Lighting For Glosso?

[sandro]

Hey everyone,

After a long break from having a tank (big move), I just today bought a new 55 gallon tank. It's 21" deep. I'm just starting to plan out my tank and was wondering exactly how much lighting I would need to have a nice carpet of glosso. I know it's high light and will need CO2, but my past attempts at growing it failed pretty badly. So ... with a tank of that depth, what should I do for lighting? This is assuming the tank won't be getting any direct sunlight (it will most likely be in a basement). As it is I have 38 watts of fluorescent lighting + a 39 watt compact fluorescent (leftover stuff from my old tank). I'm sure that's not going to be enough so I'd like to know what to buy basically. I'm not attached to using these lights, I'll buy a new light rig if needs be ... I just want the right one. I was under the impression glosso likes at least 3 watts/ gallon, but I've also heard that's not necessarily the case depending on tank depth and CO2. Thanks for any input!

 

[aaronnorth]

you will need at least another 40w tube on there, preferable T5 so it will penetrate the bottom more effectively.

It will need pressurized CO2, due to the high lighting, if it is low or fluctuating = algae so no DIY.

what about fertilisation? EIwill be cheap for this size tank: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=104737

 

[sandro]

Thanks for the reply! I figured I would need more light. My old tank was a tiny 10 gallon (lived in a very small place) and even though I had 3 watts/gallon, I still couldn't get glosso to grow in it at all ... it just sat there until it finally died. That's why I wasn't sure about the lighting. Given the size of the tank I think there was probably also a good amount of fluctuation in the water chemistry even though I was pretty good about testing it everyday. As for the substrate, is sand fine? My old tank had sand, but for this one I was wondering if I'd be better off using some kind of gravel and maybe a fluorite base. Do you think that's overkill?

 

[aaronnorth]

the lighting in the last tank was fine, it must of been CO2 and/ or nutrients.

inert substrate is fine, but it will require heavier water column dosing, so if you can get flourite, get it!