# lighting/planting for a nuby?



## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

hey guys, glad to say i got a job now so im looking to work on my aquariums a bit now with the extra money. well ive wanted to plant my 55 gallon tank for a while so here's what i have. i have 2, 15w light strips on my 55 gallon. thats not enough lighting is it? for low light plants? i was looking towards getting some crypts, java moss and maby even amazon swords if they would survive wouldnt mind buying excel either any tips or good plants that require low light? and how many volts of lighting would you guys recomend i buy (from home depot??) im pretty confused thanks in advance,

P.S i do not wanna mess with CO2!!!

Parsa


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

could someone please answer me i want to buy the stuff this weekend.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Just as long as you stay under 1.5wpg you wont need Co2.. Take the watts of the lights and divide it by your gallons and that will be ur wpg. Yea dose them with some excel. For daily ferts i have PMDD (poor mans daily dose) from aquariumfertilizer and it works pretty good. Make sure you get 6500k bulbs also..


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

Alright well my lights that go with my canopy can take 18" bulbs which are a max of 15w so I got these bulbs from home depot which say they are ment for growing plants and freshwater tanks any ways I got a total of 30watts for my 55gallon tank and they only had 2700k bulbs so what kind of plants could I grow? Can I still keep crypts alive with excel?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

I would stay away from amazon swords, because they do much better in medium to high lighting. (IMO, anyway)

I would get lots of assorted Crypts, Bolbitis for midground, needle leaf Java ferns, mosses, and don't forget about Anubias plants.

If you want a stem plant for the background, guppy grass looks sweet in low light

EDIT: don't forget that Java ferns and Anubias grow from rhizomes, and that rhizome can not be burried. They are best tied to rocks and driftwood.


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

Thanks alot dippy! So you think I'm okay with a total of 30watts which are 2700k for my 55 gallon tank? It's 48" long and the 2 lights are 18" long 15watts ea. (2700k)


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Unfortunately, you should buy new bulbs. 5500k to 10000k is where you want to be.

Of course if you were @ 1wpg or so, it would be that much better. But as long as you stick with the lowest light plants, and use a timer with a 12hr light cycle that is consistent every day, you should be ok.
Make sure your nitrates and phosphates don't bottom out either


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

The highest home depot had for 18" bulbs was 2700k he said you could get 6500k but we don't have any so... Where could I pick them up lfs?... It's quite pricy there... But I mean if it's not even possible to keep plants alive in 2700k bulbs then I guess it will have to be done. Dippy could you explain to me 
My bulbs are florecent so I don't if my light fixtures can hold non florecent bulbs? I don't think I can get more than 15w per bulb when they are 18" florecent bulbs eh? 
What the differnce of "k" is? And the bulbs I bought now were 5$ a piece how much you think the 6k+ are gonna be? Thanks a lot dippy.


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

Parsa said:


> The highest home depot had for 18" bulbs was 2700k he said you could get 6500k but we don't have any so... Where could I pick them up lfs?... It's quite pricy there... But I mean if it's not even possible to keep plants alive in 2700k bulbs then I guess it will have to be done. Dippy could you explain to me
> What the differnce of "k" is? And the bulbs I bought now were 5$ a piece how much you think the 6k+ are gonna be? Thanks a lot dippy.


it has to do with the types and amounts of color in the color spectrum. 6500k will give you the most of each color which is better for plant growth.


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

The K rating is the spectrum of the bulb. Plants cant use the green spectrum, and use the blue to red part of the spectrum. Using the correct bulb, 6000K to 10000K will provide the plants the correct light for photosynthesis.


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

Thanks alot but I don't thnk it's possible to get more than 15w in 18" florecent bulbs huh?


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

Actually yes. If you want to keep the existing fixture, and not switch to T-5 or compact fluorescent, then you can overdrive the bulbs. Any good with electrical stuff? Here is a good site that I have read and almost done. http://www.geocities.com/teeley2/overdrv1.html. There is a lot of people that do it and you can get 2X the amount of light out of your bulbs.


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

Bah I can't even do that because my light fixture only holds one bulb! So I guess my max with out changing the fixture would be 30w.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Your tank is 48" long, go get a 48" shop light for less than 15$, the ballast and bulbs for around 20... and go to this topic i created in the DIY forum...

Operation Overdrive

If you only overdrive 2x like i did, you will be fine with most plants, and its a hell of alot more light than the 30W you are working with now... as for the not messing with Co2, i would make an easy sugar/yeast DIY out of a pop bottle, easy and worth it in the long run, but completely up to you


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

My canopy has two spots for lights so I can't do that. They are each like 22" long


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

K I got the 6500k bulbs which btw where really expensive! now I just need plants and excel which excel do you guys recomend?


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

for plants I would recommend any crypts, java ferns, java moss, anubias, any hygro species, and maybe some vals.

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.p...amp;filter_by=2

As for excel, theres only one excel. Flourish comprehensive is a fertilizer, and flourish Excel is a carbon source. http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pa...urishExcel.html


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## MiGsTeR (Jan 19, 2008)

Just wondering where I can buy pmdd?


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.ph...p;hl=fertilizer


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

Thanks dude.
So what would be beter for me since I got sand comp or excel?


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

Buy both the flourish comprehensive and the excel. Dose according to the directions.


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

Hey guys! Got my plants so most of the plants have spongy thing and a metal clip on the botom should I take those off before planting them? They are sitting in my aquarium right now. Fast response pls!


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Parsa said:


> Hey guys! Got my plants so most of the plants have spongy thing and a metal clip on the botom should I take those off before planting them? They are sitting in my aquarium right now. Fast response pls!


You should take the rockwool off, so it doesn't fall apart in the water and go everywhere.

Some people leave the weight on the plant, and some take it off. I take them off and plant in the substrate alone.


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## SeedlessOne (Nov 21, 2006)

what type of plants did you get?? I leave the rockwool on select types of plants....hairgrass, MS, etc.


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

2 jungle vals, 2 java ferns, a giant hydrophilia, a regular hydrophilia, a sh*t load of java moss and a small crypt.


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