Low tech light

[Jhoussock]

I have a newly set up discus tank. It's 150 gallons but its 30" high. The tank itself is only 48" wide. I have only amazon sword and jungle valls. Since the switch ( about one month ago) my plants haven't thrived. I am using a 36" dual ho t5 light with zoo med flora sun bulbs. I ordered some seachem root tabs because I started doing straight ro water mixed with tap for this tank instead of all ro with flourish. I have a feeling my water can use some nutrients. I also ordered a 48 inch 4 bulb t5 ho fixture and four flora sun bulbs. My main question is...did I pop to early on the light? Do I definitely need more light even for low tech low light plants? Here's the tank to give you some perspective..oh and plants look worse than the pic about one third of the leaves on each sword are going clear

[Ryan925]

I have a newly set up discus tank. It's 150 gallons but its 30" high. The tank itself is only 48" wide. I have only amazon sword and jungle valls. Since the switch ( about one month ago) my plants haven't thrived. I am using a 36" dual ho t5 light with zoo med flora sun bulbs. I ordered some seachem root tabs because I started doing straight ro water mixed with tap for this tank instead of all ro with flourish. I have a feeling my water can use some nutrients. I also ordered a 48 inch 4 bulb t5 ho fixture and four flora sun bulbs. My main question is...did I pop to early on the light? Do I definitely need more light even for low tech low light plants? Here's the tank to give you some perspective..oh and plants look worse than the pic about one third of the leaves on each sword are going clear

Low tech plants don't need a lot of light. Flourish alone is not enough. Plants need macro and micros. Swords are root feeders so tabs will definitely help

[bluelagoon]

Also,It will take about a month for swords to settle in and shouldn't be moved around once planted.

[Neptune]

Also,It will take about a month for swords to settle in and shouldn't be moved around once planted.

THIS^
Not unusual to see some melting on swords after they have been moved.
You also got a lot of current going on there. Are your fish comfortable with that?

[Filip]

How long do you have them ?
Give them a month or two before jumping guns on light and fertilizers . 90 % of the plants are sold in their emersed form and they completely reject their foliage once submersed under water , just to start with new submersed foliage .
They would def. Not mind some organics ans food in their root systems since they are primary root feeders .
0.3 watt per gallon is the usual minimum for low tech plants . Aim for at least 0.3 wpg in your tank because of its hight.
BTW . Very nice and simplistic layout and great looking group of discus .

[Jhoussock]

Thanks for the numbers ...that gives me something to go off of. Also thanks for the compliments!

[Jhoussock]

I have a diy spray bar on my fx6 the surface gets aggitated but very little current in the tank itself fish are fine.

[Ryan925]

How long do you have them ?
Give them a month or two before jumping guns on light and fertilizers . 90 % of the plants are sold in their emersed form and they completely reject their foliage once submersed under water , just to start with new submersed foliage .
They would def. Not mind some organics ans food in their root systems since they are primary root feeders .
0.3 watt per gallon is the usual minimum for low tech plants . Aim for at least 0.3 wpg in your tank because of its hight.
BTW . Very nice and simplistic layout and great looking group of discus .

With led lighting don't we need to go by lumens per gallon rather than wattage since there is no direct correlation of wattage to lumens when it comes to led?

[Jhoussock]

With led lighting don't we need to go by lumens per gallon rather than wattage since there is no direct correlation of wattage to lumens when it comes to led?

I have t5 ho bulbs not led. I would like led but I can't take the shimmer created from the ripples of my spray bar. Which there was a way around it.

[Ryan925]

I have t5 ho bulbs not led. I would like led but I can't take the shimmer created from the ripples of my spray bar. Which there was a way around it.

Oh sorry thought you were running led

[Filip]

T5 High output bulbs with reflectors above them can give a pretty strong light ranging above 100 lumens per watt , so they are almost if not same with LEDs in their lumen performance . Unbeatable for the price for growing plants IME .

As for lumens per gallon , your right Ryan , that is much more accurate measure for light than the good old Watt per gallon rule .

Expressed in lumens You should aim for 20-30 lumens per liter (approx. 100 lumens per gallon in US ) for growing easy plants OP .

Here is a good read for you if you want to have some guidelines for your light requirements OP :

http://tropica.com/en/guide/make-your-aquarium-a-success/light/

[Neptune]

With led lighting don't we need to go by lumens per gallon rather than wattage since there is no direct correlation of wattage to lumens when it comes to led?

Not to hijack, but lumens/gal is a poor measurement with LED. You want to look at PAR.
Photosynthetic Available Radiation. It can be very hard to find for most lights.

It is not the PAR value listed on the Home Depot lights, that is a measurement of the size of the reflector.

[ScottW]

I have a high tech heavily planted 60 gallon. The tank is 24" tall and had a problem growing a carpet so I have used 2 lights, maybe a second would be beneficial or getting a light with a higher PAR. Like a Finnex Ray 2 or Fluval Fresh & Plant 2.0, both give out plenty of PAR. Amazon swords are heavy root feeders so a root tab will definitely help. It took awhile for my Amazon Swords to take off too and did alot of melting until they got established. They are now throwing off alot of baby plantlets and are over 2 feet tall.