swifty Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Hi all Just wondering what you use in your planted tanks? As far a fluorescent tubes go i have 4x48" and 2x15" temporarily while my other tank is dormant. But basically i have 2 Slyvania AquaStar (spelling - i can never get that name right!) and a AquaGlo and PowerGro. For the two little ones they are small Aqua Glos. Any comments if they are good for plants? I think i have a wide spectrum of blue and red. But my LFS showed me how they use i think its an arcadia blue light which brings out the colours of the fish and just brings out colours much much more. Aparently it is for marine tanks (which it doesnt help at all) but they use it on FW tanks. Any comments or Ideas + What do you all use? Cheers Rob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nornicle Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 After messing around wtih expensive and cheap, I've come to the conclusion that a) to get good plant growth you need lots of light b) it doesnt matter about spectrum unless you want REALLY red plants. c) you need lots of light no matter what d) I prefer Arcadia lights e) Next ttime i can be bothered to search around im going to get arcadia gro-lux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett4Perth Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 I agree quantity is more important than quality. However, if you have a limited number of fittings, better quality globes will result in better plant growth. Cheers Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 Have a look at the sticky in technical about lighting. I've been using the NEC triphosphors from Bunnings but also got an Actinic / Normal CF split I got at Lams. Both have been quite successful in as far as my Java Fern has grown to insane sizes and reproduces faster than I can prune, likewise Blue Stricta and various swords, Anubias (regular and petite)... and no CO2. I'm getting tired of the weekly pruning. :D If you check out the Amano books, there are some ideas in there. He indicates 4 fluoro tubes at tank length as a good starting point. Some of his bigger installations are MH, some smaller ones are sodium lamps. Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHL Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Might also be worth considering if you want to even light the whole tank, or have different light zones so you can grow both high and low light plants, and different colours to show off (as an example) the fish towards the front of the tank, and more plant light in the back (if that's where you plants are) for growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swifty Posted June 9, 2004 Author Share Posted June 9, 2004 thanks for the help people That zoning is a good idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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