More lights or better lights?

[thekingprawn114]

One of our tanks is a 46G bow, and it is struggling to keep the plants alive. The current light on it is the Finnex HLC 24/7 set to the default 24/7 profile. I believe the problem is inadequate lighting as other parameters are good (good chems, root tabs used, appropriate Easy Green ferts, etc.) Would the better solution be adding a second light or replacing the light with a higher PAR light to overcome the tank depth? Perhaps some other potential cause? I have the same model light (30" vice 36") on a 29G that is only 1.5" shallower, and the plants in that are growing very well. 

[FrozenFins]

Did you just get these plants? Can we see pictures of the plants? What kind of plants do you have?

The Plants could be struggiling from a nutrient defencie not a light defencie. Even though you are doing the reccemneded dosing, depending on your setup you may need to increase/ decrease the dosing. 

If you have plants like, Java Fern, Moss, Anubius, Hornwort, other low light plants. It would seem very unlikely that the lighting is the issue.

If you just got these plants, they could just be melting back in which case leave them as is (maybe cut off the leaves) and they will grow back.

[thekingprawn114]

The two plants that are having the most problems are Hygrophila corymbosa Angustifolia and Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis), These are the highest light requirement plants in the tank. The main noticeable problems are leaf melt, some holes, and a lack of new growth. Anubias, crypts, and swords are doing fine. Java moss is struggling. It seems it's only the fast growth plants that are having issues. Some plants are newer (planted on the 12th) while some of the wisteria are older. I'll try to get some pics up after the cleaning is done today. 

[Patrick_G]

I’ve been experimenting with Wisteria for about six months now. None of the three bunches I’ve bought had been fully converted to underwater growth when I bought them. As the old growth dies I’ve cut the stem short and replanted it in the substrate and the new growth has been healthy and grows very fast. 

[gardenman]

I kind of doubt that adequate lighting is the issue. At least with the Java moss. In one of my tanks it pretty much grows in the dark. The tank has a large, really large, water sprite that's grown out of the water and shades much of the tank. It gets cut back each week, but you wouldn't know it. There are also water hyacinths covering the top (just waiting for my outdoor pond water to heat up enough to move them back out) along with duckweed, salvinia, and frogbit. Suffice to say, the tank looks like a black hole much of the time and the Java moss is doing fine. It's not growing like a weed, but it's doing fine.

Adding a second light won't hurt the plants. It might increase algae growth but it won't hurt the plants any. The Nicrew SkyLED Plus lights are pretty darn bright and cheap. If you were to add one it would likely eliminate a lack of light as an issue for you. With the sword plant doing well though, I don't think light is an issue.

[thekingprawn114]

1 hour ago, gardenman said:

The Nicrew SkyLED Plus lights are pretty darn bright and cheap. If you were to add one it would likely eliminate a lack of light as an issue for you. With the sword plant doing well though, I don't think light is an issue.

We have that light on the daughter's guppy tank. It works pretty well. 

Part of the reason the question of light came up is that way back in the day when this tank was set up before and grew plants like gangbusters it had 2 CF fixtures on it. 

[Tanked]

19 hours ago, thekingprawn114 said:

The main noticeable problems are leaf melt, some holes, and a lack of new growth.

 

20 hours ago, thekingprawn114 said:

The current light on it is the Finnex HLC 24/7 set to the default 24/7 profile

The problem sounds more like a nutrient issue. and lack of a rest period.

My current experimental tank has the remnants of Wisteria and Moneywort that failed in the well lit planted tank.  The tank is low light for 16 hours.  The growth is slow, but there is growth.