[mackdaddy81]

Hi,

I just built my own diy light fixture for my 29 gallon planted aquarium. In the light fixture I have two 20 watt, 3000k, 1200 lumen soft white bulbs and I have two 20 watt, 6500k, 1190 lumen daylight bulbs. All of these bulbs are the standard screw in compact florescents. Is this too much light? I have wisteria, anachris, white ribbon, amazon sword, and argentine sword plants in the tank. I also have 3 fancy goldfish.


Thanks

 

[susankat]

Its not really to much light for the tank, Its basically only 80 watts, but there is some light loss from restrikes of screw in cf. Most of the plants you have will do well in medium to high light, but the sword will get to big for your tank. The white ribbon, if I am not mistaken isn't an aquatic plant but is a bog plant for terrariums. I'm not sure about an argentine sword never seen or heard of one.

Can you post pics of your tank, would like to see it. And interested in seeing how you built your light fixture.

 

[mackdaddy81]

Here are some photos. I am trying to make it more natural so I just replaced the blue gravel that used to be in there. I am not very good at aquascaping yet, and I am still working on it. I have a 2 liter DIY co2 injector and my DIY lights. For the lights, I built a box and put a groove in the bottom with a table saw. I then put acrylic in the groove to protect the lights. I bought two lamp holders and a double light adapter and attached those to the lid of the box. I then wired it up and put my lights in. I am a little concerned about the soft white bulbs that I have in there. Someone told me that they didnt have a high enough K rating, only 3000K, and that the yellow light would grow more algae. The other two bulbs are 6500K daylight bulbs and the are more of a whitish blue. I used to have all soft white bulbs in there but I replaced two of them with these bulbs. I hope I don't get an algae problem and that my plants will grow well. I am also hoping to get some drift wood or rocks instead of the pillars for a more natural look. Any opinions or suggestions would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks!

P.S.

Sorry for the bad spelling! It is not my strong point and I am too lazy to run this through a spell check (LOL)

 

[susankat]

In my opinion, until you get a lot of plants in there I wouldn't change your lights. When you start getting more lights and co2 and fertz going then have all bulbs in the 6500k range. Your ribbon plants are not aquatic and will die on you in about a month. I would pull them out now and plant into pots.

Look for some ferns and anubia that can be tied to the wood and it will put more height to your plants. The amazon sword, it wouldn't hurt to put plant tabs under the substrate next to the roots. Also need to get some more fast growing stem plants for awhile to help compete for the nutrients that the algae likes and takes hold. Even if they are cheap you can through them out later if you want something else. Just add more watersprite and anacharis, several plants of it. The goldfish will eat it anyway.

 

[mackdaddy81]

Thanks for the info. I have 4 wisteria plants in the back that are really small, so hopefully they will grow up fast. As for the goldfish, I have been pretty lucky so far. They all seem pretty disinterested in the plants, and the only one they occasionally nibble on is the anachris. I want to get some really cool drftwood or rocks to replace the pillars. Also, I was thinking about some kind of small grass to grow in the front. Any suggestions on what would look good is apprieciated. Thanks!

 

[susankat]

Ground cover plants; glosso, dwarf hairgrass or marsalea mini (sp) Driftwood will look good in the tank. Find a piece that you like and tie some moss, java ferns or anubia on it.

 

[paronaram]

Susankat,
Can you please recommend a set of plants for 7 Gal tank with limited light.
I have about 15W bulb, and it's on about 8-9 hours.

Thanks
Aram

 

[mackdaddy81]

15 watts for 7 gallons is pretty good lighting. It's a little over 2 WPG. You should be able to grow most medium light plants. Visit plantgeek.net. This is a very good site and has a lot of info on plants.

 

[susankat]

Pygmy Chain Sword (Echinodorus tenellus, and some crypts like Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green'. Cryptocoryne wendtii, Micranthemum umbrosum (babytears) Java ferns. Any of these will work. The baby tears will thrive in higher light but will grow slowly with 15 watts.Most of your mosses.

I would suggest to look these plants up to see what they look like then choose a few, but not all. And remember some will do good for you while others won't. Just keep trying till you find the ones you like best.

 

[djrichie]

I have a friend in AU who has built something very much the same for a 120 tank he has and it works great and he has high light requirment plants. If you increase the CF bulb watts. you can to put high light required plants in there. You will see on the package something to the effect 20 watts the sames as 75 watts(just an example). You want bulbs in the 6700k rating which is pretty much what is standard for those bulbs. So to increase you WPG is very simple and inexpensive.. Home Depot sells 4 packs for under 20 dollars. Also you may want to add a fan the pushs the heat out of the box as that will cause you tank water to run hot. You can also line the inside with aluminum foil or Brite whit paint to reflect the light back into the tank.

 

[paronaram]

Thanks Susan!