What Sort Of Lights Will I Need For Planted Tanks

[shelaghfishface]

hi
the lights i currently have are just regular tubes that came with the tank, tho they do light up the tank,the very few plants that i do have dont seem to be growing, so i thort then that maybe these lites are ONLY for lighting up the tanks, and dont really have any benefits at all to the plants, and would love to add lots and lots more plants
the lites i have are all inbuilt into hoods so i dont how easy it would be to change this so maybe there is just a diffrent wattage of bulb

4ft tank = white strip..
3ft tank = pinkish strip ( also have "moon"lites for use at night,as rather a lot of fish in this tank)
2.5ft tank = pinkish strip

im sorry i dont really have the proper info on the lights,but hope wot i have given you ie colours will help in advising me xx

 

[john starkey]

hi
the lights i currently have are just regular tubes that came with the tank, tho they do light up the tank,the very few plants that i do have dont seem to be growing, so i thort then that maybe these lites are ONLY for lighting up the tanks, and dont really have any benefits at all to the plants, and would love to add lots and lots more plants
the lites i have are all inbuilt into hoods so i dont how easy it would be to change this so maybe there is just a diffrent wattage of bulb

4ft tank = white strip..
3ft tank = pinkish strip ( also have "moon"lites for use at night,as rather a lot of fish in this tank)
2.5ft tank = pinkish strip

im sorry i dont really have the proper info on the lights,but hope wot i have given you ie colours will help in advising me xx

Hi shelagh, you need to read the pinned aricle above on lighting, but generally you will need 1 to 2 watts per gallon for decent growth, some of the best tubes are arcadia t5 plant pros, you may have to upgrade your lighting to two tubes minimum, but you can also grow decent plants at lower light levels my advice is try to read as much as you can on the internet and dont think it is hard because it is not i hope you find the time in between looking after all the bairns, regards john

 

[shelaghfishface]

thanks a lot John, will try and ge a spare hour tonite