High Light Planted Tank

[JEREMY]

Just bought a 130 W C.F fixture to put on a 25 gallon tall.... (Light and tank 24" long)... so by the math i have over 5 watts per gallon lighting...

I would like to try some high light plants mixed with others, would like some of the reddish colours of foliage as well... any suggestions on what i might try??... i will also be injecting Co2..

Jeremy..

[BigDaddy]

Wow Jeremy!  You could grow any plant at all under those conditions.

I have some Sunset hygro and Alternanthera reineckii clippings you could start with.  A couple of different shades of red there.  I think I might have a few strands of Myriophyllum aquaticum.

With that light... try some carpet plants (I don't recommend glosso... too high maintenance).  If you can get some dwarf hairgrass, it would literally cover the bottom of the tank if you let it.

[Nelson]

Cactus would bloom under that kind of wattage

[BigDaddy]

For sure.

You need lots and lots of fast growing stem plants for starters, there to suck up nutrients and CO2 while your slower growers get established and start taking off themselves...

Before you add fish, get your CO2 down solid.  If your CO2 isn't setup right, this tank will be a nightmare for you.  Without fish, at least you can overdose CO2 and not kill anything.

[JEREMY]

Thanks for the advice, i will be setting it up this week i hope...
and will delay introducing any fish until the tank establishes and stabilizes itself..

I'll be looking for some clippings from you shortly...

Thanks,,,

Jeremy...

[gvv]

For sure.

You need lots and lots of fast growing stem plants for starters, there to suck up nutrients and CO2 while your slower growers get established and start taking off themselves...

Before you add fish, get your CO2 down solid.  If your CO2 isn't setup right, this tank will be a nightmare for you.  Without fish, at least you can overdose CO2 and not kill anything.

So, Jeremy, now as I understand you have a real problem  :lol:
And seriously: less light - less problems.

[JEREMY]

Its ok, this is an Experimental tank as i already have a very healthy and established 75 gallon heavily planted tank (as BIGDADDY can attest to), with about 2.2 watts per gallon,,, so i wanted to go to the higher light outputs so i can grow some more of the higher light plants...

I'm even now thinking about putting in a 30 gallon tall,,, same footprint as a 25,, but a couple of inches taller,,, the merit of this it would be much more dramatic,,,as i would have taller plant growth... (i once dove in the Kelp fields off San Diego,,, talk about dramatic your down a 100' and all you see id Kelp rising all the way to the surface,,, its beautiful... but your always trying to peer through the kelp..keeping a wary eye out for those Big White's that travel up and down past San Diego at they head to their breeding grounds...)

Jeremy...

[Marx]

awesome.. 5wpg.. crazy stuff..

[JEREMY]

yes, but i like challenges from time to time... so we'll see how it all go's...

Jeremy...

[BigDaddy]

Once you get over 3 to 4 watts per gallon, it really doesn't matter anymore... as long as your CO2 is okay, it just means you might be adding a bit more ferts per week.

Nice thing with that setup is your stem plants should be nice and bushy.  In low/medium light, stem plants tend to look "leggy".  The internode space is usually pretty long.  In high light, the internode length is shorter (most of the time), giving the plant a nice, full look.