Best substrate live planted tank?

[Byron]

Since we've started discussing the Coralife T5HO, do ya'll know what kind of freshwater fish (since Tetras like the blackwater/forest setup) that thrive in high or bright lighting?

None really. Marine (ocean) fish live in open water but sunlight does not penetrate all that well through water. Blue light has the greatest penetration, which is why marine lighting units are so high in blue (actinic light for example); this is needed to keep corals alive. Red and green light penetrate considerably less well. All of this is also why it becomes rapidly darker the further down you go in the ocean, or even freshwater for that matter.

There are rivers in the Amazon that are in direct sunlight; these are the only watercourses with much in the way of aquatic plants, and all of them without exception have floating plants along the banks. When you look at the fish in those rivers, not surprisingly they all live along the shores, under a "roof" of either floating plants or overhanging terrestrial vegetation. Streams and creeks in the forest may never see direct sunlight because of the forest canopy; and during the wet season which lasts half the year, when the watercourses flood the surrounding forest for thousands of square kilometers, the fish move into these food-rich but dimly lit waters to spawn. The point in all this is that for the vast majority of freshwater tropical species, direct overhead light is something they rarely if ever experience their entire lives. Their eyes have therefore evolved to function in such an environment.

I have seen evidence of this preference to avoid overhead light in my own tanks. All have floating plants--I consider these as essential in almost any tropical aquarium--but it is not surprising that when I periodically thin them out due to excessive growth, for the next several days until they grow back some, the fish will not bee as out and about as otherwise. This is a direct relation to the overhead light. And if you have ever noticed in photos of the beautiful aquascapes designed by Amano, all the shoaling fish are down among the plants in most of the photos; this is because they avoid the overhead light which is bright. On the planted tanks forums you will find a majority of aquarists that have high-tech planted tanks but with few and often no fish at all.

Byron.

 

[TamarackTTC]

None really. Marine (ocean) fish live in open water but sunlight does not penetrate all that well through water. Blue light has the greatest penetration, which is why marine lighting units are so high in blue (actinic light for example); this is needed to keep corals alive. Red and green light penetrate considerably less well. All of this is also why it becomes rapidly darker the further down you go in the ocean, or even freshwater for that matter.

There are rivers in the Amazon that are in direct sunlight; these are the only watercourses with much in the way of aquatic plants, and all of them without exception have floating plants along the banks. When you look at the fish in those rivers, not surprisingly they all live along the shores, under a "roof" of either floating plants or overhanging terrestrial vegetation. Streams and creeks in the forest may never see direct sunlight because of the forest canopy; and during the wet season which lasts half the year, when the watercourses flood the surrounding forest for thousands of square kilometers, the fish move into these food-rich but dimly lit waters to spawn. The point in all this is that for the vast majority of freshwater tropical species, direct overhead light is something they rarely if ever experience their entire lives. Their eyes have therefore evolved to function in such an environment.

I have seen evidence of this preference to avoid overhead light in my own tanks. All have floating plants--I consider these as essential in almost any tropical aquarium--but it is not surprising that when I periodically thin them out due to excessive growth, for the next several days until they grow back some, the fish will not bee as out and about as otherwise. This is a direct relation to the overhead light. And if you have ever noticed in photos of the beautiful aquascapes designed by Amano, all the shoaling fish are down among the plants in most of the photos; this is because they avoid the overhead light which is bright. On the planted tanks forums you will find a majority of aquarists that have high-tech planted tanks but with few and often no fish at all.

Byron.

After doing some reading last night I think I can reduce the light a bit with my coralife t5ho. I don't want to go through the hassle of trying to sell it, so I think I'll switch out the 10,000 daylight bulb and the blue actinic bulb with a 6,700 daylight and a colormax bulb. This should reduce the power of the light a little. Also including some floating plants is a strong consideration in turn dumping the carpet plant idea (however, I need some thought here because my mind was dead set on the carpet plants, but then again I'm NOT an aquascaper I'm a rookie hobbyist that wants to have some fishies to look at :0)....

 

[NickAu]

consideration in turn dumping the carpet plant idea

Maybe not, Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo' tolerates low light, I have it in my 2 foot tank and its doing great, and I put some in the 6 foot tank 3 weeks ago and I see new growth, I hope to carpet the whole 6 footer.

Unless you plan on having less light than this Monte Carlo should be fine.

A jungle is not everyones cup of tea, But my Betta loves it so do the 80 or so Red Cherry shrimp, 15 Kuhli loaches, 2 Mystery snails, A baby BN, and an unknown number of Malaysian Trumpet snails.


As for cutting brightness, Floating plants are great but if you have a lid on your tank as you should here's a tip
Buy some of this stuff.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/714jHZbRFSL._SL1000_.jpg

Then cut it to size and put it on your tank.

The light is a Aqua One Smart Touch (6w) LED Clip on , $29 at my local lfs

 

[TamarackTTC]

Maybe not, Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo' tolerates low light, I have it in my 2 foot tank and its doing great, and I put some in the 6 foot tank 3 weeks ago and I see new growth, I hope to carpet the whole 6 footer.

Unless you plan on having less light than this Monte Carlo should be fine.

A jungle is not everyones cup of tea, But my Betta loves it so do the 80 or so Red Cherry shrimp, 15 Kuhli loaches, 2 Mystery snails, A baby BN, and an unknown number of Malaysian Trumpet snails.


As for cutting brightness, Floating plants are great but if you have a lid on your tank as you should here's a tip

Buy some of this stuff.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/714jHZbRFSL._SL1000_.jpg

Then cut it to size and put it on your tank.

The light is a Aqua One Smart Touch (6w) LED Clip on , $29 at my local lfs

Do you ever trim the Monte Carlo as it grows upwards?

 

[NickAu]

Yes. Its how I got the clippings for the 6 footer.

 

[Byron]

After doing some reading last night I think I can reduce the light a bit with my coralife t5ho. I don't want to go through the hassle of trying to sell it, so I think I'll switch out the 10,000 daylight bulb and the blue actinic bulb with a 6,700 daylight and a colormax bulb. This should reduce the power of the light a little. Also including some floating plants is a strong consideration in turn dumping the carpet plant idea (however, I need some thought here because my mind was dead set on the carpet plants, but then again I'm NOT an aquascaper I'm a rookie hobbyist that wants to have some fishies to look at :0)....

The existing tubes in the T5 will not benefit plants, and will encourage algae, as they are very high in the blue with little if any red. Changing them to tubes around 5000K to 6500K provides what the plants require in terms of wavelength (red, blue and green). The higher the Kelvin, the "cooler" the light, meaning more blue and less red. Perfect for marine systems, terrible for freshwater. Over the last several years I experimented with many tubes and my results certainly agreed with the written data. Light around 6500K is ideal for aquatic plants, but with two tubes you can mix them to fine tune it; one 5000K and one 6500K is an excellent mix.

However, when I tried T5 there were two 6500K tubes (Life-Glo) and this was much too bright for my purposes.

Given the cost of the tubes, it still might be more feasible to take out the T5 unit and replace it with a dual tube T8 shop fixture. The housing will likely accommodate it. This will allow you to use much less expensive tubes from then on; and these tubes should be replaced every 12 months. Fluorescent tubes weaken in intensity the longer they burn, and long before they burn out they are useless for plant growth.

 

[TamarackTTC]

The existing tubes in the T5 will not benefit plants, and will encourage algae, as they are very high in the blue with little if any red. Changing them to tubes around 5000K to 6500K provides what the plants require in terms of wavelength (red, blue and green). The higher the Kelvin, the "cooler" the light, meaning more blue and less red. Perfect for marine systems, terrible for freshwater. Over the last several years I experimented with many tubes and my results certainly agreed with the written data. Light around 6500K is ideal for aquatic plants, but with two tubes you can mix them to fine tune it; one 5000K and one 6500K is an excellent mix.

However, when I tried T5 there were two 6500K tubes (Life-Glo) and this was much too bright for my purposes.

Given the cost of the tubes, it still might be more feasible to take out the T5 unit and replace it with a dual tube T8 shop fixture. The housing will likely accommodate it. This will allow you to use much less expensive tubes from then on; and these tubes should be replaced every 12 months. Fluorescent tubes weaken in intensity the longer they burn, and long before they burn out they are useless for plant growth.

So do you think a "regular" tube from the hardware store with be compatible with my 48" Coralife?

 

[Byron]

So do you think a "regular" tube from the hardware store with be compatible with my 48" Coralife?

This is T5, not T8, you now have...I would assume T5 tubes would work, but I've no idea what is available. When I tried the T5 (two 4-foot tubes, over my 5-foot tank) I bought the fixture with two Life-Glo T5 tubes. I didn't bother looking at less expensive tubes as T5 was too bright for my needs.

I use the T8 tubes from Home Depot or Lowe's or similar. Phillips and Sylvania make 4-foot tubes with 6500K and 5000K, and I use these over the 4-foot tanks. The Kelvin is very important. The "aquarium" tube both these manufacturers make is useless.