Attempt Of Planting

[Alex_]

So.. I have a 37 gallon tank with a 20 watt bulb. The guy at the LFS said I could grow java fern and anubias under low light using fertilizer. I wanted to know if this is true? Could i add C02 to my tank to help the growth, or would that not help? I was thinking of DIY. He also said I could add this light thing that would triple my wattage, but that costs like $180.. a little out of my price range. Could i get a higher wattage light bulb, or do they not make higher wattage bulbs? I kind of wanted a plant that would go to the top of my tank as a nice background. The substrate of my tank is sand.
Also, do trace elements benefit all plants or just some. Will they benefit anubias, java fern, melon sword and mirco sword???

 

[ksam]

if you could add a couple extra tubes that would really open up your options ................otherwise I find crinum thaianum does really well in low lighting, along with cryptocoryne pontederfolia, I also have some java fern in with these plants which is growing just really slowly. This tank has very low lighting, but all the plants are nice & healthy and growing well (the crinum has leaves which are over 3' long!!! and need trimmed back regularly) I do have a base layer of compost which does help them a bit

 

[phlawed]

So.. I have a 37 gallon tank with a 20 watt bulb. The guy at the LFS said I could grow java fern and anubias under low light using fertilizer. I wanted to know if this is true? Could i add C02 to my tank to help the growth, or would that not help? I was thinking of DIY. He also said I could add this light thing that would triple my wattage, but that costs like $180.. a little out of my price range. Could i get a higher wattage light bulb, or do they not make higher wattage bulbs? I kind of wanted a plant that would go to the top of my tank as a nice background. The substrate of my tank is sand.
Also, do trace elements benefit all plants or just some. Will they benefit anubias, java fern, melon sword and mirco sword???

check ebay. I too have a 37g tank and the lfs was trying to get me to pay close to $200 for lights. I went on ebay and found a 2x65w Catalina Hood for 64.99+15sh still saved over $100. Also got a Co2 kit with 2 extra canisters for $15 on ebay. Just the Co2 kit at the LFS was $50. all amounts are U.S.

 

[Alex_]

do you think i could make a hood out of plexiglass and shape it to my tank then get some more light fixtures and lay them on the plexiglass, or could i just keep the hood i have and add light fixtures to it? If this works what are some light fixtures you would reccomend? How many WPG will my 37g need to be able to grow plants well? Would this work http/www.aquariumguys.com/dualsatellite3.html possibly something cheaper then this though?

 

[Bryan1957]

do you think i could make a hood out of plexiglass and shape it to my tank then get some more light fixtures and lay them on the plexiglass, or could i just keep the hood i have and add light fixtures to it? If this works what are some light fixtures you would reccomend? How many WPG will my 37g need to be able to grow plants well? Would this work http/www.aquariumguys.com/dualsatellite3.html possibly something cheaper then this though?

Alex,
This light will get your tank close to 4 watts per gallon. Definately a high light tank. You will need to be prepared to dose ferts, inject CO2, and all the things that go with a high light tank. The algae will take over your tank if you don't have everything sorted before installing this much light.
My tanks are low light and grow plants nicely, just a little slower. You won't be able to plant every type of plant with a low light tank.
What kind of plants do you want in your tank?
Here is a link to a fixture that will give you about 1 watt per gallon.
I have also made my own CO2 with two liter soda bottles, aquarium silicone and a hot glue gun. I can get "decent" levels of CO2 by using more than one bottle per tank. I use two DIY units in my 55 gallon and three DIY units in my 90 gallon. Pressurized CO2 is on my "wish list" but too expensive right now. There is a pinned article about CO2 and one of the gurus on this forum uses DIY CO2 in his tank (I forget who).
I just put this in the aquarium section. It is my 4 foot 55 gallon with low light and DIY CO2. I really need to hide the CO2 tubing better. (Maybe in the corners at the back with some stem plants to hide it.)

HTH
Bryan

 

[Alex_]

Thanks for the reply Bryan

I was just looking for a plant that would grow to the top of my tank as a background. Does anyone know of one that would grow about 22 inches under low light? Will low light plants be ok with a higher light, or will it kill them? How about a fixture that will give me about 3 watts per gallon? Is that good or should i go lower or higher? Could you guys give me some more options? As you can see I have a lot of questions.. haha

Thanks

 

[Alex_]

bump^