No Co2 system - will my amazon sword plant live?

**guppymummy** · 05-14-2012, 07:11 PM

I have medium high light. I have a 29 gallon with 2 - 9 watt daylight flourescents, which equals almost 3 watts per gallon I think. I have no Co2 system and don't want one. Just want to keep it low tech if possible.

I have put in root tabs for the swords. Does anyone else have success this way? Everywhere I read it says that heavy root feeders NEED Co2 in high light.

I cannot make my light any lower as I havn't found any daylight bulbs lower than 9 watts and with one the light is pretty uneven. (and it would be pretty dark for me to see the fish!)

**Lady Hobbs** · 05-14-2012, 09:16 PM

That's 18 watts over 29 gallons so not sure where you are thinking it's 3x watts per gallon. I may be missing something here but swords do not require killer lights and those root tabs should help them along.

**chrisfraser05** · 05-14-2012, 09:21 PM

amazon swords thrive regardless of the conditions/lighting from my experiance!

once they manage to get a leaf out of the water you'd better watch out though, I had one reaching 4 foot from the tank and flowering over my sofa!

**guppymummy** · 05-15-2012, 12:06 AM

I was converting the flourescent watts over to it's incandescent counterpart. (I think) Confused. Anyway maybe the light is more like low medium then.

Algea scrubber.... I have those! Thanks!!!

**bignellm** · 05-15-2012, 12:52 AM

Sound like your tank's less than 1 Watt per gallon. This is an old rule, but is a jumping off point to begin a plan. You tank by this rule is a low light set up. Swords like Co2, from my exp, but will be ok without it. IME, they grow at a snails pace in low light. If you wanted them to grow faster, it would take Co2 and 2 watts per gallon. Which in your case would be roughly 60 watts of bulbs or 4 x 15 Watts T8's or 2 x T5 florescent bulbs.

But the best things in life are worth waiting for, so don't let the time to grow out, discourage you. A healthier eco-system takes time to establish.

**hpt84** · 05-15-2012, 01:39 PM

Yes. However, I would up your light to 2wpg. See the sword I used to have without co2.

**bignellm** · 05-15-2012, 01:48 PM

That is a nice sword. Not to hijack off convo, but can't wait for mine to grow out like that.

**guppymummy** · 05-15-2012, 02:31 PM

Wow ok. So if I was to go up to 2 watts per gallon then roughly how much wattage would my compact flourescent bulbs be? (CFL's)

**bignellm** · 05-15-2012, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by guppymummy

Wow ok. So if I was to go up to 2 watts per gallon then roughly how much wattage would my compact flourescent bulbs be? (CFL's)

Originally Posted by bignellm

...Which in your case would be roughly 60 watts of bulbs or 4 x 15 Watts T8's or 2 x T5 florescent bulbs.

But if going with this chart, then the conversion is between 13 and 18 watts for CFL to compare with a T8. So 4 of the CFL should cover it.
http://www.designrecycleinc.com/led%20comp%20chart.html

Edit: got a headache from searching this particular info...LOL. Most of it was found with Pot Growing sites.

**Cermet** · 05-15-2012, 05:40 PM

Yes, CFL tubes mounted on standard light bulb fixtures offer lumens far, far higher than their posted wattage (for CFL's, this is simply the power they consume, not output intensity.) A typical 15 watt CFL can yield '75 watt' equivalent in lumens. These do burn hot and need air flow or they fail rather quickly. I removed my reflectors in the hood (just a cheap plastic 'white' shield) so the air vents allow direct flow across my CFL bulbs. Increaed the life a great deal. Do not expose these directly to the tank - any water splash can cause failure.