My nano planted tank!

[weluvbettas]

Here is my nano planted tank which is home to my female betta violet and one otto.

The plants i have are 3 amazon swords , 1 java fern , ludwigia repens and marimo moss carpet. So enough chit chat enjoy!!

[Oldfishlady]

Very nice job.......looks great.......you can't go wrong with live plants IMO/E.......laffs

[weluvbettas]

Thanks i just trimmed it yesterday ludwigia repens grows like a weed!
I am currently using a normal 20 watt light bulb and the plants are growing great but people say i cant use just a normal light bulb but why? my are growing super fast with one.

[Alex09]

amazon sword will eventually grow too big for that tank...

Yes your plants may be getting fine with your bulb. the wattage is ok, its the color temperature that is important. Unscrew the bulb and look at the base. there should be a number followed by a 'k' somewhere. For example, most regular lightbulbs will be 3000k. A plant can use a LITTLE of that light but it needs more of the other colors of the spectrum (3000k is too red-ish) a 5000k-6500k bulb would be best as the plants would be able to absorb the light most efficiently. you can easily find a 6500k bulb for your lamp for like $5. I got mine at a grocery store lol. They are usually labeled as "daylight".

PS: is your bulb a CFL (compact flourescent) or incandescent?

EDIT: Wait, didnt you ask a question about the ligh bulb?

[weluvbettas]

I know the amazon swords will get to big there in there untill i get some new plants tommorow then after that there going in my 8 gallon amazon sword shrimp tank.

I using a incandesent bulb

[Jupiter]

Very nice...I like the moss carpet!

[weluvbettas]

Thanks . Im very happy with the marimo moss it looks great wherever i put it!

[dramaqueen]

Very nice!!

[MrVampire181]

Nice!! I'm planning a heavily planted 20 gallon tank.

[JorgeBurrito]

There are two reasons incandescant bulbs are not recommended. The first is pretty straightforward: Heat. Typically you have to use fairly high wattage bulbs to get any plant to grow. High wattage (and even low wattage) incandescant bulbs create a whole lot of heat. Depending where you live that may not be a problem, but my fish would fry in the summer where I live if I used an Incandescant bulb for my planted tank.

The second is a little more complicated and has to do with the photosynthetic process. In order for plants to create energy via photosynthesus they must absorb light of a specific color. It is not just light that causes them to grow, but a specific color of light (aka wavelength). See the linked chart. Incandescant bulbs provide light of the color that meets the 630-670 region wavelengths, but not the much larger region between 400-460 nm. As a result, you are not truly providing the plant with a type of light that it can use fully and the plant will eventually suffer because of this. Some plants that can do OK on low light might be OK, but your swords will eventually die if you don't provide more suitable lighting.

Go to Walmart, they sell two packs of 20 watt 6500k compact flouresacnts for like 6 or 7 dollars.