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Aquarist Forums => Equipment / DIY => Topic started by: Chinaman on August 28, 2007, 04:02:01 PM

Title: Basic lighting question
Post by: Chinaman on August 28, 2007, 04:02:01 PM
Hi,

Am I actually too cheap to hope that an ordinary single cool white fluorescent
tube could support low light plants such as the java fern and the likes? They are tied to a couple large driftwoods.  And my plants are rotting away....

It's my 90G discus tank and I have a single light canopy and one fluorescnet tube.

What do you think?


Cheers,

Sam
Title: Re: Basic lighting question
Post by: babblefish1960 on August 28, 2007, 04:15:18 PM
Well, cheapness notwithstanding, you have less than 1/2 watt per gallon right now, a little too low.
There is nothing wrong with cool white bulbs, they are fine for plants, there is certainly enough documentation to support this, and a number of us experimented and all had great results, you may want to add another bulb though to get closer to 1 watt per gallon, it is a deeper tank.
Alternatively, you could elevate the plants closer to the light and achieve the same results.