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I'm currently setting up a 20 gallon hexagon tank and plan on putting the below lighting and plants in it. My question is will this work in this setup.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/F52/Class/Fish+Supplies+Lighting+Fixtures/T1/F52+0047+0870/EDP/39453/Itemdy00.aspx


27 plants
20 to 30 gallon


2 Java Fern
2 Anubias nana
3 Java Lace Fern
4 Cryptocoryne spiralis

2 Cryptocoryne wendtii potted
1 Hornwort

2 Wisteria

10 Dwarf Sag (1 bunch)

1 Java moss

planting and care instructions with pictures

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

No reason why not.

Hex tanks tend to be on the tall side which means weaker lighting at the bottom of the tank, so I'm not sure if the dwarf sag will stay so dwarf, or about the wisteria. (If I'm reading correctly, you'll have 18 watts over a 20 gallon tank, right?) Crypts, anubias and java fern will be fine. (Maybe a larger anubias? barteri? congensis? for a more foresty effect?) other than that, looks good.

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Back in the saddle!

It should work, but if I were you I would keep an eye on the plants and the nitrate. I had a similar set up with hornwort and it just sucked all the nutrients from and starved the other plants so I ended up with 0ppm nitrates (as opposed to about 20ppm when I planted the hornwort). The other plants suffered, but when I moved the hornwort they all got better.

Doesn't mean this will happen to you, but it's better to keep an eye on it rather than thinking that you're no good with plants.

I think most of those plants will do OK under that lighting. If you have a 30g tank, it will be less than .5wpg
Compact flourescents are my lighting of choice, and I find they are brighter than their normal flourescent counterparts by far.
I think your plant choices are good, when planting the rooted plants, pop some root ferts under the substrate, unless you are going with eco-complete or flourite or something like that for substrate.
This should give the young new plants a good boost at the beginning until the nitrates are high enough to support them.


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sorry, my math is way off. You will have 1.6 watts per gallon, which will be sufficient for all those plants.
Keep an eye on the wisteria, in my experience any wattage above .5 tends to burn it.


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Should be able to get away with it. The PC's are a bit brighter.

If you are worried about the height of the tank and light getting to the bottom you can do a mix of bulbs. 1 X 6500k and 1 x 10000K works well and gives a nice color rendition.

Sneaky I think you're a bit math confused today, you were right the first time 18 watts over a 20 gal tank is just under 1 wog. Unless I missed something

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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.

Would this lighting work better, or would it be too much for these particular plants? Would this require that I use CO2 as I would rather not on this particular setup? Thanks.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/F52/Class/Fish+Supplies+Lighting+Fixtures/T1/F52+0434+0054/EDP/44119/Itemdy00.aspx

Last edited by OldTimer at 11-May-2005 20:22

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Jim,

Well it will give you about 2 wpg which is not bad. Doesn't need co2 especially if it's pretty well planted.

Slow growers like the Anubias could do with a bit of shading to keep the algae off the leaves. The others should be fine.

I would change the bulbs though, that particular mixture (1 X 10000K + 1 Acticnic) would make everything look pretty yukky. Go for 2 X 6700k.

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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.

Thanks, Bernard.

For shading would it be okay to put some type of floating plant in the tank, or would that just defeat the purpose of the extra lighting.

Or would it be better to have some type of taller and broader leafed plant such as an amazon of some sort (that may not be the best choice, but just as an example).

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Hi,
I had this problem with my giant anubias plant. Plant it in high light, it grows way faster, but gets covered in blue beard algae. I solved this problem by planting it under the overhang of my DW peice in the shade.
Perhaps a nice looking peice of driftwood would solve your shade problems, or like you said, you could plant it under a taller bushier plant where it gets less light, such as sword, or a fluffy plant like bacopa or ambulia, cabomba etc.


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I like my 10,000k and actinic lighting. It looks cool
I don't think you'll have much trouble with algae on anubias with 2wpg but if you can find a way to shade it that would be best. Floating plants get annoying. They are hard to control and get stuck to the filter intake as well as blocking all the light for the other plants. I wouldn't worry about the wisteria. I have it under 4wpg not shaded at all and it's going to take over the tank if I don't move it out to the pond soon. It also grows a bit slower but still well in my 20g with only around 1wpg.

Floating plants can be a pain to deal with.

You can use bigger plants to shade. Some sword will be ok in the tank size wise, Ozelot,Parviflorous or Marble Queen. A lot of stem plants will give good cover like the Wisteria. Driftwood overhangs.

Just don't plonk the Anubias right in the middle and too high up.

As for the bulbs it really comes down to a matter of personal taste. I just find the higher spectrums are too blue, cold and "glarely" looking.Everything looks a bit washed out IMO. Some people like that crisp look and that's fine. You can try the different colors and see which you like best.

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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.

Thanks for the info all. I have a piece of driftwood that I've been preparing for about 2 months now that has a branch that goes upward then turns slightly horizontal that I will tie java fern on. This should also help to shade beneath it.

Will reasearch the swords you suggested Bernard as well as the lighting for the best affect.

Going to try and research all this weekend so I can get the order in for the lighting and then when it arrives I'll order the plants. As everyone always says to plant heavily from the start, any suggestions as to what plants I should order more of. As what was listed was a packaged deal from one of the on-line suppliers. Everything else is ready to go.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Jim,

Yes, it's always better to plant heavily from the start, especially when you have set up the tank to promote plant growth. Everyday the tank is running without the full complement of plants is a little bit of an advatage for algae.
It's much easier to remove excess plants later then it is to clear up an algae issue.

If you are going to order additional plants definately go for the Wisteria. It has a number of advatages.
Having excess Crypts or Swords can be a pain if you have to remove them later. They get very big root systems pretty quickly and can cause a real mess if you have to move them later.
Wisteria is a good nutrient sucker so will help tip things in the plants favor. It's one of my favourites, while not a real beauty, it is without doubt the most versatile and easiest to maintain stem plant out there.
It doesn't even need to be rooted. It can be used as a floater but I think it looks a real mess this way.
Where excess Wisteria can be used is by making little bunches and weighing them down. Then you can plop them in wherever you like and remove them just as easy. So you can root your main stand of wisteria and use the excess as above to fill in areas, gaps in rocks, corners etc. I've even see people use it tied to driftwood, it will never attach but will grow (I never use this method, mainly 'cos I know it's a stem plant and doesn't belong on driftwood so it doesn't look "right to me, sure looks pretty though!).It can really make a tank look lush and full and is very easy to grow.

Later when the tank fills in the Wisteria can be taken out easily.

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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.