lighting help

[sergo]

i have cookie cutter top fin 55 gal starter kit with what i'm assuming is standard lighting. my question is given the size of the light holder (2 holders that measure 22.25" x 2.5 and hold a single 18" t8 bulb ballast) is there anything out there that could fit in there (with or without slight modification) to up the bulb wattage/intensity? i'd like to have some ballasts that hold 2 t8 18" bulbs. anyone have any ideas on where to start looking for them? my tank is only at 5 days being set up with plants that have been in there for 4 days and they are turning yellow, i'm sure due to low wattage/intensity. maybe a longer light cycle due to lower wattage? any tips? thanks

[sergo]

i have also noticed that my anacharis leaves are getting lots of yellow spots on the ends of the leaves and it's working it's way inward. i am using the standard cartridges that came with come with the filters and they have some carbon in them. should i just go ahead and lose those or cut them open and get the carbon out since they are a mesh bag so i can use them as a bio filter only.

[blue fin]

The carbon can remove necessary minerals and components that the plants and your fish may need, most on this site have recommended to me not to use carbon, I took it out and I'll tell you, I noticed no change.. if it isn't helping, there is no use leaving it in your filter.... I would remove it.

[jeffs99dime]

yeah. remove the carbon asap! that is definitely one of the problems right there. do you use c02 or fertilizers? what wattage are your bulbs? no matter the wattage a general rule of thumb is 12-14 hours of light per day, for a planted tank, that is

[sergo]

yeah. remove the carbon asap! that is definitely one of the problems right there. do you use c02 or fertilizers? what wattage are your bulbs? no matter the wattage a general rule of thumb is 12-14 hours of light per day, for a planted tank, that isi'm not using co2 as there are only a few plants in the tank and the lights are 15 watts each. although i did switch them out for some others that i got with the tank and after a lot of web searching i beieve these to be about 8500k where as the ones i took out were i think about 4900k. some maybe that will help some. as for the carbon, one of my filters has only has media bags with the carbon inside and if i take it out there will be absolutely nothing in the filter. what would be the best way to get it out? cut it open and take it out or smash it into a billion pieces and rinse out throught the media? i'm more partial to the smashing part myself. :wink2: i'm no aquatic plant expert but i do know from past experience that a certain other nonaquatic plant grows extremely well with 18+/10-12 light cycle. but i would bet that alge would probably become a problem, huh. any suggestions on the carbon removal problem, cut it out maybe?

[Incredulous_Ed]

if the carbon comes in a filter cartridge with blue filter wool, just do what I did. Cut the blue stuff off at all but one side and rinse the dechlorinated water until all the carbon comes out. Then, for even better filtration you can stuff a little bit of filter floss in to the place the carbon was. The just put the wool back where it was.

[jeffs99dime]

i'm not using co2 as there are only a few plants in the tank and the lights are 15 watts each. although i did switch them out for some others that i got with the tank and after a lot of web searching i beieve these to be about 8500k where as the ones i took out were i think about 4900k. some maybe that will help some. as for the carbon, one of my filters has only has media bags with the carbon inside and if i take it out there will be absolutely nothing in the filter. what would be the best way to get it out? cut it open and take it out or smash it into a billion pieces and rinse out throught the media? i'm more partial to the smashing part myself. :wink2: i'm no aquatic plant expert but i do know from past experience that a certain other nonaquatic plant grows extremely well with 18+/10-12 light cycle. but i would bet that alge would probably become a problem, huh. any suggestions on the carbon removal problem, cut it out maybe?

i don't have any problems with algae in my tank due to lighting

[sergo]

i don't have any problems with algae in my tank due to lightingwhat is you lighting setup? how many/kinds of plants do you have? are using a 12/12 cycle?