants are getting by dividing the wattage of the bulb/tube in your hood by the gallons in your tank. This is really a rough way of figuring this, because tank shape can affect the intensity - 20 gallon tanks come in two shapes, a standard that's 16" deep and a long that's 12" deep - so the plants in a long will be closer to the light, making it "more intense" just by distance.

If your plants are yellowing, the cause might be light, or a lack of iron in the water - try an occasional iron supplement to help them grow if your lighting is okay for the plants you have.

Here's a list of common aquarium plants and the light intensity each should have - http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-list.html

Answer 2

Well i f they are getting black there is to much sunlight getting in and if u want to no if ure plants are getting enough light threes two ways they will look healthy and u can get thermometer...

Answer 3

Here's some guides to tell you if your plants are getting enough light:
http://www.aquariumsecrets.com/Aquarium_Plants.htm
http://www.aquariaplants.com/lighting.htm
Good luck and happy fishkeeping!