Planted Tank

[Angry_Platy]

I have decided I want a planted tank

However as it is currently I have very low light levels in which only very limited plants will grow. And I want nice plants with high light requirements like amazon sword and val and the like.

SOOO...soon I will be investing in more lighting in the form of metal halides. The smallest wattage available is 150watts which will give me 5wpg. i have been told this is too much by some peeps here however the person I emailed (from the place selling the MHs) said that 5wpg would be OK provided I didn't have them on ALL the time. He said I would need to adjust my light accordingly once i had the plants and everything was going good. Does anyone see any problems with this?

BREATHE!!!!

So, planning ahead, I know I will need some kind of CO2 system as well. How do these work? Are they high maintenance and do they cost much to set up???

OK. I think thats all for now......

 

[Lateral Line]

You don't need particulaly high light to grow Swords and Vallis. Both will grow adequately in Medium light in a regular shaped tank. 2 wpg of full spectrum fluorescent lighting for 10-12 hours.

At 5 wpg, you have Very high light, too much for some plants which naturally come from shaded locations, most Crypts for example, they will bleach and die. If you don't "use" that capacity, you risk algae blooms.

Most of the fast growing high light demanding plants will need CO2 injection. After light, CO2 is usually the next limiting factor. You can make your own CO2 system quite easily, they require a little maintenance, but it is easy. Bottled gas CO2 systems are largely automatic, but cost a lot more.

 

[Angry_Platy]

Thanks Lat for replying

Ok.....it is easier for me to get high lighting than low lighting.....say...I wanted 3wpg....would be 90 watts....normal fluoros would be 2 double reflectors with 20watt tubes....= 80watts....I don' think I'd be able to fit 2 double reflectors under my hood.....

Does that make sense?? Of course compact fluros are an option but I am still unsure as to the equiavalent since CFs produce more wpg than what they list on their tubes....

Does that make sense??

Any help would be appreciated!!!

 

[Silly me]

you do get a 96W CF light thats only 32" long, and I am more that sure that it will cost much less than a 150w MH.. just remove the current 20w light and starter and install the CF. and if your willing to make space for a extreamly hot MH a CF would be much less worry's as it doesnt get as hot..

that will give you 3.2wpg, thats more that enough to grow most plant avalible at the LFS..