Would more light be alright

Howzit guys I have a pretty important question i want to ask .
I have a 270litre planted (height is 51 centimetres) and the plants are doing realy well but i want to stickk even more plants in there until i kind of have a "green affect where all the open bits of sand are covered in grasses etc
The light i have at the momnet is a Hagen Glo T5 36 watt unit with 2 tubes ,both of the tubes are skywhite.
Would i need to put in another unit or would my unit at the moment be sufficient ???
All help much appreciated
thanks
mc1

 

Hi mc

It mostly depends on what sort of plants you want to grow. Mostly grasses generally need quite a bit of light. IMO I would get another unit which will allow you to get a bigger variety of plants. Also if you want to add another unit you would have to hook up a CO2 source.

Also if you do go for another lighting unit, get the bulbs in the 6400k-6700k range as this is the range where plants grow most.

Hop this helped
Regards
Peter

 

How long has the tank been running?

This will give you some idea on tube viability - also check that the reflectors in the unit is still clean - keeping those clean is like an extra tube for free.

Since you are a bit thin on details I have made a few assumptions ... on tanks size and punched the number into a new found tool - called a light calculator ... read earlier today that 30 - 40 µmol/s/m² PAR is good enough - going higher will mean more work - fertz etc ... and if you say things are doing OK why add more light - just give it time.

Let us know what you decide ...

Later Ferdie

 

what other details would you need to calculate that.
The tank has been running for about 6-7 weeks now .My hairgrass is not doing to great and i put it in about 5 weeks ago ,do you guys know what is going on here ,I thought it was a low light plant???
Thanks for all the help it is much appreciated

 

I'd go with do not jump the gun give it some time - most plants need to become comfortable with now having to grow submerged since they are largely cultivated emerged.

2 months - give it more time ..

You doing fertz ?

BTW post a pic .. - what substrate are you using?

 

you can look at the pics in the thread "my planted tank "
I dont know if you call it a fert but i am adding flourish excel
I know what you mean i am very impatient.
I am using silica sand .
Do you have any other suggestions for what other ferts i can use ???

 

I think hair grass need a little more light. It may also be that they are still adapting. Most ground cover plants need
more light because they are the deepest under the water.
If I were you, only a suggestion, I would put in another tube but go straight for a growlux type tube that
is made for plant growth. The 2 8000K lamps should also cancel out the more red color of the growlux.

I have a 3 ft that is 37cm deep and I use 2 X 24W HO T5's and a 30W T8 growlux tube.
I do not use CO2 and have the very minimum of algae. I might get a few spots of green spot algae over 2 weeks
on the glass.

I can't tell you if I am doing something right or not but this is what I have and it is working.

Normal daylight lamps do peak in the right region but not to much. I do not know if sky white even fall in the PAR range?

P.S I would also guess that it is the flourish exel making your plants grow so well and not so much your lights.

 

mc1, PM prof about getting his fertz for the CT water - think he might suggest you ditch the excel.

VIS - has a plan .. I might even consider swapping 1 8kK for a growlux and give it another few weeks with DSD ...

 

I didnt fertilize the plants for a month while i was away on holiday and they grew well while was away .One problem is that my tank is open without a canopy so how would i attach it ??. DsD ??Sorry guys i an on my shoe and cant type log messages . Thanks for all the help

I didnt fertilize the plants for a month while i was away on holiday and they grew well while was away .One problem is that my tank is open without a canopy so how would i attach it ??. DsD ??Sorry guys i an on my Phone and cant type long messages . Thanks for all the help

 

LOL - sorry about the abbreviations Dirk se druppels see http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=3966

 

How is your lights attached now?
How long is your tank and how long are the tubes you have?

 

the light is a ballast that clips to te side and my tubes are about 60-70cm long

 

MC1 post a photo of the light fixture installed in your tank ... that will answer VIS's question.

 

ok i will do that tomorrow
ps thanks soo much for the help