Can my 18W florescent daylight grow (keep) Amazon sword leaves alive? 30lx12wx18h
My tank is a 29 gallon btw
18w wont be able to grow very much at all. 1 watt per gallon is really the absolute minimum to grow most plants. Even java ferns, mosses, or anubias would have a really hard time growing in that light.
Swords can grow in low light if they have a good substrate fertilizer, but not that low of light.
Florescent is not a good light source for sword plants, even if you had a big enough fixture to put 3 or 4 watts per gallon into the tank. The reason is that after six months the spectrum in a tube bulb changes and it no longer puts out the wavelengths the plant needs for photosynthesis. It looks no different to the human eye and so we resist throwing out what is creating the illusion of being a perfectly good bulb.
T-5's, LED (although outrageously costly at this time in its development), and compact florescent bubs are much better sources, without forgetting the old standby lighting system that early aquarists used in the 1800's and early 1900's to grow great aquarium plants.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com One way to grow nice sword plants is to place a lidless 50 gallon or larger breeder tank (breeder means it is shallow relative to length and depth of field) so that is is an inch below the sill of a west or east facing window.Sunlight will penetrate the tank for a few hours each day, boosting the plant growth, and the tank's large volume will moderate the up and down temperature curve the sunlight produces. One 50 gallon tank I had set up like that in the 1970's paid for my hobby by producing runners from a huge Amazon sword plant. Any time I needed something from the pet shop, I would twist off as many foot tall baby sword plants as I needed from the many runners and trade instead of spend money.
