advice for plants in my 75g

[cerne]

OK i have a 75g tank i have had plants in it before including hygro several different moss and types and java fern. I'm having trouble honestly with my plants the moss and java fern honestly flourish hygro died though. ill give everyone my tank details and the plants i was thinking of and see if i can get any pointers to help my tank thrive.

lighting
48" t5 double strip coralife 65w 6700k x2 bulbs

Substrate
1.5" of dark fluorite

co2
2x ladders 2x 2L bottles of home made co2

fish/types

5 Otto's
3 Congo tetras
2 chocolate talking catfish
1 golden dojo loach
1 weather loach
3 of each banded and brown kuhli loaches
5 guppies
3 bleeding heart tetras
3 black skirt tetras
5 of each blue/black neon tetras
1 sumo loach
3 black phantom tetras
1 albino rainbow shark
1 bristlnose pleco (would like to know if it is a male or female so i can get him or her a tank m8 barely has any bristles more of a mustache tbh had for roughly 6 months 2.5")

i also have a 20 gallon tank which is holding my guppy fry 3 dwarf frogs and a cherry shrimp colony

the plants i was thinking are the following

Marsilea hirsuta foreground plant

Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow' mid ground plant

Egeria densa background plant
Ludwigia repens 'Rubin' background plant

i currently already have java fern and waiting for the marsilea to start spreading (just got it recently) i also have a background plant that spreads via runners like a grass i think its anubis not 100% sure of the name its growing but very slowly.

do i need more lighting for my tank maybe another strip light? i don't want to provide too much light and end up burning the plants i have a glass top for my tank and a Rena 405 filter

[fischkopp]

do i need more lighting for my tank maybe another strip light? i don't want to provide too much light and end up burning the plants i have a glass top for my tank and a Rena 405 filter

A bit more light, double the amount to be precise, would certainly help, especially since you are already injecting CO2. Right now the light is a bit too low to let at least the easy species thrive in a 75gal. Later on, when you got it going, you can add even more light. You should wait with Ludwigia repens 'Rubin' until then; anything that is red require quite a lot of light, roughly 2-3W/gal depending on tank and flora.

i also have a background plant that spreads via runners like a grass i think its anubis not 100% sure of the name its growing but very slowly.

That doesn't sound like anubias. Check google for vallisneria sp.

[fischkopp]

Just saw your post LF light. Thought you have a light with 2x T5 with total power of 65W (also it should have brought up some wrinkles as 4' T5 have 28W / T5HO 54W). Anyway, what you have above your tank are power compacts, not T5, with total power of 130W. I would consider this medium light already. It should allow you to grow quite a few plants already. The only disadvantage is that due to the single strip design you might not get a good light distribution. But I revise my previous statement: it's a descent amount of light, not a whole lot, but enough to grow some undemanding plants without too much other troubles ...

[cerne]

ya it is a 48" strip light i have it roughly on the middle top of the glass it doesn't have 2 straight bulbs all the way across it has 2 bulbs one on each side best way to explain it is =|= there like u shaped held in place with a elastic that came with the fixture i bought it new last yr for 189 bucks (before i knew about ovas).

would u suggest i get maybe a single 65w strip light to go with my current lighting as i do want to have coloured plants a tank with no colour i find dull id love some nice red ludwiga or/and Rotala macrandra

[jetstream]

On top of Fischkopp suggestions. To get the red colour out of a plant is not just the light level alone. It's a combination of few factors in your tank like gh, N, P, K trace elements and of course your light intensity all together.

One of the reasons that your hygro died most likely is because 90% of the plants that your bought from fish store are grow in emersed form, which mean they are grow in a high humidity environment above water. Once you bought them home and put them in your tank, the emersed leaves will died off and the new submersed leaves will start to grow. During the transition period if your tank condition is not good enough, the plant won't be able to make it thru.

From my own experience and for your ref. If you want to see the hygro grow nice with nice colour, you need to give them lots of light. Egeria densa is a plant that will do better in cooler water. Maybe you will encounter some difficulty if you mixed it with other warmer temperature plants. Just my two cents. 

Cheers

[bojon]

you definitely have a 48" power compacts, not T5. And you have a very similar setup that I used to have a few years ago.

One thing you have to think about is the co2 injection. For a 75G, DIY is not going to work very well. Now you have less than 2wpg of light. If you want to increase the light level, you better consider a pressurized co2 injection together, otherwise, you will be in trouble.

Also, I found that the glass top do have a negative effect to the plants. I don't put the glass top in the summer, only in winter to reduce the moisture.

[cerne]

thanks everyone for all this help i need your advice again ha ha i have a offer to purchase the following light

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp17952/si1320161/cl1/coralifefreshwateraqualightdeluxedoublelinearstrip484x65watt

its literally double what i currently have and i can get it for $80.

as for what plants need i was also using on a weekly basis a regular dose of plant food also my water temp is 78F seems to be a nice temperature for most things my fish like that temperature.

but ya sounds like a good deal one of the bulbs is dead i was told but i can easily replace it with one of my bulbs. will i still need co2 with 65wx4 lights aka 260w/75g=3.4w/gallon.

oh and one last thing i can't remove the glass top as i have cats that are very curious with my fish and will watch them for hours if i were to take the glass top off either my cat would drown from stupidity lol orrrr id be short a few fishies both are outcomes i would prefer to avoid

what would be easier the compressed co2 or the light fixture i assume i can get both for roughly the same price?

[bojon]

if u going to getting that light, u SHOULD get a pressurized co2. Or you will start getting algae. unless you DIY co2 is THAT good 

for the cover glass, haha, I don't really mean that bad. As long as you keep it clean, it is still ok. I know many people have glass cover. is just my preference to not cover it if not necessary.

[cerne]

honestly i wish i could leave the tank open it be really nice to do so but i have fish that like to be jumpers and cat hair floats around even with my air filter lol so ya. its pretty hard for me to pass on that light fixture its a great deal imo so i will be getting it tbh i have no real skills with co2 lol i was given a few free co2 units with the ladders which work very well i have 3 ladders. how much does a pressurized co2 unit typically go for

[Toss]

I would suggest to add another 0.5" to 1.0" of substrate for a better root system. I have same size af tank with you, 75gal and 4x54W T5 and pressurized CO2 is the way to go. I started with just 4x40W T10 and DYI CO2. I still can get a nice looking planted tank but my option is very limited and it was harder to control the CO2 output.