# Crypt tank lighting



## SinkorSwim (24 Sep 2017)

Hello all,

I have just planted up a tank which has mainly crypts but with some trident and fern filling out at the back, however I'm short on lighting with my last cheap Nicrew Led throwing in the towel.  

As this tank is mainly occupied by crypts, wendtii brown, undulata, lutea hobbit and some wilisi, I am unsure just which to go for. Crypts as we know are heavy root feeders, and fern can thrive fairly easily in low light conditions, so this prompts me to think low tech lighting, can anyone suggest a particular brand/model? The tank is an opti white 60 x 30 cm and I don't have room for any over head suspended stand, so it will need to be end to end hang on bracket. Fert and easy carbo will be dosed as soon as I confirm all plants like liquid carbon. Budget is a factor, so I can't indulge on this one unfortunately.

Thanks in advance for advice.
Best,
Allan.


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## ceg4048 (24 Sep 2017)

SinkorSwim said:


> Crypts as we know are heavy root feeders


Hello,

This is only half the story. Crypts do not really care where the nutrient source is. Since they have a substantial root structure they can pull nutrients from the sediment if nutrients are available in the sediment. If the sediment is empty but if  the water column has nutrients then they will easily feed from the water column as effectively and as efficiently as any other plant. If nutrition is available in both sediment and water column then Crypts will draw nutrition from both locations. 

There is never a need therefore, to worry about feeding habits of any so-called "heavy root feeder" and it certainly is never relevant to what type of light source is used.

Crypts and ferns can tolerate high concentrations of liquid carbon.

Get any budget lighting that you desire because neither Crypts nor Ferns are dependent on any particular type of light source as long they are not forced to deal with too much light.

Cheers,


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## SinkorSwim (24 Sep 2017)

Hi ceg,

After reading many times, I took it that crypt plants were predominantly root feeding so had assumed a nutrient rich substrate was more important for this sp.

I didn't think I was going to need a particularly high lumens light and my thought process in care for this tank was less about dosing water so a lighter regime in dosage: less light = less fert and carbo and more about ensuring a nutri rich substrate.
One of the great perks of UKAPS is that there is always someone that has had just a bit more experience or has more knowledge, and by and large will share info as and when.
Thanks for taking the time to reply, I can look at lights which won't stress the plants.

Best,
Allan


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## ceg4048 (24 Sep 2017)

SinkorSwim said:


> After reading many times, I took it that crypt plants were predominantly root feeding so had assumed a nutrient rich substrate was more important for this sp.


Hi Allan,
      Yes, unfortunately, these are legends leftover from the 1990's. Whenever someone would find a plant in the wild it was automatically assumed that whatever conditions the plant was found in was, by default, the preferred conditions. It was never considered that the same plant could often be found in  other, very different conditions and that it would adapt to those conditions. So people do crazy things to their tank parameters attempting to match some mythical standard.

You are free to choose what feeding method you prefer as there are only a very few species which require a certain method. So for example, moss have no roots, so they would depend on what nutrients can be found in the water column. But just about every other plants can feed from either or both locations.

If you _don't_  like the idea of water column dosing, then certainly you can get a nutrient rich substrate and carry on. Many prefer this method and it's certainly valid. Never having to worry about dosing, or missing a dose etc. is a real advantage.

But you really never have to limit your substrate choice based on the idea of a feeding method, only limit the choices based on what's convenient for YOU.

Here is an example of C. Wendetii rooted in an inert substrate being fed by water column only. The tallest lance had it's tip reaching nearly 40cm from the substrate. Eventually it became a hooligan, muscling out it's neighbors, spreading roots and popping up new lances everywhere.




 

Cheers,


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## Tim Harrison (24 Sep 2017)

ceg4048 said:


> Yes, unfortunately, these are legends leftover from the 1990's. Whenever someone would find a plant in the wild it was automatically assumed that whatever conditions the plant was found in was, by default, the preferred conditions. It was never considered that the same plant could often be found in other, very different conditions and that it would adapt to those conditions. So people do crazy things to their tank parameters attempting to match some mythical standard.


That is very true, due to habitat destruction and disturbance some plants exist at the extremes of their ecophysiological range, barely clinging to life.
For example, they may be found in the fragmented remnants of wetland habitats, which survive because they are often too wet to be useful for agriculture and other land uses.
Palynology, or pollen analysis, shows that the "preferred" distribution of these species is somewhat different, for instance, and paradoxically, habitats with fairly well drained soils.


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