Plant Lights - Which To Use?

[sampster5000]

Hello. I have been looking for the correct lighting for my 10 gallon planted tank for too long now. I am wondering what kind of lights people use. All I see anywhere in 15 watt lights which gives me 1.5wpg. I do not want a low light aquarium. I want atleast 2.5 or 3wpg. I know that I am not the only one with a 10 gallon planted tank and am asking if ANYONE can tell me which lights they use in the success of growing moderate to high lighting plants. I am really stuck and am sick of seeing 15 watt 18 inch lights for the dang 20 inch fixture. When I look at lighting for a 20 gallon (which I considered moving my fish and plants to if I found the correct lighting) I run into the same problems. 20 watt lights that go into a 24 inch fixture only. Very frustrated at this point and can use any help I can get.

I currently have a Crypt Wendtii which is doing fine and 2 unknown plants which are doing okay but a tiny bit brown. I dont want to have problems like this! I use flourish and excel daily and have flourish root tabs. I will post the picture of my 2 unknown plants when I can.

 

[ajs2294]

You don't need to worry about wattage per gallon in a 10 gallon unless you have some serious amounts of plants and a co2 system. Chances are you also will need more than 1 tube to provide enough wattage per gallon.

 

[sampster5000]

So lets say I want to do a plant that requires very high lighting. Should I not worry about the wpg because the light is in a more concentrated area? I would really like to do dwarf baby tears as a carpet plant but I am not sure if it will survive. Are you saying it will? I dont have a serious amount of plants but I was considering doing a whole bunch so my cory's can hide more easily and my future shrimp can be more at home. I am also trying out a DIY CO2 idea that I found on this forum and will see how it goes! Thanks for the reply!

Edit: Would you say the same thing for a 20 gallon tall tank?

 

[RadaR]

So lets say I want to do a plant that requires very high lighting.

Generally speaking, no plant NEEDS high light. If given appropriate CO2 and nturients you can grow HC (dwarf baby tears) with one fluorescent tube spanning the length of the tank with added reflector. Dose Easylife Easycarbo and Tropica Plant Nutrition+ everyday and you're all set. Perform two water changes week and ensure circulation is efficient around the whole tank. Dont have the lights on for more than 8hours a day.

 

[sampster5000]

I'll have to look into a reflector. I get very confused when I am told that I dont need a high wpg then when I go to buy plants I see, "requires high moderate to high lighting (3-4wpg)". Really confusing! Being in the US I cant find TPN but I use flourish and excel and root tabs. The plants are growing fine right now I just dont want any future problems because I'm not doing something right. I guess I just need to experiment and find for myself what works best. I am getting too many mixed answers. One thing I do know that will help a lot is the CO2. I am looking into the DIY project and hope it goes smoothly. Thanks for the reply.

 

[RadaR]

I get very confused when I am told that I dont need a high wpg then when I go to buy plants I see, "requires high moderate to high lighting (3-4wpg)".

Simply put, they're wrong. Or just mis-informed. That's all I'll say...
Have a read of SuperColey's post in this thread.

Being in the US I cant find TPN but I use flourish and excel and root tabs.

The Seachem Flourish range do have separate bottles of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

guess I just need to experiment and find for myself what works best.

Yep, that's the best thing to do after you've heard all you need to hear.

I am getting too many mixed answers.

Some people have yet to catch out and have yet to ditch false associations spanning 50+ years. The most common being "N+P cause algae", "you need 2WPG of light", "plants prefer kelvin between 6500K and 8000K".

 

[sampster5000]

Thank you for your help! Do you think you could identify some plants in my tank? I do not know what the front left or front right are. The 2 "plants" in the front middle next to the crypt are unknown too but I'm not sure if they are anything. They decided to tag along with my other plants when I got them.

 

[RadaR]

Front left looks like Rotala Rotundifolia
Front right looks like Bacopa monnieri or atleast a Bacopa species

Cant make out the two in the middle

 

[ian]

the one bang in the middle looks like Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae.

 

[sampster5000]

Thx guys! I was told that the crypt was a wendtii but they could have been wrong.