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If any of you remember from before, I haven't been able to buy a powerful enough light to grow plants with. However, things changed for the better today. I found (and purchased) a 75 watt bulb at my lfs, which gives me 2.5 watts per gallon. That definitely beats out the .6 wpg I've been trying to grow plants in! So far, the only thing that hasn't died or started dying is an Anubias, but those are really tough.

Anyways, I've got two questions. The first deals with my hood... thing. I've forgotten what it is called (Is it the fixture?), but it is the device that the bulb goes into. It is apparently not strong enough to run the new bulb that I bought. Is there a way to fix that, or do I just get a more powerful one?

The other thing I need help with, is what to grow. I've got 2.5 wpg in my tank, with no CO2 or plant foods (the one I bought doesn't seem to help). What kind of hardy plants can I grow in there now? I currently have one Anubias, one Amazon sword (though I will probably pitch it out), and a Hygrophila of some sort. What else do you folks think I should get? I really want to have a nice, fully planted tank some time in the future. I hope that this will be that tank.

Last edited by sirbooks at 29-Dec-2004 20:33

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Books,

Sorry can't help with the DIY, it can be done, I just don't know how. Maybe somebody lse can help, or try a post in technical tinkering.

As for plants. Well with 2.5wpg you now have enough light to grow pretty much any plant you want But the additional light will bring it's own set of challenges
Once you get past 2wpg per gallon you need your plants using that light to full effect otherwise something else will...yes the algae.

plant foods (the one I bought doesn't seem to help).

Well at 0.6 wpg per gallon ferts will be useless. There simply wasn't enough light for the plants to power up and take the nutrients you were providing. It's a common mistake to think that ferts will push a plant to grow. They won't. Ferts will only be used by the plant if there is sufficient light and Co2 for the plant to require additional fuel, the ferts. So I wouldn't dump your current fert just yet.

With that light you need some fast growing plants in there to use up that light. Hygro Polysperma, Wisteria and Rotala are all good candidates. Provide your Anubias with some shade or they will get attacked by algae, they are simply too slow growing to fight it off even in bright light. Watch the plants, don't fert until you see a deficiency - an excess of nutrients AND light will definately cause problems.

Plant thickly, as I said light wise you can grow pretty much anything, so go for it. The more plants the better to outcompete the algae and use up that light.

Long term you may want to consider some Co2 supplementation, even DIY, to get the full benefit of the light you are providing.

Remember, it's all about balance. Extra light in itself is not a solution. Your challenge now is using that light in way that will provide the most benefit to the plants, and balancing the nutrient and plant stocking to use that light.

Congrats and good luck

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Its the ballast that powers your lightbulb. If it isnt working or pushing out enough light then you will need another one.

Nygro polsperma is a really fast growing tall plant. It alone can take up alot of your nitrates ... same with anachris. Ive actually had to remove some of my hygro so that my swords, sag, and jungle vals can grow. The only bad thing about overplanting is that eventually you will need to either remove some plants or start adding nitrates to the tank.

What type of fert are you using? Low light situations arent best for using ferts ... however they do take up some of it.

Bdadawg

Thank you for the suggestions! Right now I'm just trying to get this light working, so that I can grow plants. I bought a new 'starter' thing at the store today, one that is rated for higher wattage than the one I already have. Hopefully that will be enough to power the new bulb.

As for the algae, I'd heard a little about that. I do have a bristlenose catfish in my tank, and he will probably help curtail the algae some. I will certainly try to get a good number of plants though, so that the algae won't thrive at all. Hopefully my first serious foray into planted aquaria will be successful!

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Sirbooks, you may want to make sure that the fixture you use can supply that much power, In general it takes more than just a new starter to get things working, the lamp wil draw a lot more Amps than the previous one and those will have to come from somewhere, the fixture you have may not provide enough. I'm no expert on this, so I may be wrong, but I can imagine that if you don't have enough Amps the lamp will not reach its full illumination (if it works at all) and you won't have the 2.5 wpg you think you have. When I bought a new lamp for my tank I also needed an extra fixture, when I checked which one I needed there were clear indictions for each what kind of lamp they could support, the differences were more than just a new starter, so be careful in your choice.

Well, Dr. Bonke was right. The new starter didn't help me at all. I don't know what to look for in a ballast/fixture (whatever its called), so help would be appreciated. Is there a place online that I can buy or at least look at these things? I don't know what it is that I need.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

sirbooks you pretty much need a new fixture. I got mine from home depot, shoplights.
Look @ http://www.hellolights.com
and http://www.ahsupply.com
Pretty sure http://www.thatfishplace.com may also have some DIY bits.

You may find this interesting as well, no I havent' dared try it yet .

Edit:
Starter: Round cylinder thingy with 2 metal bits
Fixture: The entire housing for the lights
Ballast: Big heavy rectangular thingy that has wires that go from the wall to the light.

Think those are right anyway ...in anycase you have to upgrade the ballast and the starter IMU.

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Last edited by Babelfish at 31-Dec-2004 12:55

Okay folks, I'm thoroughly confused now. What exactly do I need to buy in order to get my 75 watt bulb working? Is there anything I need besides a fixture, and can someone please show me a website that has it? Browsing through the previous links, I couldn't find anything relating to 75 gallons. I really don't know what I'm doing here! Please help a needy person out.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Umm by bulb do you mean screw in or tube bulb?
If it's a tube you need a fixture that will take the 75 watt tube, generally lenght = wattage. The pins in the tube will also need to match the fixture.

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