Advise needed for suitable Light for 2Ft tank

[Tony]

Hi All,

I'm new and have recently started a 2Ft freshwater tank with 5 x 5cm fantail goldfish and 8 yamato.

The tank is bare-bottom except for a corner that I've partitioned out and used pebbles of the size abt 0.8 to 1.2cm big irregular shaped pebbles (no sharp edges) that occuppied 1/4 tank floor area.

I've keep Java ferns on DW and Amazon swords on DW and a 1.5Ft long DW tied with Java ferns. I've started some moss on mesh for the wall.

At the moment, I have a 14Watt T8 light from a china brand and the plants java ferns and amazon sword seem to brown out or yellow. There is tannin leak from the centre piece DW tied with java ferns making water look brown.

I suspect the light issue and have bought a 2nd hand light with ballast to hold 2 tubes. I read from internet that a mix of warm and bright florescent light is good for plant grow. So I'm thinking for using the 15Watt FL light and the 14W T8 light from the old light for the setup (i.e. using 2 tubes).

I'm not planning to pay high price for lighting since the plants I have don't required that much light and I do not want to give my Mr Aqua Tornado too much heat to cool down

Need your advise if the able 1 x 15 Watt FL, plus 1 x 14Watt T8 together will be sufficient to penetrate the brown tannin water to help my browning/yellow plants? I'm waiting for the tanning to reduce leaking in the next few months (I hope).


Thanks a million in advance for your advise!

[doubleace]

i believe that brown tanning water from the DW is just temporary. Frequently water change will resolve the problem. For lighting is ok as long the light better to be white. Plants like fern don't require much so i think it wont be a problem..

[uklau]

Need your advise if the able 1 x 15 Watt FL, plus 1 x 14Watt T8 together will be sufficient to penetrate the brown tannin water to help my browning/yellow plants? I'm waiting for the tanning to reduce leaking in the next few months (I hope).

Tony,

Not to worry about the light penetration with the lighting you are having in your tank.

How long have you been keeping these plants? Were they bought in emmersed form? Java ferns usually will turn black when adapting to your water parameter. Mine still turns black even after 6 months. It is easier to judge how the plant is doing based on the new leaves sprouted in your tank.

As for the Echinodorus, I saw from your post that you tied it to a DW. Echnodorus species are best grown on a fertile substrate as they are heavy root feeders. Most of the Echinodorus species will thrive with the amount of light in your tank.

[Tony]

Hi uklau & Doubleace,

Thanks for the tips. At least now I'm confident that the 1x 14Watt T8 and 1 x 15Watt FL will give the necessary lighting for my plants.

I bought all the java ferns tied to DW and amazon swords tied to DW from C238 about 6 weeks ago. They come packed and tied to DW in plastic bag that is dry.

The browning and yellow leaves that I have to trim makes me worried. The java ferns has leave with black dots/patches as well. I try to keep the tank bare-bottom due to the heavy bio load from the fantail goldies, so soil is out for me except using plants that can survive on DW and moss on mesh for wall. Just added us fissiden on mesh for wall from bro Delwin last night.

6 weeks and still brown water tannin (thought of removing the 1.5Ft DW with java fern tied from tank but worried my yamato will not survive well without their favourite hidding place), so I'm gonna wait another few months with frequent water change to see if the water will reduce in brown color. Since the tannin do not affect any of my goldies nor yamato, so gonna leave it as it is.


Thanks all for the help!