Improving lighting in tall tanks

[ange]

I've run into this issue in my 50 hex. It has a 24" Fluval 3.0 and since it's blackwater, not enough light reaches the small Amazon swords. They've melted pretty badly at the bottom. Any suggestions as to how I should go about helping them out?

I've already removed some of the excess sources of tannins but it's not realistic for me to remove all of them (drawback of mixing soil with substrate). I was thinking of setting up a lamp next to them outside of the tank but I'm not sure if that will accomplish what I want.

[FrozenFins]

If you have any floating plants take that out. I don't know how good this will look in your tank, but there are sumersible lights. That might help, but maybe not look all that aesthetically pleasing. You can find them on amazon for like 15$, heres a link:
https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-Submersible-Underwater-Brilliant-Freshwater/dp/B08JB4SVQZ/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=submersible+aquarium+light&qid=1606535197&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyTDJMUFNTSzg0R0VGJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTIyMTgyMkNURElSM1YyOU43MyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODE2NjY3MkVaWURLTUdRQlBaUyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= 

Edited November 28, 2020 by James Black

[ange]

My plants have a corral that keeps them on the edge where they don't shade plants. I'm going to have to keep a note of that light, I've never heard of it before and it looks interesting.

[Daniel]

I have a 36" inch deep aquarium and the way I get light down to the bottom is with the use of a narrow beam reflector lens.

It works really well, but is expensive.

 

[ChefConfit]

The external lamp is a possibility, but it's going to change the direction of growth(plants grow toward their light source) and may cause algae on the glass. Assuming you've removed anything shading the plants your best option is increasing the amount of light either from addi g a second light on top (may not be an option on a hex) or getting a more powerful one. On that size tank a single 3.0 is probably medium light, but with Blackwater it's probably very low light. 

[ange]

7 hours ago, ChefConfit said:

The external lamp is a possibility, but it's going to change the direction of growth(plants grow toward their light source) and may cause algae on the glass. Assuming you've removed anything shading the plants your best option is increasing the amount of light either from addi g a second light on top (may not be an option on a hex) or getting a more powerful one. On that size tank a single 3.0 is probably medium light, but with Blackwater it's probably very low light. 

This is pretty much exactly the case. I'm okay with algae so will most likely attempt the external tube. I'm also considering adding purigen to reduce the tannins until the plants are taller and not as starved for light.

[Wes L.]

The light may actually not be the issue. I have 3 questions for you.

#1 How tall is your tank?

#2 What is the hardness of your water? Amazon Swords won't grow well in hard water. And I see stuff posted all the time over the internet saying Swords are great for hard water....they are NOT!!! I live in a hard water city and have learned that first hand....many times over.

#3 Can you do a screen shot of your Fluval app settings and post it here? This light has more than enough power to get through blackwater. I have two of these lights on 2 different planted tanks and I have the lights dimmed a bit because they are too bright. Neither of the tanks are blackwater, so the light is a bit too strong for clear water tanks, but it should be fine unless your tank is super tall....hence question #1.

[ange]

The tank is 31" tall. My water is 2°GH and 17°KH. I owned these swords for just shy of 3 months and they converted fully a few months ago in another tank before I moved them. Settings+FTS are attached.

[ChefConfit]

How much more light does it put out with everything maxed? That's a lot of Blackwater to get thru

[ange]

1 minute ago, ChefConfit said:

How much more light does it put out with everything maxed? That's a lot of Blackwater to get thru

That's the light at midday a few weeks ago. The water is no longer that dark because I've since removed some of the sources of tannin + done two water changes. Long term I'd love to have it around this dark but I don't think it's realistic for plant growth unless I find a workaround. I have vallisneria (two different species) in there as well and they're about 6" tall. They haven't gotten taller yet because it's been less than a month but the roots are definitely healthy and spreading (source: accidentally uprooted a runner while removing leaf litter tonight and it was chonky).

[Casual aquatics]

Just now, ange

1 minute ago, ChefConfit said:

How much more light does it put out with everything maxed? That's a lot of Blackwater to get thru

That's the light at midday a few weeks ago. The water is no longer that dark because I've since removed some of the sources of tannin + done two water changes. Long term I'd love to have it around this dark but I don't think it's realistic for plant growth unless I find a workaround. I have vallisneria (two different species) in there as well and they're about 6" tall. They haven't gotten taller yet because it's been less than a month but the roots are definitely healthy and spreading (source: accidentally uprooted a runner while removing leaf litter tonight and it was chonky).

have you considered putting a water proof led light in the tank down closer to your plants?

[ange]

10 hours ago, Casual aquatics said:

have you considered putting a water proof led light in the tank down closer to your plants?

Another user linked some submersible LED strips that I'm open to but not 100% sure that I want to invest in. I have an extra Stingray so wouldn't need to spend money if I wanted to rig up something external.