What Type Of Lighting Do I Need?

[thefirefly07]

Hey everyone! I am new to growing plants in my tank but I have started. I have a 36gal bow front tank. Plant wise I currently have Java fern, A red flame sword, a red tiger lotus plant, bolbitis, onion plants, and some anubias. My java fern and anubias is doing awesome. No decay in the leaves or anything. My onion plants bulbs are doing great. Keep sprouting new bulbs but the leaves keep decaying All of my other plants are also decaying/dying As of right now I have a t8 bulb that is made specifically for plant growth. I know they say you are suppose to have 1watt per gallon for low light plants and 2-3 for medium light plants. I found out that a lot of the plants that are dying are ones that require medium light and my light does not provide enough of that. I am looking into buying a new light fixture that will hold at least 2 t5 bulbs. I was actually looking at this one:
 
https/www.google.com/shopping/product/2536407373528221551?sclient=psy-ab&q=aquarium+t5+light+fixtures+30in&oq=aquarium+t5+light+fixtures+30in&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.67229260,d.aWw,pv.xjs.s.en_US.gRoiL82AyiQ.O&biw=1600&bih=799&tch=1&ech=1&psi=eBd-U5yjNIqvyAS0jIG4DA.1400772473229.9&sa=X&ei=7Rd-U7n8N8W0yASwgIKoBA&ved=0CMsBEPMCMAU
 
I am unsure as to what kind of bulbs I should get that will provide substantial lighting for my plants. I am only going to stick to low-medium lighted plants in this tank. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Especially when it comes to fertilizing tips, etc!! Never done this before so I do not know much about it yet

 

[thefirefly07]

Anyone?

 

[DrRob]

A single T8 isn't all that much light, but do be aware that some of your plants are probable melting because they're new and certain plants, particularly things like swords, are grown out of water commercially as it means that they don't need to supplement CO2. The end result is they need to grow new leaves to survive underwater and the old ones melt away.
 
Otherwise two T5's is a good amount of light, particularly if it's T5HO's. Don't worry too much about the bulb type, just get something between 6000 and 10000K colour output and you'll be fine. I personally prefer the look of the higher Kelvin bulbs, but it's personal preference.
 
Overall, if you're going low tech aiming for little by way of fertiliser or CO2 regime then I'd try to steer you towards a single T5 bulb, they do churn out a fair bit more lighting power than T8's. With one of those you could run a weekly trace fertiliser and the fish waste would likely supply enough nutrient for low growth of plants. If you want to go to faster growth with higher light levels then the need for CO2 and macro fertilisers kicks in and you're into a whole new world of wonder.

 

[thefirefly07]

A single T8 isn't all that much light, but do be aware that some of your plants are probable melting because they're new and certain plants, particularly things like swords, are grown out of water commercially as it means that they don't need to supplement CO2. The end result is they need to grow new leaves to survive underwater and the old ones melt away.
 
Otherwise two T5's is a good amount of light, particularly if it's T5HO's. Don't worry too much about the bulb type, just get something between 6000 and 10000K colour output and you'll be fine. I personally prefer the look of the higher Kelvin bulbs, but it's personal preference.
 
Overall, if you're going low tech aiming for little by way of fertiliser or CO2 regime then I'd try to steer you towards a single T5 bulb, they do churn out a fair bit more lighting power than T8's. With one of those you could run a weekly trace fertiliser and the fish waste would likely supply enough nutrient for low growth of plants. If you want to go to faster growth with higher light levels then the need for CO2 and macro fertilisers kicks in and you're into a whole new world of wonder.

 
Thank you for this imformation! I actually ended up buying an odyssea lamp 6500k that has 4x 24W T5 High Output lamps specifically for plant growth in it. It does a total of 96watts. How should I use the CO2 and fertilizer with this light? Also is liquid co2 ok or will that harm the fish? What fertilizers would you recommend? Thank you for helping me!!

 

[DrRob]

Well that's certainly a lot of light.
 
You're going to want CO2 supplements and a good fertiliser regime with that light.
 
Any good micro and macro fertiliser will work, or EI method
 
Personally, on a 36 gallon I'd go for pressurised CO2, as it'll work out cheaper in the long run, although you can go for liquid CO2, which is fine with most fish and plants, apart from vallis for some reason and certain sensitive fish.

 

[thefirefly07]

Well that's certainly a lot of light.
 
You're going to want CO2 supplements and a good fertiliser regime with that light.
 
Any good micro and macro fertiliser will work, or EI method
 
Personally, on a 36 gallon I'd go for pressurised CO2, as it'll work out cheaper in the long run, although you can go for liquid CO2, which is fine with most fish and plants, apart from vallis for some reason and certain sensitive fish.

Thank you very much for all of this information! Sorry it took so long for me to reply back!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Some info on Onion Plants, Crinum thaianum.
 
Its is an easy plant to grow in most conditions.
 
Usually low to medium lighting.
 
The roots grow pretty quick, however apparently has a long acclimatisation period before it will grow new leaves.
 
its does not usually have more than say 10 leaves at a time, and each leaf grows to about 90cm -  1 metre so a large tank is required really.
 
This plant does have a few requirements though before planting, all dead leaves need to be taken off and peel off the outer layer of the bulb.
 
Plant the very bottom tip of it. If you plant the whole bulb or even just half is buried in substrate, the starts to rot or melt and gets slime all around the base.
 
Once it is growing, remove old and broken leaves, that will help new leaves to grow. New leaf starts growing avery 10 - 14 days, probably a bit quicker in higher tech tanks.
 
The good thing about this plant, most barbs like tinfoil barbs or other plant eating species don't eat this