Dan101

What brand would you recommend for a 65 gallon tank. I would like to have plants that can grow out of the water like anubias.

hoppycalif

Do you plan to use CO2? What specific plants are you planning to use? Some plants require a lot more light than others require. Are you thinking about filling the tank only half full of water, and letting the plants grow into the top half of the tank?

Dan101

No co2, The tank will be about 1/3 fill. I am thinking about Anubias and possibly sword plants.

hoppycalif

Neither anubias nor sword plants require high light. Anubias grow slowly, and tend to attract algae for that reason, unless you limit the light intensity. I used a Finnex light on my 65 gallon tank and had good results with it, so that would be one option. There are many others which would also work well. I would look for one that has some 660 nm red leds in it, if you can find one. The added deep red makes the colors of the fish show up better, as well as helping the plants grow well. Incidentally, I have never had a sword plant grow out of the water. I'm not sure if anubias do that either.

andrewlg1

I just bought a SB reef light. They make a freshwater version that is tuned to the proper wavelengths for freshwater plants. It is taking about 3 weeks to receive. The spectra are adjustable. From what I've read, they are really strong and need to be turned down a bit for both corals and plants. It is a 16" light for a small tank, but they make many sizes. It was about $200, but it is comparable to the expensive Kessil lights.

hoppycalif

Too much light is a bigger problem than too little light, when you have low light plants. Reef tanks require much more light than planted tanks, so you are much better off if you get a light designed for aquatic plants.

TropTrea

Water Sprite grows fantasticly out of the water for me.
With Sword plants you need look at the various varieties most will NOT grow out of the water.
Anubias grows very slow for me and I'm not sure it will grow out of the water.
However some people grow Crypts out of the water and they flower for them regularly.

For your 65 gallon and what your looking for I would go with about 30 Watts of LED lighting using a combination of 50% Daylight (6,500) and Neutral White (4,000K) LED's.

Michael

Both anubias and cryptocoryne grow emersedvery well in my paludarium. It has a full glass top, so the humidity is very high.

barongan

Pretty interesting posting