Lighting for Planted Discus Tanks

[stallion150]

Hey guys, I've got a 75 gallon planted discus tank...Just ordered some wilds from Snookn21 (pics when they arrive tomorrow!!!)

I've always had trouble keeping Amazon swords healthy; I've got a Coralife Aqualight CF lighting setup now (4 65 watt bulbs). It's acceptable but not great.

I was thinking about switching over to T5 lighting particularly this product:

48 Inch 4x54 Watt AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture W/ 4 Lunar LEDs

Here's the link: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+21460&pcatid=21460

Do you guys think this along with the other basics (CO2, fertilizer, etc) would help grow healthier plants? Thanks!

[DiscusOnly]

First of all, what bulbs do you currently have in your coralife? While they are not the greatest, they are not that bad. Do you have an Actinic bulb in there?


The AquaticLife you are looking at is the wrong light. That's a reef light. It comes with bulb that is not suited for planted tank.

[waters10]

Hey guys, I've got a 75 gallon planted discus tank...Just ordered some wilds from Snookn21 (pics when they arrive tomorrow!!!)

I've always had trouble keeping Amazon swords healthy; I've got a Coralife Aqualight CF lighting setup now (4 65 watt bulbs). It's acceptable but not great.

I was thinking about switching over to T5 lighting particularly this product:

48 Inch 4x54 Watt AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture W/ 4 Lunar LEDs

Here's the link: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+21460&pcatid=21460

Do you guys think this along with the other basics (CO2, fertilizer, etc) would help grow healthier plants? Thanks!
Like Vlam said, your fixture is not bad, and even with old bulbs, you should be able to grow plants, specially swords. You might be having other problems, rather than light. Maybe adding root tabs under your sword, since they are heavy root feeders should do it.

But, if you want to go to T5, consider cheaper alternatives to that fixture, like catalina and fishneedit fixtures.

[yikesjason]

I agree that your light should be more than enough for a 75 gal. With some more info about your set up, we might be able to help you more.

[exv152]

...The AquaticLife you are looking at is the wrong light. That's a reef light. It comes with bulb that is not suited for planted tank.

Agreed, that's a SW light setup. No need for the actinic lights. Also, 10,000K is a bit of overkill, you really only need 6,700K which is optimal for a planted tank, the other is really too much of the wrong spectrum.

[Wahter]

If you've got 4 x 65 watt CF lights over the tank right now and having troubles growing swords, something else isn't right - such as: your lights are the wrong type (ie. actinic) or there's not enough nutrients in the substrate or there's too much aeration (blowing out the CO2) or the plants are not in good shape to begin with, etc...



Walter

[stallion150]

Hey guys---You're right; I took out the Actinics, and have 4 65 watt 6K lights. The tubes themselves are ~2-3 years old; either they are burning out, I have too much filtration blowing off CO2 (2 Eheim 2026 cannister filters on my 75), not enough bioload (fish) producing CO2 for plants, or some other issues...that being said, I ended up giving my CF lighting set up to a friend and I did order the new T5 lights (2 10K + 2 6K), so I'll see if that makes any difference; if nothing else, the increased intensity light may just make the tank look a little better.

[yikesjason]

Hey guys---You're right; I took out the Actinics, and have 4 65 watt 6K lights. The tubes themselves are ~2-3 years old; either they are burning out, I have too much filtration blowing off CO2 (2 Eheim 2026 cannister filters on my 75), not enough bioload (fish) producing CO2 for plants, or some other issues...that being said, I ended up giving my CF lighting set up to a friend and I did order the new T5 lights (2 10K + 2 6K), so I'll see if that makes any difference; if nothing else, the increased intensity light may just make the tank look a little better.

Or you might be creating an algae farm. Take it slow with that much light.

[Wahter]

Or you might be creating an algae farm. Take it slow with that much light.

Especially if you're not injecting CO2 to make the plants thrive.



Walter

[Darrell Ward]

Not trying to be a buzz killer, but I wouldn't put new wilds in that tank. For one, it's way too much light for a 75 gal. It's going to be an algae farm. Second, new wild discus are going to stress big time in all that light, at the very least, hide all the time, and maybe not eat. Third, what if you need to treat these fish for parasites brought on by all the stress of the bright lighting? By not quarantining these fish first in a bare tank, it opens up a whole other "can of worms". I don't think you have thought this thing through, or maybe I'm missing something. :confused:

[whiskeyd]

I have a Current 2x54w T5HO over my 75g with only excel and I have algae problems from the bright light. If you plan on running 4x54w, you will definitely need Co2 or algae will take over everything. That's a lot of light. T5HOs are MUCH stronger/intense than CF bulbs so if you are having problems with algae and your CF fixture your going to really have problems with that 4x54w fixture.

[stallion150]

Thanks for the advice guys....I'll plan on returning the T5 lights back...You're right, opening myself up to too many problems with this.

[waters10]

Thanks for the advice guys....I'll plan on returning the T5 lights back...You're right, opening myself up to too many problems with this.
Well, we haven't seen your tank! How about you post some pics?

You could get away with that fixture by using 2 bulbs only and raising the fixture from the tank. Even a couple of inches makes a lot of difference on light intensity. Another thing you could do to help the wilds feel at home, is to use some floating plants. They could provide some shades that the wilds will certainly appreciate.

[yikesjason]

There are ways to work around it. Floating plants are great for providing shade and sucking up nutrients. You can raise the lights, reduce the time they are on, only run two lights.

If you are going to return it though, I recommend the Catalina Aquarium 3x54w light. It is a great price and you can run 1, 2, or 3 lights.

[stallion150]

LOL---I'm too rash to decide either way....blame it on the impetuousness of youth:P


Here are some pics!

sorry the are crappy iphone pics...

No harm in trying out the lights I guess and returning them if too bright; cool thing about this fixture is it has built in timers so i don't need to run all 4; also has lunar lights built in too.

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo33/stallion150nc/IMG_0206.jpg
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo33/stallion150nc/IMG_0205.jpg
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo33/stallion150nc/IMG_0204.jpg
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo33/stallion150nc/IMG_0200.jpg
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo33/st

[yikesjason]

That is a nice looking bunch of discus.

[waters10]

LOL---I'm too rash to decide either way....blame it on the impetuousness of youth:P


Here are some pics!

sorry the are crappy iphone pics...

No harm in trying out the lights I guess and returning them if too bright; cool thing about this fixture is it has built in timers so i don't need to run all 4; also has lunar lights built in too.

Cool tank!

Yeah, you don't have that many plants. You're gonna be in trouble with that much light. But what was your initial problems with the swords? Let's see if we can help you with that. I don't think the light was the source of the problems, so you might still need to do something. My best guess right now would be to add some root tabs under those swords.

Regarding the fixture, I suggested Catalina before, and now I second Jason's advice. I have the 3x54w from Catalina and I love the flexibility it gives me. It comes with lunar lights as well. Timers are pretty cheap ...

[stallion150]

Thanks guys; What would always happen before is that the sword leaves would first turn brown/yellow and the plants would then be covered in algae...sounds like more of a nutritional deficiency? I started using Flourish Excel. Maybe add the root tabs too?

[stallion150]

I'm also post some more pics when the discus color up and aren't so skittish.

[Darrell Ward]

Thanks guys; What would always happen before is that the sword leaves would first turn brown/yellow and the plants would then be covered in algae...sounds like more of a nutritional deficiency? I started using Flourish Excel. Maybe add the root tabs too?

New sword plants do that when first planted under water. The old leaves die, and new leaves replace them. You don't need fancy, high powered lights and ferts when growing sword plants either. I don't care what the so called "plant experts" say that they need such and such watts per gallon to grow. BS! I grew swords out the top of the tank as far back as the late 1960's with standard aquarium lighting.

[stallion150]

Thanks guys. Any recommendations on floating plants? I was thinking water hyacinth and/or amazon frogbit

[Wahter]

Thanks guys. Any recommendations on floating plants? I was thinking water hyacinth and/or amazon frogbit

Floating plants will just end up blocking out the light needed by the sword plants in the tank.





Walter

[Len]

There are ways to work around it. Floating plants are great for providing shade and sucking up nutrients. You can raise the lights, reduce the time they are on, only run two lights.

If you are going to return it though, I recommend the Catalina Aquarium 3x54w light. It is a great price and you can run 1, 2, or 3 lights.



I have a fixture I ordered from Catalina and I absolutely love it. 8 X 54 W. Algae has not become a problem, and the plants are doing very much better than they did before. The discus also do not seem to care about how bright it is. I would highly recommend them to anyone who wants a good fixture, and you can choose which type of bulbs you want.