Reload this Page Urgently seek your help, kindly reply

[Severumkid]

I have a 35g tank with ADA Amazonia ii and EI dosing, Plants are,

Fore ground - HC, Eleocharis Sp., Glosso, Marsilea minuta, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Echinodorus tennelus, Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis, Lilaeopsis Mauritiana, Lilaeopsis Macloviana.

Mid ground - Blyxa Japonica, Micranthemum Umbrosum, Echinodorus Quadricistatus, Cardamine Lyrata, Hygrophila carimbosa compacta.

Back ground - Rotala Rotundifolia, Hemianthes Micranthemoides, Ludwigia Repens, Aponogeton Crispus, Ammannia, Alternanthera Reineckii, Limnophila aromatica, Ludwigia arcuata.

I have an existing 72 watt PLL setup which I want to remove and use on my 18g cube tank. I am thinking replacing the lights today with a MH? I want to know what will be a good light choice for this tank? what wattage, I have pressurised CO2 going at 3 bubble every 2 seconds.
I am focusing on the red plants and also need enough light to have the carpet creeping.

Pls help me.

rgds,

 

[VaughnH]

What are the dimensions of the 35 gallon tank? That is pretty small for any MH light setup, since commonly available MH bulbs are 150 watts and 250 watts. If the tank has a nearly square footprint a single MH light suspended above the tank would probably work fine. Since the intensity from a small bulb like that drops off approximately proportional to one over the square of the distance, it doesn't have to hang very far above the water to reduce the intensity to what you need. But, you will have quite a bit of spill over light.

You also have a lot of different species of plants in the tank. I assume you are doing as I did - experiment with lots of species to learn about them and find out which do best for you? I'm finding that I enjoy having far fewer species in the tank now.

 

[tedr108]

Why the change? The 72w is a good match with the 35G tank. Are you having any issues? The 72w light over an 18G cube does not seem like it would be such a good match.

 

[Severumkid]

What are the dimensions of the 35 gallon tank? That is pretty small for any MH light setup, since commonly available MH bulbs are 150 watts and 250 watts. If the tank has a nearly square footprint a single MH light suspended above the tank would probably work fine. Since the intensity from a small bulb like that drops off approximately proportional to one over the square of the distance, it doesn't have to hang very far above the water to reduce the intensity to what you need. But, you will have quite a bit of spill over light.

You also have a lot of different species of plants in the tank. I assume you are doing as I did - experiment with lots of species to learn about them and find out which do best for you? I'm finding that I enjoy having far fewer species in the tank now.

The dimension of the tank is 30x18x15 inches.
We get 70 watt MH's here.

Yes you are kinda right as I am a budding hobbyist and am trying my hands at different style of scapes. This is my first attempt at a Dutch style of work, so have so many plants. I am sure in years to come I will narrow down my choices to a few.

Why the change? The 72w is a good match with the 35G tank. Are you having any issues? The 72w light over an 18G cube does not seem like it would be such a good match.

I wanted to change to higher lighting as the glosso is growing vertically for me. I have another question here, can I trim the tall growth and replant the shoots in the substrate? will they grow back?

Thanks Vaughn and Ted.

 

[VaughnH]

As long as the spillover light doesn't bother you, there isn't any reason not to use two 70 watt MH pendant fixtures on that tank. You can always raise them if the intensity is too great.

 

[Severumkid]

Thanks vaughn, but what will be the best choice for color temperature, if I have more red plants in the tank?

 

[VaughnH]

Red plants are usually red because their genes say they are red, but some will be redder if they are somewhat stressed, by being a bit short of nitrates. Others are the reddest when the healthiest. Light doesn't make them red. However, you can only see the red if there is red in the light spectrum, and many bulbs don't have much. The color temperature of the bulbs we use isn't a real color temperature, but primarily a marketing decision by the company making them. And, for MH bulbs, I have no knowledge at all about which bulbs have the red in them.

 

[Severumkid]

Many thanks Vaughn for the help...