zhong89 Posted August 28, 2010 Report Share Posted August 28, 2010 Due to my recent attendance at the Aquarium society of Victoria aquascaping iron man challenge I realised my lighting is worse than... well... it's only a little bit better than nothing and no where near good enough for growing good plants (no wonder even my moss is growing so slow). So I've done a little research both here on the forum and on the internet. It seems all so confusing... Here's the information i've gathered and questions that I have please correct me if I'm wrong. For my budget range (low end) a T8 or T5 OH is not suitable for me. Energy: For plant growth the energy output has to be more than 6500K Wavelength: Does it matter than much for fresh water tanks? Can we purchase fluorescent light from bunnings? I came across several posts on another forum saying that they purchase their light tubes for about $8 and grow beautiful light from it. What I'm hoping for is a light that is able to grow some high light plants. Does anyone have any suggestions to what brand, or kind of setup? and can you seriously get a good enough light to grow plants at bunnings? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted August 28, 2010 Report Share Posted August 28, 2010 Have a look at http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au. I think they're very reasonably priced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFF1 Posted August 28, 2010 Report Share Posted August 28, 2010 I bought a light from Bunnings. It was basically a light on the end of a cord that you just plug in. It comes with a spring loaded clamp and an switch. I just screwed in one of those energy saver, fluro light globes into it. 15w was all I used. I think the equivalent in the old globe was 75w. If you're looking for it, it's the one with the yellow cage (that I removed) and it cost less than $10. To be honest I didn't look at the science behind what does or doesn't work, I'm sure there are better options but this one was cheap, provides heaps of light and best of all I'm growing Java Moss, Riccia and fresh water SW under it. No Problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piscineidiot Posted September 14, 2010 Report Share Posted September 14, 2010 Wavelength: Does it matter than much for fresh water tanks? Can we purchase fluorescent light from bunnings? I came across several posts on another forum saying that they purchase their light tubes for about $8 and grow beautiful light from it. What I'm hoping for is a light that is able to grow some high light plants. Does anyone have any suggestions to what brand, or kind of setup? and can you seriously get a good enough light to grow plants at bunnings? Cheers Wavelength does matter for planted tanks, as it basically indicates what colour the light will be. If you want good plant growth, you'll need something leaning towards the red spectrum (it'll look pink), or a 'daylight' tube, with a fairly even spread across the whole spectrum, making the light appear white. Blue lights aren't the best for growing plants, as most plants don't use much of the UV spectrum (Most plants look green because they're reflecting it, they absorb the reds). You could probably purchase a light from bunnings. However, the likelihood will be that it will be a single fluorescent tube fitting. Unless you have multiple fluorescent tubes, you're unlikely to grow high light plants. The next step up would be to look into compact fluorescent lights, which are generally 2-3 times more intense than your standard fluorescent tubes. They require different fittings, and some kind of ballast, so you'd be better off saving up and buying a compact fluorescent reflector/hood. Just bear in mind that you should NEVER place a compact fluorescent reflector under an enclosed hood, as the heat will cause all sorts of issues and void your warranty. I'm afraid that you will probably need compacts in order to grow any 'high light' plants. Mind you, there are plenty of attractive 'low light' plants out there. Several different varieties of java fern, all kinds of mosses (with the exception of a few), freshwater seaweed/subwassertang, all the anubians and crypts etc. etc. Putting high light plants under low lights tends to make them go 'leggy', where the tops grow towards the light, but the bottoms die off, and will just cause you more problems than you want. Hope this helps, Piscineidiot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
girlz0r Posted September 15, 2010 Report Share Posted September 15, 2010 I got mine from guppys, lol joan, I could've told you your lights weren't strong enough, it was the first thing I noticed when i saw your tanks! Don't buy lights from LFS, they are so expensive, a 3 ft t5 light tube was $40, compared to something like $15 I paid on guppies. t5 light tubes are a lot thinner than those in t8s. It also depends how tall the tank is, e.g. how far away the light is from the bottom of the tank. (that's the initial problem I had when I was trying to grow carpeting plants) I'll show you when/if you come over sometime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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