# new to planted



## don (Nov 29, 2011)

I have a 38 gallon tank 36x12x20 recently added some flourite 3.5-4" in some spots. the strip light that came with the tank is 17w, probably not capable of growing anything. The strip light has a t8 ballast and houses a 20" bulb although the strip is 36" long. I noticed in the aquarium store they had some bulbs specifically made for plant growth, flouro glo, and other glo- bulbs. Would the purchase of one of these bulbs be sufficient for me to grow some plants? if so which ones? I have some drift wood in there now, once water paramaters are satisfactory I plan to add some neon tetras, panda corys, german ram pair, the tank is in a basement directly under a window, its not completely blacked out during the day some light does make it in ( if that even makes a difference)
at the aquarium store I noticed a plant with the name "cuba" a nice green carpeting plant, I really like the look of this plant and would like to be able to keep it in my tank.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

The "flora-glo" and other *-glo refers to the temperature of the light, expressed in Kelvins (K). The ideal temperature for plant growth is 6700K, though anything from 5000 to 10000K could also work.

The temperature, however, does not matter as much as the wattage. Your tank is pretty high at 20", so in order to grow even low-light plants, you'll need at least 1 "watt per gallon" (WPG). In order to grow carpet plants like HC cuba, you'd need over 2 WPG, if not more.


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

One of the employees at the aquarium store told me I would need a double t5 strip and that alone might not be enough to grow the HC cuba, is that way off?


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## lemuj (Dec 7, 2006)

if you really like th hc, I'd suggest go the dry start route. Google it and you'll know what I mean. It worked great for me in the past, but it does require a lot of patience.


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## Rmwbrown (Jan 22, 2009)

You'll probably get a lot of conflicting information regarding HC. Everyone seems to have there own way of going about it. 

Here is the thing though, beyond meeting light requirements, your never going to have great HC without high Co2. Given the height of the tank, I think you will have a hard time getting light to the HC, moreover, if you did, you will need a good source of Co2 after that. After you add Co2 you will need to start dosing with fertilizers because the growth will strip everything from the water. After that, you need lots of water movement, so you may find yourself buying a larger filter. See the cycle that starts? If this is your first run with plants, HC is normally one to avoid unless your willing the throw a bucket of money at it. 

You will certainty need to upgrade your lights to grow anything in the existing tank. T5 HO and MH light will be about the only thing will reach the bottom of your tank to grow carpeting plants, but do be advised, these are very strong lights. Carpeting something like Glosso mixed with Ricca is very satisfying. Both are readily available, much easier to grow, and are far less demanding. 

Moreover, you can hang on to the idea of growing HC. Just start progressing toward it by building your knowledge base and experimenting with some easier plants while also buying standard size lights/equipment that could be used on a shallower tank in the future. That, or like I said, be prepared to go all in!


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

^+1 

he took everything out of my mouth! HC tends to grow slowly even at near-perfect parameters.

glosso and riccia (riccia have no roots and needs to be tied down to flat rocks for carpeting effect) are easier to grow. and you can test it out. both HC and glosso (and pretty much many stem plants of the HC family/genus) will grow vertically taller instead of horizontally (carpeting)

why don't you try dwarf hairgrass first since you have a deep tank? its a lot more undemanding in terms of light, C02 and ferts 

ps. what you see on my signature is a HC cuba carpet. took me 4 months in a 15g tank (12" deep)


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

thanks for the replys, I definetly have heard many mixed views on the hc. I have an aqua clear 70 on my tank right now and a 110 sitting in storage. I just placed an order for a triple t5 h0 hood, i should have it soon. as for as co2 im not sure if its something i want to get into right now but i may be. I bought some plants today ill post some pictures later of the progress up to date.


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## Rmwbrown (Jan 22, 2009)

don said:


> thanks for the replys, I definetly have heard many mixed views on the hc. I have an aqua clear 70 on my tank right now and a 110 sitting in storage. I just placed an order for a triple t5 h0 hood, i should have it soon. as for as co2 im not sure if its something i want to get into right now but i may be. I bought some plants today ill post some pictures later of the progress up to date.


Given that you already ordered the light, my previous warning regarding the intensity of the T5HO may be a bit late, but you can check out this chart to get an idea of intensity, but the short of the story is this: With three tubes mounted on top of the tank you are now looking at a high light set up which could very well require the addition of Co2, liquid or otherwise, to prevent rampant algae outbreaks.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/105774-par-vs-distance-t5-t12-pc.html


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

Yea I ordered it prior to reading that lol, I could always remove one bulb though right, and in future I may want to use co2


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## Rmwbrown (Jan 22, 2009)

don said:


> Yea I ordered it prior to reading that lol, I could always remove one bulb though right, and in future I may want to use co2


No, with all the lights on one ballast you need all of the bulbs to complete the circuit or the light will not work. You can, however, mount it above the tank - raising and lowering the light until you find a distance that provides the kind of light you looking for.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

You can also use DIY CO2 and keep the photoperiod to 10-12 hours


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

A friend told me saw a video on the light and it was being used as a salt water light and he was able to turn off his blue t5 bulb to run his two 10000k lights, does that make sense?


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

don said:


> A friend told me saw a video on the light and it was being used as a salt water light and he was able to turn off his blue t5 bulb to run his two 10000k lights, does that make sense?


Every fixture is different. You can check yours once you get it.


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

I checked out that link with the charts for lighting but im confused on how to determine how many bulbs would be sufficient depending on the tank gallons. For example it says a 20" high tank would have "high" light with a double t5ho fixture, does that take into account the size of the tank, mine being 38. How would you apply that information to a tank that is 75 gallons with the same height though? 

reason im asking this now is bc i canceled the order on the triple t5ho hood because I heard numerous complaints and warnings about them possibly causing a fire, what would be the perfect lighting for my tank?


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## Rmwbrown (Jan 22, 2009)

T5 HO does not conform to the watts per gallon rule, and the chart is just a rough guideline to determine what kind of usable light is being produced by different bulbs/reflectors and what not. Although, if the bulb spans the length of the tank, this chart is normally pretty much dead on.

Although not perfect, a better way to work it out by determining the minimum light threshold. Follow this link - the formula is on the bottom of the page, and the LUX is normally listed on the manufactures web page/product box (depending on what kind of bulbs you will be using).

http://www.rexgrigg.com/mlt.html


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

this is insanely confusing, I didnt think picking a light would be this difficult.


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## Rmwbrown (Jan 22, 2009)

IT just a bit of a learning curve.... but yes, without a real standard regarding lighting, it can get a bit mind boggling when you are starting out. 

At the end of the day, you already have the light coming, so you'll figure out soon enough what you need to do once you see how the tank responds.


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

Rmwbrown said:


> IT just a bit of a learning curve.... but yes, without a real standard regarding lighting, it can get a bit mind boggling when you are starting out.
> 
> At the end of the day, you already have the light coming, so you'll figure out soon enough what you need to do once you see how the tank responds.


is a daylight white actinic suitable for plants with the combination of a 6500k bulb? t5h0 2 bulb strip. for my 38?


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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

don said:


> I checked out that link with the charts for lighting but im confused on how to determine how many bulbs would be sufficient depending on the tank gallons. For example it says a 20" high tank would have "high" light with a double t5ho fixture, does that take into account the size of the tank, mine being 38. How would you apply that information to a tank that is 75 gallons with the same height though?
> 
> reason im asking this now is bc i canceled the order on the triple t5ho hood because I heard numerous complaints and warnings about them possibly causing a fire, what would be the perfect lighting for my tank?


LOL, I think I know which light fixture you're talking about... and guess what, I just got my 48" Oddysea 4 bulb t5HO yesterday and so far so good! From what I've read, one or two people in the US had their metal halide fixtures go up in flames several years ago. Recently they have siginificantly improved their quality, and that's why I decided to try one out. Obviously you can't compare these to your standard $500 fixture you buy at BA's but for $145 shipped it does its job very well. (more on that to come  )

Honestly, without CO2 (pressurized or DIY) you will not be able to grow HC successfully so don't bother. Even if you do the dry start method, and then you submerse it, after about a month you will see it slowly deteriorate. If you're not into CO2/dosing ferts, go with a dual strip T5HO with either two 6500k or 6500k/10000k bulbs and go from there.


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

lol, exactly... I ended up buying one of kijiji, hagen double t5h0 and the tank is looking brigther than ever.. im gonna make a new post of my progress to date. Everyone here has been very helpful so far, thanks


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