# Emersed Lighting



## denske (Jul 28, 2013)

Hey guys, wanted to hear about people's lighting setups for there emersed tanks, I'm currently using a few different kinds, but was wondering if my t5 fixture may be hurting my plants? I have a 48" 3- 54watt bulb t5 fixture running about 12 hours a day, things seem good.

I am getting some slight yellowing of leaves on some anubias I have in there and was wondering if the light was maybe too much, they are nana petite if that matters. Crypts all seem to be fine with the amount of light.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

What kind of yellowing? It may be a deficiency, not a problem with the light (it's hard to over-light emersed bins, since you can never come anywhere near the intensity of the sun). Try spritzing some watered-down fertilizer on the leaves to see if that perks it up.

Light-based damage (sunburn, if you will) tends to show up as a browning/drying along the edges of the leaves, rather than simple yellowing. And I've never had it occur indoors unless the plants actually grew up into the light unit and touched the bulb (which caused heat [infrared light] damage, not visible-spectrum/UV light damage).


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## BadBob (Jun 4, 2011)

I'm using T5 shop lights from Home Depot. The same thing I use for starting garden plants.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Like Amanda said it's pretty hard to have too much light. Yellowing sounds more like a deficiency. I add 1/2 tsp of miracle grow to the water in my seed trays every 2-3 weeks and that seems to do the trick. If you aren't using a rich substrate like dirt or Aquasoil then fertilize more often.


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## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

I'd have to agree, the only time I've had light affect plants like that is when they get too close to the bulbs themselves.

Like Aaron said, you may need to fertilize more often. I know in mine, I burn through a lot of nutrients.

~ Adam


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