# Bulbs In My Fixture



## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

Ok so awhile back when I first started wanting a planted tank I bought this light for my 75g tank.(the 48" version of course) It does alright but I never seem to get much if any growth out of my plants. I just noticed this in the description: "The Freshwater T5 fixture comes complete with two bulbs; 6000K & Roseate" Am I not getting good growth because of the Roseate bulb? What do you guys think, should I replace it with 6500k t5? I'm just amazed that I can't get crap to grow in a 75g with that fixture. I do however grow some might fine brown algea.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/Fish_Lighting_Light-Fixtures_T5-HO-T5_Dual-Lamp-T5HO-Light-Fixtures.html?tc=fish


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Are your plants not growing or are they getting out-competed by algae?


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

Well I've had these 5 or six tiny little plants of dwarf sag for almost 3 months now and they have not grown even a 1/4". In fact I almost think that they've shrunk. My amazons have grown just a tiny bit. So to answer your question I'll say both yes and no. I do get a lot of brown algae. So obviously the algae is winning. I run that light for 8 hrs each day and I dose a capful of excel daily and a capful of comp weekly. I've also tossed in a few homemade root tabs that I bought from a member here. Any idea what my problem is?

I just filled the 75g back up and switched to sand, so I'm trying this again. I realize that sand isn't the best but I know that it can be done. Right now all I have in there is watersprite and a crypt. I would love some type of grass looking plant like you have JoeDizz but I can't get crap to grow. If I remember correctly you don't even use c02 either. Do you think that your RO water is the key? I can't figure this crap out and it's frustrating me. From what I hear that light is giving me enough wpg to be considered low light but why can't I grow low light plants. It seems more like I can only sustain plants, they don't really die off, they just don't grow. Like java fern for instance, It doesn't grow an inch but it doesn't die either.


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## I Can Mate (Apr 8, 2010)

its the sand. the only thing i have grown in sand were crypts and swords. all dwarf sag grew but at in very slow rate.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Two 48" T5HO bulbs probably put you up into the higher light category... If you are battling brown algae after the tank settles in, you might have a ton of silicates left in your substrate or your tap water could have a bunch of silicates in it so you are providing more food for the brown algae during every water change -- That problem could be solved by a change of substrates and/or going with RO.

If you are going with a low-tech setup with a bit more light, the best thing you can do is start with a ton of plants right off the bat, that way the algae never has a chance to establish itself. If you just start out with a few plants, the algae is going to out-compete the plants and you'll be battling it non-stop. That's basically what happened after I set my 75 gallon up after our last move -- I had a few plants in there and needed more, but my plant orders kept falling through so by the time I finally was able to get some, the algae had taken over and I ripped the plants out and started over.

The sand can grow plants just fine, but if you want better growth, changing substrates wouldn't be a bad place to start.


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

I was wondering if I was actually pushing too much light as well. I was thinking about pulling the Roseate bulb out of the fixture and seeing what kind of growth that would give me. I didn't always have sand I did have a nice mix of eco complete and black gravel, but when I moved the tank I used that sub for my 125g, plus I wanted to try sand with my rhom. I love the look of it. What do you think about only running 1 bulb?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

You could definitely try it, you could also add some more plants and hopefully that will clear up your algae situation... when that happens, you might start to see a bit more growth -- either way, you probably won't see amazing growth with a low-tech setup, it definitely takes time.


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

Ok, if I have a high amount of light what do I need to do to not have a low tech setup? Are your planted tanks considered low-tech Joe? You always seem to have nice growth and don't use co2 so what do you do to be considered high tech?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

High tech usually consists of high light, pressurized co2, and dry fert dosing. My tanks are all low tech, I have low light and I don't dose any ferts or use co2 -- I don't get tons of growth, at least not like I would if I was dosing and had pressurized co2, but I like the low maintenance involved with low tech setups. The benefits of a high tech setup are that you can plant the tank with some plants and it will grow quickly, so the foreground plants can spread to create a carpet and the taller plants can fill in your background within a month or two, that same process can take a year or more with a low tech setup -- that's why I try to plant heavily from the start with my tanks.


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

So you don't dose ferts or have pressurized co2 and your tanks look amazing, I guess it's just going to take some time. I think that I'm going to remove a bulb when I get home and see if the plants like it. Even with only running the light for 2 days the driftwood is already beginning to be covered in brown algae. I don't mind having a low tech tank I just want to see consistent growth and very little algae. Plants look like crap when they're covered in algae.


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

the rosette bulbs makes the appearance redder, but I change mine out because I dont like the looks of it.


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