[Fish_Wish]

:help: Ok, so this may seem like a no brainer for all the super smart folks here that can talk about PAR.. But I'm going to try and do something extremely basic.. I want to do a moss carpet over black sand... I just want to have a nice carpet with maybe some sandy pathways for aquascaping. The tank is a 60 gal that I got from Petsmart on black Friday and is a 60L... It has 2 24" lights in little plastic hoods... Will this give me enough light to reach the moss. The moss will be up a little bit because I want to make hills and such but I don't know if it will reach down that far to grow moss. Any thoughts? Thank you.

 

[goodbytes]

What are the dimensions of the tank? 48" x 13" x 24" high right? I can't say with absolute certainty, but according to this chart you should be getting around 20 PAR at the substrate. That should be enough light to grow moss at least.
If you haven't read the thread below yet, now would be the time.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/10-lighting/184368-lighting-aquarium-par-instead-watts.html

 

[patfat]

:help: Ok, so this may seem like a no brainer for all the super smart folks here that can talk about PAR.. But I'm going to try and do something extremely basic.. I want to do a moss carpet over black sand... I just want to have a nice carpet with maybe some sandy pathways for aquascaping. The tank is a 60 gal that I got from Petsmart on black Friday and is a 60L... It has 2 24" lights in little plastic hoods... Will this give me enough light to reach the moss. The moss will be up a little bit because I want to make hills and such but I don't know if it will reach down that far to grow moss. Any thoughts? Thank you.

honestly invest in a new lighting system..finnex has some great LED lighting or beamworks or some of the other companies..the more light to reach down to the bottom of the tank will help you out with carpeting..do you plan to do ferts or co2..both will definitely help depending on the type of carpet plant you want to do..plus it also helps with any other plants you want to put into your tank..just my 2 cents..

 

[Fish_Wish]

I would have to get 2 separate lights because the top bands on the tank has a raised divider. It looks like I could try and replace the bulbs to something else. This is what I have. They are 24" from the substrate.

 

[DennisSingh]

your good.

 

[tkblazer]

I've grown all sorts of plants on just one t8 17w bulb in my 20 high. You'll be good growing moss and other low light plants

 

[Fish_Wish]

So with these lights I'm trying to grow some Spiral Val. I don't know if it is my tank that is messing with them our my lighting. I had my light set for like 6 hours a day and I have cranked it up to like 13 hours a day to get enough light down to the val yet they seem to lose color, develop holes and slowly die back.. I am using root tabs and started dosing with Flourish. I was thinking I might need more light? The any ideas?

 

[Smooch]

So with these lights I'm trying to grow some Spiral Val. I don't know if it is my tank that is messing with them our my lighting. I had my light set for like 6 hours a day and I have cranked it up to like 13 hours a day to get enough light down to the val yet they seem to lose color, develop holes and slowly die back.. I am using root tabs and started dosing with Flourish. I was thinking I might need more light? The any ideas?

This isn't a lighting issue. Leaving your lights on for 13 hours is asking for problems, so turn your photo period back down. Using root tabs will help feed the vals. They need time to adjust. Also, if you use Excel, Vals don't like it and will melt.