NEW FISH Pt.2 (Can anyone help?)

[christianblu]

(28 Gallon Tank, 10 plants, 6 fish. Resun Magi-700 filter, Resun heater running at 80f)

Thanks to all the guys helping me in my original thread.

Can anyone help?

Big vine has informed me that you need 1.5w of flourecent lighting per gallon to sustain plant life in my 28 gallon tank. Which means that i would need at least 42w of lighting power.
I can for the life of me find anyone who sells a single bulb flourecent light at an output 42w or higher that will fit my 33.5" tank.
Please can someone help as all my plants are dying and i need to solve this as soon as possible.
As always any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks,
Christian.

 

[Fishckabibble]

try www.bigalsonline.com they have great lighting for good prices. you are not going to find a 42watt bulb for that light fixture, you will need to get a whole new one.

 

[Seleya]

What sort of plants are you trying to keep?

 

[christianblu]

Hi seleya,
I couldnt tell you what plants they are, my other half bought them on ebay and this was the listing of plants that there was going to be a selection of i hope this helps you help me.

ELODEA DENSA
GREEN CABOMBA
BACOPA MONNERI (BABY TEARS)
BACOPA CAROLINA
HYGROPHILLA POLYSPERMA
MEXICAN OAK LEAF
LUDWIGIA
BORNEO FERN
VALLIS TORTA (TWISTED VALLIS)
WHEAT PLANT
WATER WISTERIA
MALAYAN SWORDS
BORNEO SWORDS
GREEN SPADE LEAF
CHERRY LEAF STRICTA
GIANT CORKSCREW VALLIS
VALLIS SPIRALLIS (STRAIGHT VALLIS)
BLUE STRICTA
UMBRELLA FERN
JAVA FERN
IVY LEAF CRYPTOCORYNE
INDIAN FERN
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII ROSEAFOLIA RED
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII LILACINA RED
LUDWIGIA GLANDULOSA PERENNIS RED
FOUNTAIN PLANT
HILL RADICAN SWORDS
AMAZON SWORDS

 

[S-kate]

wow. You have a large mix of low/medium/high light plants. The elodea densa (anacharis), java ferns, and amazon swords will probably do fine in low lighting. I'm not familiar with all of your plants, but I know a lot of them are high light and not recomended for beginners.

 

[Seleya]

Depending on what you have you can need anywhere from simple stock lighting (yes, heresy!) to mega-watta-money lighting. The low light plants - anacharis, wisteria, water sprite, some val, java moss, java fern, some swords..... can be done simply. I think the tendency nowadays in these Amano/Dutch days is to push for high light and CO2 for everything -- even low light plants ~may~ do better with better light than stock and ambient but it isn't the be all end all imo and I have seen plenty of tanks beyond my own which have done well otherwise.

From that list, you really haven't a clue what you have. That's OK, there are sites where you could narrow it down. Try this one for starters and use your list as a guide: http://www.plantgeek.net/

You can also decide from what you do/do not have what you wish to continue with and then SEE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. If you'd like to do something really incredible which requires a bit more effort, go for it. If you'd like to do something very simple yet effective, do that. One of my favorite tanks has just java moss and java fern on driftwood -- no other plants but it works for me and, if I feel like changing something around, everything is mobile. Just don't feel like you need to spend a small fortune just to keep a few plants alive.

BTW, you'd be amazed what you can do with DIY (do it yourself) techniques. Lighting, CO2, ferts.... Check out that forum as well as the planted tank forum!

 

[christianblu]

Thanks Seleya,

Went on plantgeek and found the following plants which look like there mine.

ANACHARIS
CABOMBA
BAMBOO PLANT
DRACAENA SANDERIANA.

Just purchased some lighting anyway. A 30w aqua-glo aquarium lamp and a 30w Arcadia fluorecent lighting controller. Just a single bulb configuration. Removed all dead plants and cut back plants with dead growth. Fish seem a lot happier since i put it in. The platies have come from there hiding place behind the ornamental barrel at the back and are swimming up and down the front. Great to watch.

Thanks again,
Christian.