# lighting requirements for HC



## lycaon (Aug 5, 2009)

i was wondering if anyone knew the specific lighting requirements i would need to grow HC.i dont really want to spend alot of money though.how many wpg do i need for this plant.im very interested in growing a lush carpet for any of my aquariums.i have a 2.5 gal hex tank that i can put a 25w bulb in. would this be enough light? im worried that it will heat up the tank too much though.any info will help .thanx so much


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## Veloth (Jun 25, 2008)

I have no experience with it but according to the plantfinder you'll need at least 2wpg.


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## theblondskeleton (Nov 22, 2008)

25 watts sounds like a lot, but it depends what kind of bulb it is... Compact fluorescent or T5? Incandescent isn't going to help at all. As important as light is CO2, so make sure you have plenty of that as well: around 30ppm.

With Nanos as small as 2.5 gallons, wpg really breaks down. I had a 2.5 gallon with 13 watts of CF light over it, and my HC grew, but it was incredibly slow. when I doubled the light and increased the CO2, the HC spread over the entire substrate in a week.


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## lycaon (Aug 5, 2009)

ya im using fluorescent about 15 watts and im using excel.i have a 25 watt bulb i am willing to try but it make the water incredibly hot.i also have about 5 cherry shrimp in there that i dont wanna cook.also has anyone heard of them eating hc or uprooting it.they seem to be pretty interested in it as soon as i planted it.i cant tell if theyre eating it or not


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

This is one of those questions that has been done countless times, and I can't see it stopping any time soon. HC is a nice plant; some of its popularity is for reasons I find a little repulsive, but I still appreciate the plant and grow it my self.

HC can be grown in low light; it has grown in levels as low as ~40mmol PAR. The demands of this plant are not so much in its light requirements, but its CO2 requirements. Holger Windelov discovered HC growing in Cuba by a river with a lot of turnover, and it was showing transitional growth. This plant has been surviving in a high CO2 and O2 environment, and likely has high demands for both.

As has been stated before, the myth of high light HC exists because people who do high light usually push high CO2 to match.

-Philosophos

Sources:
Low PAR HC:
http://www.barrreport.com/general-plant-topics/4902-ada-lighting-aqua-forest-nice-low-par-values-who-knew.html
HC's natural habitat and other info:
http://www.tropica.com/default.asp


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## lycaon (Aug 5, 2009)

Well that is good to know. I planted all of my HC one little strand at a time but it all died off within the first day or two. I didn't have any co2 though so i'm sure that was the reason. I was dosing excel but it didn't seem to help any. I set up a diy co2 the day after i got it and for some reason, 3 days later it hasn't produced a single bubble. I'll have to figure out the reason. Maybe i didn't have enough mix or the cap isn't sealed enough. I have one tiny little strand of HC growing and i'm hoping to get my co2 working so that maybe it'll have a chance to grow


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

Aaah... DIY CO2 with HC... very tough and in such samll tank too. Smaller the tank goes and harder they get. Try to do water change everyday to save that last peice. Excel does not work as fast on CO2 compairing just given new fresh water. CO2 are 17 time faster to escape out of teh water(I read that some where), that just give you an idea how fast your CO2 are out of water.


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

lycaon said:


> Well that is good to know. I planted all of my HC one little strand at a time but it all died off within the first day or two. I didn't have any co2 though so i'm sure that was the reason. I was dosing excel but it didn't seem to help any. I set up a diy co2 the day after i got it and for some reason, 3 days later it hasn't produced a single bubble. I'll have to figure out the reason. Maybe i didn't have enough mix or the cap isn't sealed enough. I have one tiny little strand of HC growing and i'm hoping to get my co2 working so that maybe it'll have a chance to grow


Sugar is the fuel and the yeast the control amount of the fuel that you want to burn... add more yeast, just a little.


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## lycaon (Aug 5, 2009)

Ok next batch I'll add a little more yeast and do water changes more often. I have incandescent lighting so should I just give up until I can get some real lighting? Light can be expensive


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