Plants And Best Lighting

[stan1979]

i have a juwel rio 180ltr tank and the lighting in it is brutal, i have seen reflecters that can be fitted to the hood to increase light, i was wondering would they help encourage plant growth or would i be better replacing the lights with a higher standard and if i do that what lights would be recommended
thanks in advance
stan

 

[Themuleous]

Have you read the pinned light arctile? That'll probably answer most of you're questions

Sam

PS welcome to the forum

 

[George Farmer]

Welcome to the forums Stan!

Your lighting requirement depends on what plants you wish to grow, if you inject CO2, fertilise the water column etc.

If you're sticking to a basic setup i.e. no CO2, minimal ferts then simply adding reflectors will improve growth. The supplied Juwel tubes aren't great and you'll have better results switching to full-spectrum tubes.

If you want to go high-tech, heavy planted i.e. CO2 injection, nutrient-rich substrate and water column then doubling the light will be ideal. This is simple to do by buying a double 30W ballast, two tubes and reflectors. The tubes rest on the center brace, in front and behind the Juwel light bar, with the cables providing sufficient tension to keep the the tubes balanced.

Jimbooo has had very good results with his Rio 180 using this lighting technique. He also runs pressurized CO2, laterite based substrate and fertilises the water using the Estimative Index. Check out his journal - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=116421