Ok I know I'm going to need new lights... My duel fixture hood came with two 15 Watt bulbs. I heard something about getting 1-2 Watts per gallon. I want to make sure i have enough to get medium light plants and also not have too much light where the fish are blinded and hide. So i'll have to split the wattage, would two 30 watt bulbs be good or should i get more?

Another note on the plants, is there a risk they could get diseases and kill your fish?

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What to do today, water change?

Look around here at other planted tank threads. What you will find is that changes in light require changes in nutrients, and possibly addition of CO2. Figure out what you want to grow, and how often you want to prune, and how much you want to spend.

Wattage is not the only thing especially if your lights are HO or VHO, then you actually want less wpg. In a 55 which is probably closer to 50g of actual water, I would shoot for 0.7-1wpg unless you have a good substrate and nutrients. So 2x (20w-30w) would be the max I would go if you are not doing any of the above.

BTW plants make your fish healthier. They use up fish waste like ammonia and nitrates, and give off oxygen. They supply food to fry, safe haven to smaller fish, and color to the tank. But if they are not cared for and start to die, then they can have a reverse role where decay adds more waste products, which is why pruning of old/dying leaves are important.

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Thanks! Actually it's not me, i am just fine with plastic plants in our freshwater and i am really interested in getting a reef set up for my saltwater... this info was to show my boyfriend that there is much to be done and spent to grow freshwater plants correctly.. and now he doesn't want to anymore So Thanks!

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What to do today, water change?

if you want to planted your aquarium you have to keep 2-3 watt per gallon.also you have to inject co2 by co2 diffuser.there are some fertilizers to keep plant healthy...you can go for hornwort,anubias sp,echinodorous sp,anacharis sp etc..those plants grow rapidly...

Yeah, educate yourself on lights because the more I read, the more I found the watts per gallon rule is really out dated. Lumens (light output) is far more important then just raw energy... and it's much more efficient. Take a look at this link. It's a little technical, but there's some really good stuff in it. Just whatever you do, don't automatically believe the watts per gallon rule.

Aquarium Lighting; Kelvin, Nanometers, PAR, Bulb, Watt, MH, LED, light basics.

This is SOOOO not true.

You can do fine without CO2 and added nutrients but you have to keep your wpg at or below 1 (general rule, no VHO/HO lamps). These "low" tech tanks do not require much time or money at all but they require low light plants and growth rates will be slow.

Anubias are low light plants not high, and grow slow. If put in high light, they are more likely to grow green spot algae. This, ferns and crypts would do just fine in a low tech tank and would not require much work at all.

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Wow, Spawn comments like that are the ones that scare the new plant keepers off.

I just have to say I am glad to see folks saying the WPG rule is not really practical anymore. I have been arguing this subject for many years. Especially since it was made up when my grandfather had tanks when he was a kid and only incandescent lights to use.

You can make a planted tank as hard or as easy as you want. Keep it simple and you will be amazed at what results you will get.

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158 planted tanks