Turning On The Light?

December 22, 2008 @ 12:15 pm · Filed under Philippines Internet Koi Society

OK. That’s not a 75W bulb and it’s not a CFL. It’s a regular fluorescent tube. Depending on how long it is will determine the wattage and since you said you have a 40G tank (you never gave us dimensions yet), you could have a 24″ or 36″ long bulb so either 20W or 30W is all that you may have. Since you mention that it said “75 watts”, I’m betting it says something like “compare to 75 watt incandescent bulb” which is what a 20W fluorescent tube would be compared to.
If you only have a 24″ light fixture under the hood and it only has room for one tube, then you will have to stick with low-light, easy to grow plants.
Plantgeek.net has this profile for that plant.. if that is what you have. The long-leaf sag’s can appear very similar. http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_viewer.php?id=188 You will see on that profile that it’s a moderately hard plant to grow and needs medium high to high lighting and a proper substrate. Here’s a snip on the Care of the plant…
Care A slow growing plant that will benefit from a nutrient rich substrate. High light and good water movement is preferred. Propagation by runners. Plant can be kept in ponds during the warmer months.
The LiveAquaria.com page also suggest 2 to 3 watts per gallon of fluorescent full spectrum bulbs.
It’s not the best plant to keep with your lighting limitations.. and possibly other tank limitations, such as substrate, etc.
Without knowing the measurements of your tank or lighting fixture, it’s difficult to make any definite suggestions as to what might work…. but if you only have room for a 24″ long light fixture on top of your tank, then you would need dual fixtures that each hold two bulbs so you would be able to increase your lighting to 80 watts (4 x 20W) of fluorescent tubes.
If you are handy, you could retrofit your current light fixture to hold two 12″ CFL’s (one would plug into each end of the fixture) or something like this which is on sale at DFS right now… the 24″ fixture for only $56.99
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+9654+9871 &pcatid=9871
That fixture would give you 65 watts of CFL lighting and CFL’s give out up to twice the amount of light as old style fluorescent tubes… so that single 65W CFL would be equal to six 20W fluorescent tubes.
Go to this page http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_cat.php?category=2 and look at the Very Easy and Easy plants which will do much better in low-tech, low-light tanks. Low-tech means no special substrate, no CO2 generation, low to moderate lighting. Print out them pages and send your friend back to the canal to get you better plants.
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)