# 75 gallon tank, electric tape around light.



## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

The name pretty much says it all. I have some java ferns tied to a piece of driftwood in the tank and I dont know what the name is of the other plants in there. But I have wrapped electric tape around my light to dim it since ps like dimmer light and arent as skittish. Should I remove the tape or will my plants be okay? I know java fern is a pretty low-light plant.

I have an AC110 and Emperor 280 for filtration, and use flourish every day or every other day. heres some pics of the tank. (cant really tell how dim the lights are)

































They dont look too awful good, have some black spots on them. Any help would be great.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

What lighting do you have over the tank? What are your nitrate and phosphate levels?


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

Nitrates are around 40 since I am still getting it cycled. Thread about that is in water chem. I dont know what the phosphates are.. The lighting over the tank is whatever came with the light strip in the kit.. It says All-Glass Aquarium 32 W


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

32W with tap around it is not enough to really do much for those plants, just the bulb without any tape around it really is not enough... that works out to less than .5wpg... Ideally you would want at least 1wpg. If you are worried about the light bothering your p I doubt it will... Dippy and I both use extremely bright lights and our ps are just fine.

As for the other plants, it is anachris and once it starts growing it will grow like a weed... you can almost watch it grow.


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

Ok, so what kind of light should I get for the plants to grow well? Should I do any kind of co2 regulator or use any more ferts than I already am? How much will all this set me back?


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

I took the tape off of the light on my tank, now my piranhas arent moving. They are super skittish.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

They will get over it.


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

They will adapt, give them some time, I have tons of light over my two show tanks and my piranhas are fine, just allow them to adapt for a few days.


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

yeah but you all still never answered the questions. Do I need to use any more ferts or get a better light? What about a co2 regulator and how much does that cost?


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

That light you have is inadequate. As Therizman said, you need to bump it up to 1 watt per gal. You should shoot for something 75 watts or higher. Look on Big als for some options, there are many types of fixtures that you could get. 
Shoot for lamp bulbs. 
I personally use coralife FW dual strips and even though they are normal output i still like them a lot ( and they're fairly inexpensive)

Also, C02 in my opinion is not for you in your current situation. I just dont see the need for it when your only growing a few plants. Of course....if you decide to plant heavily and get the right lighting, then c02 is in your future. IMO you should just dose excell....and save teh time and money it would take to setup a c02

In terms of ferts, the pinned material gives you a pretty good idea of what they do and where to pick them up.
Personally, i dose Micronutrients, iron, and excell. These work for me and have allowed for a proper balance to be attained in my tanks. These are all roughly $6.00 bottles that you can pick up at your LFS.


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

thats exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Thanks alot


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

One thing to remember as well is you dont just want to go all out and put tons of light over your tank either, you want to stay around 1-1.5wpg otherwise you will be getting yourself in a lot deeper than I think you want to. I know some of the lights out there are very nice and a lot of people think the more light the better but that really wont help you. Anything over 1.75wpg or so you will be needing to add CO2 and having a very strict dosing schedule to avoid algae.

Check BigAls, Hellolights, and DrFosterSmith for lighting, all have some pretty good deals usually.


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

ok


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

hey guys I cant find a 75W light at any of the fish stores here. They have 48" light tubes and the max wattage on them is 40...


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

40X2=80, 1wpg for a 75g


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> 40X2=80, 1wpg for a 75g


40x2? what do you mean? Put two lights on top of the tank? My fixture only holds one, unless I put two fixtures up there (ha) or bought a new strip.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

> Put two lights on top of the tank?


:nod:


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> > Put two lights on top of the tank?
> 
> 
> :nod:


DUAL STRIP BABY...THE MORE THE BETTER


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

ok well i dont think we have too much to worry about anyways, my ps are eating all my anacharis


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