# OK Question about lights



## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

i have a coralife fixture on my 29 tall 

it has 2 bulbs with 20watts each i believe but one of them is a coralife colormax thing looks purple and very dim 
the other one is a 6800 HO white tube 

they are T5 lights 

would it be enough to leave them for 7hrs a day for my plants ( i also get a lot of sunlight on half of the tank ) and i add seachemflourish every 3 days. 

i haveno idea what plants i have forgot the names but they grow pretty well.


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

here is my tank pic 

i know the middle one is amazon sword and the one on the right is anacharis 

no idea about the other 2


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If they are growing fine and you have no problems then you're okay. Your plants pretty much tell you if you're doing the right thing and sounds like you are if they are doing well.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I say,sent them to me and Ill check em out for ya hehe.

cabomba and hygro.The plants should do fine with the lighting,like mentioned above,they will let ya know if somethings wrong.


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

jrman83 said:


> If they are growing fine and you have no problems then you're okay. Your plants pretty much tell you if you're doing the right thing and sounds like you are if they are doing well.


cool 
also my substrate is sand


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

nice looking tank! You could increase the lighting if you'd like but if they're growing fine, then no worries. the plants in the back left are java fern i believe.


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

FYI I have a 29G that I retro-fitted with a 36" dual bulb T5 fixture (21W per bulb). This has been plenty of light for the plants I have in there, and in fact my wife is amazed at how much like a jungle it has become. I have wisteria, red ludwigia, corkscrew vals, an amazon sword, najas (guppy grass), and a couple of crypt wendtiis. All of it is growing very well. I do not use any fertilizers except an occasional squirt of flourish excel (mostly to keep BBA algae at bay), and some API root tabs. Also it is a standard geometry 29G.

The T5 bulbs are very effecient and you can really grow things well starting at about 1.5W per gallon. Its only some of the very high-light plants I would worry about.

Good luck

edit: 

I just rechecked and saw the geometry of your tank. I might would worry a little because of the depth the light has to travel.. not as sure as I was, but I would still think you might be okay, because you would have more intense lights than mine to get 40W in such a small surface area. Let us know how it goes. Also, I'll mention I had to cut back on my lights from about 11 hours/day to 8 or 9 hours a day to keep algae at bay.


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

im actually thinking of that coralife puple bulb to a normal T5 HO 
would that help ??


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

majerah1 said:


> I say,sent them to me and Ill check em out for ya hehe.
> 
> cabomba and hygro.The plants should do fine with the lighting,like mentioned above,they will let ya know if somethings wrong.


hi majerah 

it doesnt look like cabomba. 
here are the pics for .............. 

1. first plant in question  





2. second plant in question ( it looks like hygro, thanks majerah ) 





i have no idea why the second plant is in 2 different shades at two different locations in the aquarium


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

OK the last pic looks like giant hygro.I was looking at another for the cabomba,so yeah its not that.
Heres a giant hygro:PlantGeek.net - Hygrophila corymbosa v. 'Siamensis'
Green hygro:PlantGeek.net - Hygrophila polysperma
Sunset hygro:PlantGeek.net - Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig'

The other plant,no idea,lol.


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

majerah1 said:


> OK the last pic looks like giant hygro.I was looking at another for the cabomba,so yeah its not that.
> Heres a giant hygro:PlantGeek.net - Hygrophila corymbosa v. 'Siamensis'
> Green hygro:PlantGeek.net - Hygrophila polysperma
> Sunset hygro:PlantGeek.net - Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig'
> ...


ummm ok 
yea looks like hygro 

the other one looks similar to anacharis but the leaf spacing is wider and its more flexible


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I run a 48 Watt T5HO over my 29 tall for 12 hours a day. No algae problems, or at least none that my veritable army of RCS can't handle


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

[email protected] said:


> I run a 48 Watt T5HO over my 29 tall for 12 hours a day. No algae problems, or at least none that my veritable army of RCS can't handle


Wow, I have the same setup as you - roughly. I keep mine on only 6hrs. My plants are doing pretty well though and no algae problem, per se. I honestly haven't thought about moving it out.


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## saltydad (Jun 27, 2008)

Plant #1 definitely is Wisteria 
(Hygrophila difformis)


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

saltydad said:


> Plant #1 definitely is Wisteria
> (Hygrophila difformis)


Afraid not. This is Wisteria.


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