Is T5 Lighting Really That Much Better?

[adude]

is t5 lighting a significant improvement from traditional lights? my plants aren't thriving the way i thought they would.

 

[RadaR]

is t5 lighting a significant improvement from traditional lights? my plants aren't thriving the way i thought they would.

I would encourage you to look into more nutrients and more CO2 then. Most people do have enough light.
More light makes things more difficult.

What are your tank specs?
Tank size
Light wattage (also what type of bulb)
Dose any nutrients?
Any carbon addition?
What type of plants?
Maintenance (water changes, when and how much?)

What is your long term goal? To have a full planted tank that grows quickly? To have a full planted tank that grows slowly? A tank with a few plants that grow slowly? etc.

 

[stevereade]

I'll be watching this as I'm going to be setting up another heavily planted tank soon and there is a lot of stems and I want them to grow more slowly but still have enough lighting, dunno if thats possible.

 

[adude]

is t5 lighting a significant improvement from traditional lights? my plants aren't thriving the way i thought they would.

I would encourage you to look into more nutrients and more CO2 then. Most people do have enough light.
More light makes things more difficult.

What are your tank specs?
Tank size
Light wattage (also what type of bulb)
Dose any nutrients?
Any carbon addition?
What type of plants?
Maintenance (water changes, when and how much?)

What is your long term goal? To have a full planted tank that grows quickly? To have a full planted tank that grows slowly? A tank with a few plants that grow slowly? etc.

20 gallon long

this light... http/www.amazon.com/Aqualight-High-Output-Light-Fixture/dp/B002P9R2GO

dose with liquid fertilizer (seachem flourish)

no carbon as of now, i'm still waiting for the diffuser to come in the mail

and i change the water once a week, about 25%

my long term goal is to have a fully planted tank that grows quickly (which is why i chose wisteria)


i know i dont have c02 set up yet, but i dont understand why my plants die everytime i stock the tank with them. recently i just spent about 75 dollars on a bunch of wisteria and amazon sword plants and along with that i bought the new t5 light for 100 dollars. and STILL my plants dont look like theyre thriving at all... in fact, quite the opposite. pretty much every single amazon sword leaf has a brown tip (they were extremely healthy when i got them) and nearly all of the wisteria leaves appear significantly weaker than they were when i bought them. i also have a red "bunch-like" plant that looked amazing when i bought it but now the leaves look like theyre slowly dying.

this is starting to get pretty expensive and depressing. any advice?


heres a picture to give you an idea of what i have goin on. unfortunately you wont really be able to see the weak-looking leaves though.

 

[RadaR]

Light is the main driving force for plant growth.
The more light you have, the more CO2 you need to provide. Also, more CO2 means you need to provide more nutrients.
Basically, you have too much light in relation to what CO2 and nutrients there are.
Before you get hold of a reliable CO2 system and loads of nutrients (macro an micro), then cut down your light to one bulb. The duration also can be cut down to 7hours a day. Your plants are suffering because they're starving for CO2 and nutrients. When this isnt given to them, then they breakdown and die.

 

[adude]

Light is the main driving force for plant growth.
The more light you have, the more CO2 you need to provide. Also, more CO2 means you need to provide more nutrients.
Basically, you have too much light in relation to what CO2 and nutrients there are.
Before you get hold of a reliable CO2 system and loads of nutrients (macro an micro), then cut down your light to one bulb. The duration also can be cut down to 7hours a day. Your plants are suffering because they're starving for CO2 and nutrients. When this isnt given to them, then they breakdown and die.

wow, ive never once heard this explanation... but if its true that explains a lot. thanks

 

[RadaR]

Lots of reading ensures that common mistakes wont happen again.
Have a look at the PARC section.
Loads of information there.
The Barr Report is also another good resource.

 

[JoshuaA]

I'm under the impression that the amazon swords you have were grown above water and thus need to shed their leaves for true aquatic leaves to show through. This is the impression I get after reading through my tropica guide thing and seems to be the case. My ech rubin took weeks before it lost its outer leaves yet my amazons ditched them all in a week. Now they're massive but they still haven't taken over the world yet! Maybe someone can confirm that is also what is happening combined with the light issue.