Lighting a planted discus tank.

[Marinemom]

:o I have a 46 gallon fully planted bowfront tank for my discus. Currently there are five discus in this tank. The tank has been up for more than four years and the plants all are plants that are supported by a low light situation. At the moment there is about one watt per gallon of water but I would like to upgrade the lighting on this tank so I can have better plant growth and have more variety in the kind of plants I want to grow. Also I want the plants to be compatible with my discus. I put this thread here i n the beginners for discus because I'm really not sure that upgrading the lighting is good for the discus. I have been looking at a t-5 setup for this tank that will give the tank between 1.5 and 2 watts per gallon. Is this too much light for a discus tank? If so, what kind of lighting would you recommend for a planted discus tank? Will I have to use co2 injections and if so will it bother the discus? I really do not want to bother with co2 but I do not want a lot of algae either. The t-5 setup will be a 36 inch strip with two bulbs.

Any and all help and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Diane

[marilyn1998]

1.5 watts is not too high for the discus, nor is it medium light tank. still low light. at 2 watts, you still cant grow ALL plants, (mainly the reds), but CO2 is a 50/50 need. I had 2.1 wpg and lowered it since I was getting algae and had some problems with plant health. If you inject CO2, you can do it any lighting. But the higher the lighting, the more crucial CO2 is. I wouldnt spend the money on the new light, unless you are gonna make it worthwhile.
I know folks that have 3-4 wpg on their discus tank. CO2 is most defiinitely needed then.
I am sure Al, Dis, Larry and Paul and others will pipe in with their thoughts too.

Good Luck!!! (I am very low tech planted so not much help here.)

[pcsb23]

Diane, not sure it should be in this section... anyways I have around 4wpg using T5's on my planted display tank, that has discus in. They really don't care much, provided the wtaer is good and the foods good, they are happy. I guess mine is high tech.

hth,

[Dissident]

2W/gal should be the top end for that size tank without CO2.
I run 5W/gal on my 110gal planted discus tank and they have no problems with the amount of light.

[Alight]

I have a planted show tank that had 4.5 watts/gallon, but I recently backed off to 3.8 watts/gallon to see if that helps with the algae control, and still grows all my plants (so far so good). It definitely needs CO2 injection, or it wouldn't be possible.

I also have potted plants in my Discus grow out tank. Most plants do quite well in this 55 gallon, low tech tank with only 1.8 watts/gallon with T-5 bulbs.
I even have Red Temple in that tank that grow pretty well. No algae at all in this tank.

So, 1.5 - 2 watts/gallon is great for Discus and should make for good plant growth without CO2. You won't be able to grow Cabomba Furcata, Rotala Macranda, or Glosso, but most other plants will grow OK, although slowly.

Al

[Ed13]

Only the shimmer effect of Metal Halides spooks them a bit.
I am guessing you don't want to start from scratch the tank right?
If so then a retrofit kit is your best option. If your seriously considering a high tech set up try to have 3 watts a gallon or higher.

I assume we can't convince you of getting a new tank for this, or can we?;)

[Dissident]

Only the shimmer effect of Metal Halides spooks them a bit.

They adjust, mine don't mind it at all.

[tpl*co]

I have a Coralife 36" 2x96 freshwater power compact on my bow that is probably the same size as yours and love it, and I don't use CO2. Took a little experimentation on what type of plants though, but it grows crypts and swords no problem (and I probably in need of changing bulbs too since I've had it going for about a year now).

Here's a link to what I have:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18369/si1383184/cl0/coralifefreshwateraqualight362x96watt

Tina