Plants and Lightning!!

[Pisidan]

Ok recently I put a new top on my tank and installed 2 40 watt daytime phillip flourescent lights which in total gives me a total of 1.5 watts per gallon or if you are really technical about 1.45 watts per gallon. Now the plants I have now seem to be doing ok...(Watersprite, Pennywort, Hornwart) and I want to add some java fern and perhaps some Anubis later on is this enough lighting or should I add another 40 - 80 watts? I know they may grow better with more light and I may just at least add another 40 watts but should I add 80 more because from what i read the closer you are too 3 watts per gallon you should look in to CO2 injection which I really dont want to do but if I add 40 more watts I will be just over 2 watts per gallon is this better? Any information would be helpful. Thanxs in advance!!

[valiko]

From my experience it all depends on the plants you have.

Java fern is growing fine with the low level of lights. While Cabomba needs  2w/g.

Regarding the tubes, are these "Philips Natural Light" ?
What is the tank size?

[Pisidan]

Tank size ois approximatly 48 inches the florescent are the same 48 inches they cover from end to end!!

[Poustic]

Post subject: Plants and Lightning!!

Lightning might be overkill.   :wink:

Does it not also depend on how deep is the tank?  Our 90 gal tank is also 48" long, but 24" deep.  We use 4 x 40W tubes, and inject CO2, and plants do great as long as we put in enough fertilizer.

[Pisidan]

LOL never noticed the typing mistake until now LOL...Yeah I rerally dont want to have to inject CO2 if it can be helped...I think I have decided I will  just add another 40 watts and see what happens!!

[Ron]

If your existing plants are doing well, and the only plants you want to add are Java fern and anubias, then I would leave the lighting as is.

More light will promote faster growth, which will more quickly use up nutrients in the tank. If you fall short of any of the nutrients the plants need, you'll end up with an imbalance that will most probably result in unwanted algae.

The planted tank/sports car analogy applies: more light/a faster car is certainly more exciting, but you can get in trouble much faster, and the crashes are more spectacular!

I'd suggest not using any more light than you need to keep your plants looking good. More is not always better.

Ron

[Pisidan]

ok great thanxs for the advice!!!