# Can I grow carpet plants with this setup?



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

I'm going to be getting a 46 bowfront which has a 20 inch depth. I have a 2x t5HO fixture and a paintball co2 injection. I think this is medium light. Is this enough or will I need more light?


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I think you will be ok. Might not be perfect but I would definitely give it a try


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

I have an extra T8 single strip. Would adding that be better?


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Depends on the carpet plant. Dwarf sags? No problem. HC Cuba? Hard to say.


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

yes it depends on the plant, even if you were able to grow a carpeting plant if you don't have enough light it will grow funny as in too tall which defeats the point of a carpet..


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

I was hoping glosso lol. I know that has a problem with growing upwards. I guess i should put in my other t8. its a life-glo bulb


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

Kimchi24 said:


> I was hoping glosso lol. I know that has a problem with growing upwards. I guess i should put in my other t8. its a life-glo bulb


GLOSSO!!! on a T8 forget it, you will have weird looking 6 inch glosso that will never grow horizontal. Why don't you try four left clover. They look very similar and way easier to carpet.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

coldmantis said:


> GLOSSO!!! on a T8 forget it, you will have weird looking 6 inch glosso that will never grow horizontal. Why don't you try four left clover. They look very similar and way easier to carpet.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4


i have 2x T5HO. the T8 was going to be an addition. Will this still be an issue? The reason is, I wanted to make my tank a combination of both dutch and nature aquascapes separated by a road of small rocks. 
I drew a very crude 4th grader picture on paint to demonstrate what im going for.


So even with my light set up as 2x T5HO and 1x T8, it is not enough to grow glosso? DHG? HC? any other carpeting plants?


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

I will give you my honest opinion on glosso, I have grown many species of carpeting plants in my time. Glosso is the hardest to grow perfectly and the most maintenance. I find the UG is easier to grow and maintain then glosso.


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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

what kind of T5HO do you have? Coralife fixture is a bad but something like aquatic life is okay. You will not have any problem with the dwarf hair grass because I grow them fine with CFL. Make sure you have plenty of CO2 because I've noticed a major growth just by adding some CO2 to tank.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Ok, so i looked up UG. I'm not sure i looked up the right thing. What would the most beginner of carpet plants be excluding dwarf sag?


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

GAT said:


> what kind of T5HO do you have? Coralife fixture is a bad but something like aquatic life is okay. You will not have any problem with the dwarf hair grass because I grow them fine with CFL. Make sure you have plenty of CO2 because I've noticed a major growth just by adding some CO2 to tank.


i have an oddysea?


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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

I think the reflectors aren't the best but Hoppy's chart shows 50 par at 20 inch. Just try it and see what happens.


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

Hands down the Ferrari of aquarium carpeting plants. If you can grow this you can grow anything. I suggest 4wpg+ heavy heavy co2, nutrient rich plant substrate, ei or pps pro dosing. Out of all the carpeting plants I tried this was the most beautiful.










Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

coldmantis said:


> Hands down the Ferrari of aquarium carpeting plants. If you can grow this you can grow anything. I suggest 4wpg+ heavy heavy co2, nutrient rich plant substrate, ei or pps pro dosing. Out of all the carpeting plants I tried this was the most beautiful.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


doesn't sound like i can pull it off, mate. My research is telling me that DHG is the easiest carpet plant. That and Marsilea minuta, which is hard to find apparently. I hear it takes a while to kick off as well. I'll try and get my hands on some dwarf hair grass and try it out


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

All plants were pulled out and replanted about 1.5 months ago
T5HO 4x39w with LED moonlights and built in timer Oddysea










All plants were pulled out and replanted about 3 weeks ago
T5HO 4x39w Oddysea










Oddysea works fine for me

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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

Kimchi24 said:


> doesn't sound like i can pull it off, mate. My research is telling me that DHG is the easiest carpet plant. That and Marsilea minuta, which is hard to find apparently. I hear it takes a while to kick off as well. I'll try and get my hands on some dwarf hair grass and try it out


I have tons of marsilea, I find that dhg takes way longer to take off then clover

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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

not to hijack this thread

@ coldmantis,

did you use the original bulb came with the fixture?

how often do you change the bulbs?

did you buy them at aqua traders or aqua inspiration?


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

I have 3 oddysea fixtures all bought from aqua traders, there is nothing wrong per say with the original bulbs but they don't last long. I find my plants start to suffer after only 6 months. I try my best to change the bulbs every 8-10 months. I'm using philips bulbs 6500K now. And I know what your thinking the odyysea fixtures are best bang for buck but the stock bulbs sucks which I will agree on.

This is my opinion on the New vs old style Oddysea fixture

New one

Pro
All in one 1 plug
built in ballast
Timer built in!
Metal Clips to hold bulbs (Seems durable to me)
Built in fans to cool the fixture even though I dont' think it runs that hot, so this is added noise
Blue Moon light LED

Cons

if you have a glass top it's so so much hassle becuase this new style has legs and the fixture itself is kind of wide which is not a bad thing per say however you pretty much have to take the fixture off to open your glass lid
Cost more then old style

Old Style

Pro
Nice and Slim
Runs Warm not Hot
Crazy cheap for what you get

Con
cheapo Plastic holders for bulbs which will harden over time and snap
3 Plugs and 2 External Ballast( I don't like external because I had one fry when my eheim leak a little onto it)
no bulit in time
Since it's 3 Plugs 2 for 2 bulbs and 1 for LEDs I never use the LEDS, I don't even know where I place the power adapter for the LEDS 
36" and above are okay for changing bulbs 24" is hard as hell to change bulbs
Metal Legs suck


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## default (May 28, 2011)

I've grown DHG in a nano 8g with one-two cfl bulb, alittle DIY co2 and occasional but scarce dosing of ferts and excel. The DHG looked better in there than anywhere else  I have DHG in a high tech right now, and it's a different look growing more diagonal but under lower lights it grows much straighter.
One advise, flow. Lots of flow towards the grass is always good, keeps the crap off. I'm trying to add flow in my high tech, but every power head I add makes it look like crap  should get a mp10 for the job 
Is this the fixture you got from me? If so, at that depth with a 46 bow you're going to have a hell of a time. On my 65 gallon which is 24in? Deep? Correct me if I'm wrong. I run two dual bulb t5ho fixtures in which stauros (I have freakin palm trees lol) and chain swords have a hard time growing. Honestly, hydrocotyle verticallata is the bomb! I grow it in lower lights and it still carpets tallish.
From experience, gotta go metal halides for these deep tanks  I got a spare one!


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

coldmantis said:


> Hands down the Ferrari of aquarium carpeting plants. If you can grow this you can grow anything. I suggest 4wpg+ heavy heavy co2, nutrient rich plant substrate, ei or pps pro dosing. Out of all the carpeting plants I tried this was the most beautiful.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Amazing pic!


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

default said:


> I've grown DHG in a nano 8g with one-two cfl bulb, alittle DIY co2 and occasional but scarce dosing of ferts and excel. The DHG looked better in there than anywhere else  I have DHG in a high tech right now, and it's a different look growing more diagonal but under lower lights it grows much straighter.
> One advise, flow. Lots of flow towards the grass is always good, keeps the crap off. I'm trying to add flow in my high tech, but every power head I add makes it look like crap  should get a mp10 for the job
> Is this the fixture you got from me? If so, at that depth with a 46 bow you're going to have a hell of a time. On my 65 gallon which is 24in? Deep? Correct me if I'm wrong. I run two dual bulb t5ho fixtures in which stauros (I have freakin palm trees lol) and chain swords have a hard time growing. Honestly, hydrocotyle verticallata is the bomb! I grow it in lower lights and it still carpets tallish.
> From experience, gotta go metal halides for these deep tanks  I got a spare one!


so I did some research on metal halides. It seems the information on them is very contradictory. Poepl are saying it's awesome, some are saying it's too much. Some are saying the cost sucks and others are saying that its teh only way to go. how much do these setups go anyway? what bulb am i looking for? what wattage?


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Kimchi24 said:


> so I did some research on metal halides. It seems the information on them is very contradictory. Poepl are saying it's awesome, some are saying it's too much. Some are saying the cost sucks and others are saying that its teh only way to go. how much do these setups go anyway? what bulb am i looking for? what wattage?


They are good personally, but only useful for deep tanks, for shallow tanks you're growing algae. They have very good penetration and suppose to have good par readings been at the substrate.
My buddies don't do salty tanks without them and even though they have LEDs they still say mh are the way to go - all personal experience though.

Downside, they are expensive as hell, $200+ for cheapest fixture. And bulbs are around $60-$100 each. You can find waltages in 75w-150w to be most effective odor our cause, they also come in 8k and 6700k bulbs. But if you had a mh in your tank you can grow almost any carpet, look at AI they don't do big tanks without em.


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

don't forget MH run hot hot hot no need for heater in your tank.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

coldmantis said:


> don't forget MH run hot hot hot no need for heater in your tank.


really? What about at night though? I think I may get a metal hallide light but probably wait for a good deal on this forum. Being a university kid sucks, financially.


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

All my tanks except for one is in the basement and in the winter time the central heat is on, summer time central ac is on. So I only use heaters if I have it lying around or its a breeding tank else no heaters

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## default (May 28, 2011)

Kimchi24 said:


> really? What about at night though? I think I may get a metal hallide light but probably wait for a good deal on this forum. Being a university kid sucks, financially.


Lol it's not true.
If you purchase a crumby cheap brand or model and have it in a enclosed top then it will get hot.
I have metal halides that have built in fans which keep the unit cool, but me and a buddy had 3x150w mh and 4 t5hos on a reef tank and it was never in need of a chiller. Also you could get hanging pendants in which it is further way from the tank which reduces heat even more.
I find if your tank has no lid or a wooden canopy the heat is usually not a concern - also as long as your tank isnt kept enclosed in let's say - a closet, it won't be a problem for you. Most planted tanks don't use canopies anyways and you'll be fine.
Also remember your bowfront should have a central brace and one mh will not work, it'll melt it. My friends with bows and tanks with central braces usually have two mh, one on each side  which is a lot of money and light.
Honestly though views aside, the 46 bow is just a hard tank to play high tech wise, way too deep for conventional/affordable lighting methods which are t5s.
My buddies 46 bows make very nice looking low light to medium light planted tanks and usually don't work well with carpets. 
To conclude, if you haven't purchased the tank yet, you can still consider it, or you can always make a killer expensive planted with mh  or go with lower lights which are of course easier, but it'll be tricky for some carpets, however you might get lucky!


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Ok so What do you guys suggest for lighting? I'm thinking with the 2x T5HO and the extra T8, I should be able to grow DHG or clover. Unless you guys have a different idea. Also, I was thinking that I get one of the 10w LED flood lights on the one side of the tank that will have the carpet. If you see my diagram it wont have the carpet on both ends


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Kimchi24 said:


> Ok so What do you guys suggest for lighting? I'm thinking with the 2x T5HO and the extra T8, I should be able to grow DHG or clover. Unless you guys have a different idea. Also, I was thinking that I get one of the 10w LED flood lights on the one side of the tank that will have the carpet. If you see my diagram it wont have the carpet on both ends


Which floodlights are you referring to? Are they capable of growing plants?
You can definitely use a "spotlight" style light or pendant for just one side, but again those are usually quite expensive. I'd personally choose mh if your budget allows you to, there should be a member selling a current sunpod for cheap in the sales threads. Certain LEDs work, but they are usually just as expensive or has to be DIY.


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## Reckon (Mar 6, 2013)

Kimchi24 said:


> Ok so What do you guys suggest for lighting? I'm thinking with the 2x T5HO and the extra T8, I should be able to grow DHG or clover. Unless you guys have a different idea. Also, I was thinking that I get one of the 10w LED flood lights on the one side of the tank that will have the carpet. If you see my diagram it wont have the carpet on both ends


My 30 gal has 18" depth, I know there's a difference of 2 inch but I'm growing clover and glosso with no problems at all with 2x T5HO Tek fixture. Clover's growing pretty darn fast actually.


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