# plant advice



## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

ok i am going to try live plants in my 125 gal. i am def low light 1-2 hours a day,but they get get light from the window also. my tank temp is 80 degrees. what i need is alot of advice from guys with plants in thier tank . my lfs told me no plant will live in an 80 degree tank. i also have small and large stone substrate mix. i was thinking amazon,and or brazilian swords,anubis,crypts,and maybe java fern. please help out a fellow p keeper


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

You can do any plant as long as it is plastic.









Plenty of plants will live in 80 degree water, but your lighting is the problem. You need consistent lighting for 10 hours and at least 1wpg (preferably 1.5 wpg if you want decent growth) to grow the plants you have listed. The swords will be lucky to survive with less and the others may survive but will grow at a snail's pace if at all. Window lighting is problematic for many reasons. It usually leads to algae on the tank wall nearest the window and if the window is right by the tank it leads to temperature fluctuations. Small gravel is fine, but large gravel is not for heavy root feeders like swords.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

BioTeAcH said:


> You can do any plant as long as it is plastic.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i have never had an alge issue in any of my tanks knock on wood i guess i did not plan on doing the live plant thing when i set it up. i could leave the light on while not at home that would be 9-10 hours here is a pic of the gravel. it is not huge. i have 4 - 25lb bags of small ,and 1- 25lb of lrg. then i mixed it up. . i should also mention the sunlight has to go through a silk white curtain and the sun is only in afternoon .so it really does not get much sun if any .so with that being said what could i try besides plastic plants haha. thanks for you help bioteach


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

That gravel will actually work okay. Put your lights on a timer and you don't have to worry about whether or not they are getting enough hours. The plants you listed will do okay if you have 2 36" high output T-5s or Compact Fluorescent fixtures covering the length of the tank. How many watts and what type of lighting do you have over your tank right now?


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

BioTeAcH said:


> That gravel will actually work okay. Put your lights on a timer and you don't have to worry about whether or not they are getting enough hours. The plants you listed will do okay if you have 2 36" high output T-5s or Compact Fluorescent fixtures covering the length of the tank. How many watts and what type of lighting do you have over your tank right now?


wow i am losing all the way around here haha my light is a standard strip light it is 8" short on each side of the tank . so the tank is 6' the strip light is about 4' it is 25 watts standard aquarium light. i did this strip light due to the fact i have the females that are getting attention from my male.on a daily basis. here is the tank with the light off


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Interesting...I thought a standard 4ft fluorescent tube was 40w though. Anyhow, since you have a canopy you have more options. The light you have now isn't going to cut it. Go get a shoplight that can hold 4 4ft tubes and you should be good to go once you figure out how to mount it. You should be able to find some plant bulbs or aquarium bulbs at the store you get the shoplight fixture from.

You can also do a basic Aquarium 4ft Compact Fluorescent fixture or HO T-5 if you have a way to mount it or suspend it above the tank. If you have glass lids and room, it would be easier to use 2 3ft fixtures and set them on the tank braces.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

one my 125 i am using 2x 48" ho t5 (current extreme) They are nice, but the fans are abit loud (if the tanks not directly in a living room or a bedroom it ould be fine). The tank is 72", so there is a 24" overlapp of lights, but its not a problem since they are thin enough to be side by side and still able to open the lid. They each have 2x54w bulbs. If you buy look for fw since theres a sw version in a similar box. I also know that hagen makes the glo t5. Im not sure how good they are, but they have a2x54w 48" fixture too. I think i heard that you can only use hagen t5's with it though while i think the current allows you to swich out the bulbs for better ones.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

THIS GOING TO BE A NEWB QUESTION ... WHAT IS A HO T-5???


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

sonicrx said:


> THIS GOING TO BE A NEWB QUESTION ... WHAT IS A HO T-5???


High Output florescent light. The T-5 refers to the diameter of the bulb itself, which is 5/8". Normal florescent T-12 lights are 1 1/2" diameter.

T-5 lights are cooler in temp and use less energy.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

maknwar said:


> THIS GOING TO BE A NEWB QUESTION ... WHAT IS A HO T-5???


High Output florescent light. The T-5 refers to the diameter of the bulb itself, which is 5/8". Normal florescent T-12 lights are 1 1/2" diameter.

T-5 lights are cooler in temp and use less energy.
[/quote]

THANK YOU FOR THE RESPONSE. where can you buy this setup? home depot,lowes,or local pet shop? sorry for the cap lock


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

sonicrx said:


> THIS GOING TO BE A NEWB QUESTION ... WHAT IS A HO T-5???


High Output florescent light. The T-5 refers to the diameter of the bulb itself, which is 5/8". Normal florescent T-12 lights are 1 1/2" diameter.

T-5 lights are cooler in temp and use less energy.
[/quote]

THANK YOU FOR THE RESPONSE. where can you buy this setup? home depot,lowes,or local pet shop? sorry for the cap lock
[/quote]

Big als will sell ho t5. T5 is pretty much the most foccused and most advanced bulb commonly used. The only light that people will probably say is better is metale halide. Watt for watt t5 are much more powerful then incadesents, t12 or t8 florecent or pc (powercompact). T means "tube" then the number is the diameter T12 is 1.5" t8 is 1"... T5 bulbs are small in diameter but very powerful. Get lighting from a lfs if you want to plant since home depot lighting wont be that good for plants unless you diy with alot of bulbs. 216watts of ho t5 on a 125 is 1.7wpg. Its probably medium light since it is t5 and not t12.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

sorry for all the newb questios but i need all the help i can get . so what type fixture and were should i get it? i see setups thah mount over the tank at the lfs but they are like 180 for the size i need . is that what i need?, and suggestions on good starter plants . i was told african swords and brazilian swords are for the most part the same should i get these or some different stuff? thanks for all the answers everyone


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

I like the DIY lights from AH Supply. They sell all the parts to mount lighting under that canopy of yours. I have the 4X55 watt kit and it works well. If you dont want to spend the money, then go to Home depot, lowes or walmart and get two 48" florescent lights (the kind you would put in your garage) and put them under the canopy.

As for plants, anything listed HERE, would be good for you to start off with.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

sonicrx said:


> sorry for all the newb questios but i need all the help i can get . so what type fixture and were should i get it? i see setups thah mount over the tank at the lfs but they are like 180 for the size i need . is that what i need?, and suggestions on good starter plants . i was told african swords and brazilian swords *I think you mean amazon swords, not african.*are for the most part the same should i get these or some different stuff?*Planting is your preference and your options* thanks for all the answers everyone


In general crypts are good starter plants since they are low light. Crypts is the family of plants with many different species within. They grow slow, but do fine in low light tanks. Java moss and java fern are also good to start with. Read maks link for alot of low light plants. Like said you can either buy a diy kit or an actual fixture. A diy kit is basically a light fixture minus the hard housing so it is built into the canopy (which you need for a diy kit) and has a ballast supported somewere too. A fixture can be hung from your ceiling, a back wall or sit directly on the top if you have mounting legs. A single t5 fixture will run you about 100$ for a 48" ho t5 (108w) and you would need two. Pc is an option, however its not as good for lighting and the fixtures are probably just as expensive. You can use fixtures from home depot but they are usually have only 2x15w t12 bulbs so its not really good for much besides light for viewing unless you were usuing multiple fixtures or hooked it up with a larger ballast and stuff so it woudl be more powerful.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

thanks for all the help. i will start this new project and post pics. i think i need to wait seeing as 3 of my redbellies are building nests and laying eggs everywhere







i am going to post a link to the magic in the breeding section. again i will be asking for help again when i am eggless. wow did not expect this to happen so soon


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## nataz (Mar 31, 2006)

You might want to check here 1st:http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=2

heres a retro kit : http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=1449550

(IceCap 430 Ballast $85 shipped )
- brand new 
- no heatsink


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## SweetRose (Nov 12, 2005)

If you dont want to upgrade your equipment too much I would reccomend some anubias. They are often refered to in the plant hobby as the "living plastic plants" because of their hardiness and ability to live in low light(You are gonna still need more than 2 hours of light a day, but you probably won't have to upgrade your lights.). If you plan to grow anything needing moderate lighting you will need to fork out some money for CF light fixtures.

*oh yeah, I used to have problems when I tried supplementing natural light one time just as Bioteach said. I got a lot of algae on the glass for some reason, and even some hair algae on the decor which was I found weird, because I didnt even let that much sunlight in. I stopped letting sunlight into the aquarium once this happened, and more than doubled my lighting, and I don't get that anymore even though I have more total light. I don't know why sun light does that to my aquarium, it intuitively seems like it would be ideal.


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

sonicrx said:


> THIS GOING TO BE A NEWB QUESTION ... WHAT IS A HO T-5???


High Output florescent light. The T-5 refers to the diameter of the bulb itself, which is 5/8". Normal florescent T-12 lights are 1 1/2" diameter.

T-5 lights are cooler in temp and use less energy.
[/quote]

THANK YOU FOR THE RESPONSE. where can you buy this setup? home depot,lowes,or local pet shop? sorry for the cap lock
[/quote]
there is a guy in the pf classifieds selling a 130 watt cf light for 50 bucks. I would get that.
[/quote]
http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=174279

here.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

haha it is sold , point me to a online shop that would sell one that would work with my canopy top. thanks


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

sonicrx said:


> haha it is sold , point me to a online shop that would sell one that would work with my canopy top. thanks


aw that sucks. there another one in here somewhere just look around.

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=174764

check it. it even comes with 6700k. good bulbs for plant growth.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

ryanimpreza said:


> haha it is sold , point me to a online shop that would sell one that would work with my canopy top. thanks


aw that sucks. there another one in here somewhere just look around.

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=174764

check it. it even comes with 6700k. good bulbs for plant growth.
[/quote]

thanks ryanimpreza. my user name is after the color of my impreza


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

sonicrx said:


> haha it is sold , point me to a online shop that would sell one that would work with my canopy top. thanks


aw that sucks. there another one in here somewhere just look around.

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=174764

check it. it even comes with 6700k. good bulbs for plant growth.
[/quote]

thanks ryanimpreza. my user name is after the color of my impreza
[/quote]
ya nice ride. what do you think of the new hatch.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

ryanimpreza said:


> haha it is sold , point me to a online shop that would sell one that would work with my canopy top. thanks


aw that sucks. there another one in here somewhere just look around.

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=174764

check it. it even comes with 6700k. good bulbs for plant growth.
[/quote]

thanks ryanimpreza. my user name is after the color of my impreza
[/quote]
ya nice ride. what do you think of the new hatch.
[/quote]

not a fan yet.has to grow on me a bit more... ya think a 48 " light will work on a 72 " tank?


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