[Billjack]

I find understanding lighting difficult for some reason. I read a lot of posts about different tanks and what lights work well in this tank or that tank… but I am really want to understand it. I read some of the very detailed (advanced) post at the top of this forum but quickly got lost in all the technical stuff. I was hoping someone had information to share in Laymans terms. Some basics that will help me understand the more advanced stuff.

You can stop reading here if you have general info to share. Below is my specific information.

Started about a year ago thinking I would only use low light plants. Over time I desired a more lush aqua scape. I tried adding this and that and some would die and some would just barley be hanging on. I added a 2nd light and things were a little better. I am currently setting up CO2 and hoping I can get better results. But my lighting is just based off of a very loose understanding. Below are my specs. Feel free to provide any suggestions (especially lighting)

29 gal community tank
Seachem Tidal 55 (I keep the water level high and it provide a gentle flow that does not disturb CO2 very much)
Fluval heater
Aqueon optibright+ 30”
Hyggar 24-30” (the one with the programmable screen on top of the light)
Fzone pro regulator
Air pump/stone (I plan to run at night when CO2 is off)
Use easy green / easy iron

 

[klibs]

Generally speaking you want a light that is designed to grow plants. The best lights to grow plants are probably "grow lights" that provide the ideal spectrum, crazy brightness, and are used in greenhouses etc. But those lights don't look too great above our aquariums due to the color spectrum. We also want lights that make our plants "look good" while still providing light at the proper spectrum to enable them to grow well.

That is why certain lights in the hobby are blatantly marketed towards planted tanks. Most of the crappy cheap lights you will find are not intended to grow plants, just illuminate the tank enough to look at your fish. They are usually nowhere near bright enough and usually don't have enough red in the spectrum. Don't buy those lights.

I would get something that you can easily adjust the brightness on, can output a max of a solid amount of light, etc. Everyone seems to buy the "chihiros" lights now so maybe try those out. They are cheap and good value for what they offer I think.

Pics of tank will help greatly in getting a ballpark of your situation / setup

 

[evil8]

I've tried to go down this rabbit hole... I'm using Fluval Plant 3.0 LED lights on most of my tanks. I'm doing a ramp up/down for 9 hours where my max brightness is at 50%. My 29g is my only low tech - no CO2 - tank with cherry shrimp. It's colder too at 70 to 72. My plants seem to be doing well - bucephalandra cathrinea mini, dwarf sagitarira, vallisneria (leopard), cryptocoryne balansea and a stem I can't remember off the top of my head. I've learned to keep what grows and not be afraid to try new plants as I discover them.

 

[Asteroid]

I would also highly recommend a light that allows you to adjust it throughout the day. It's much easier to start up a tank this way. If you start a tank with full intensity from the getgo you are more likely to have algae issues at startup unless you have a very load of fast growing plants. The ramp up/down allows for more flexibility in plant density/growth. Over time you can change the intensity and duration based on what your growing and how fast you want the plants to grow.

 

[Billjack]

 

[klibs]

I would also highly recommend a light that allows you to adjust it throughout the day. It's much easier to start up a tank this way. If you start a tank with full intensity from the getgo you are more likely to have algae issues at startup unless you have a very load of fast growing plants. The ramp up/down allows for more flexibility in plant density/growth. Over time you can change the intensity and duration based on what your growing and how fast you want the plants to grow.

+1000 to this. one of the most common problem I see people post is some algae explosion where they bought a super powerful light and have like 20 plants in their tank

EDIT: based on that pic you are one of those people with "like 20 plants in their tank". Most of your plants are slower growing or will do fine in lower light and the tank overall is quite sparsely planted. From experience I think "high light" should always be avoided unless you have a huge mass of plants that can grow very quickly under higher light. Think stems like ludwigia, rotala, cabomba, etc. Plants like crypts, swords, anubias, etc grow very slowly and do not really need or want higher levels of lighting.

I personally think you should just keep your lights you have now, make sure nutrients are OK, add CO2 which will help, and keep propagating plants until you have higher plant mass. High plant mass of stems makes everything so much easier. If this is the look you ultimately desire, I would buy some cheap easy to grow stems. They are easy to propagate and if done properly you can achieve a densely planted tank in little time. Then you can start ramping up light level if you think it is even necessary.

 

[Scully]

I'll plus one for a Chihiros, I switched from a Nicrew SkyLED to a chihiros WRGB2 and it's a night and day difference.

 

[Billjack]

Above are a couple pic of my tank. Having some diffuser problems (new one on the way) and some new plants.

Both lights are adjustable/dimmable but I think I will have problems putting them on a mechanical timer with my co2. They usually work fine but sometimes seem to miss an auto on/off cycle. I don’t want to gas my fish if my co2 comes on and the lights don’t for some reason.

 

[klibs]

Above are a couple pic of my tank. Having some diffuser problems (new one on the way) and some new plants.

Both lights are adjustable/dimmable but I think I will have problems putting them on a mechanical timer with my co2. They usually work fine but sometimes seem to miss an auto on/off cycle. I don’t want to gas my fish if my co2 comes on and the lights don’t for some reason.

Buy a digital timer. You can get ones on amazon for like $10. The mechanical ones are trash IMO

 

[evil8]

I don’t want to gas my fish if my co2 comes on and the lights don’t for some reason.

I've never heard that happen. With your current plant load you may want to look into what George Farmer calls a medium energy system. Medium light, medium CO2, lean dosing ferts. I do this and ramp things up as I get more plant mass.

 

[Billjack]

Buy a digital timer. You can get ones on amazon for like $10. The mechanical ones are trash IMO

Buy a digital timer. You can get ones on amazon for like $10. The mechanical ones are trash IMO

Thanks I will check those out. I am just worried a timer would cut all power to the lights and when they come on all the digital setting are erased. I guess I have some experiments to do!

I've never heard that happen. With your current plant load you may want to look into what George Farmer calls a medium energy system. Medium light, medium CO2, lean dosing ferts. I do this and ramp things up as I get more plant mass.

Thanks! I will see if I can find that.

 

[jeffkrol]

Thanks I will check those out. I am just worried a timer would cut all power to the lights and when they come on all the digital setting are erased. I guess I have some experiments to do!


Thanks! I will see if I can find that.

Running programmable lights and using timers is a *** shoot. Some default to full, some may continue on a program but the clock is now wrong. ect..
Even with battery backup they have a tendency to drift.
Best are wifi or cloud based where they can re-synch to network time..

Actually I think we need a list of "well behaved' lights and not well behaved.

Best bet..

I put mine in manual setting and connected it to a smart outlet that is programmed to turn on and off.
Get a decent one.

 

[Asteroid]

Well, my 24/7 Planted is definitely on the naughty list. Doing all kinds of weird things. Even when I review the time frames it's somewhat different during the actual lighting schedule. I never did like the cheesy remote and doesn't look like they've move to blue tooth yet.

On the other hand my two ONF lights have been great with bluetooth. I like that you can manually change the lighting if you want to and it will return to the programmed setting in 15 minutes.

 

[Billjack]

I wound up getting a 30” Hyggar light to go along with a smaller 24” Hyggar. I am trying to sell the Optibright light. My Anubias coffeefolia has sprouted a new leaf which it never has in a year. And the new Rotala H’ra seems to be taking well. At 8 hours a day I was getting some algae growth. I backed it down to 6hrs and it seemed to be good for now.
What should I do for some new plants that are kinda shaded? I think they will be fine once the get a little taller but for now I don’t think they are getting enough light. Anyone ever set up some kind of temporary grow light spot light or something?