Mushrooms with single T8 possible?

[Wolfsblood]

I have a 16g tank with a 50/50 18watt T8 bulb. The tank is about 16" tall. Would I be able to house any mushrooms with my weak lighting?

 

[bigben2057]

maybe... thats pretty weak but it will prob be able to keep them alive.

 

[Wolfsblood]

I want to add some color because I'm sorta getting bored with my FOWLR setup. I may just have to cave and buy a real fixture for it. I haven't had much luck finding a good one for a 20" wide tank though. I would like to stay in the $100 range.

 

[obscurereef]

Odyssea quad light. Cheap and gets the job done, but they do get hot and might burn out fast. 24" which is a little longer than your tank, but you can make it work. It could grow soft and even LPS corals.

T5 Quad 24" Timer Aquarium Light Fowlr Coral Reef Cichlid 96W LED | eBay

 

[DanS180]

I have that Odyssea light on my 29G tank. It grows softies, LPS and some lower demanding SPS(bird nest, monti, etc) I've had it up for about 4 months now with no problems, they do run hot but overall a good light for a small tank, and it has blue, white and moonlights all on separate switches

 

[pairenoid]

i got bored of my fowlr and got a 2 bulb t5 for 70 bucks, i love it. With just these lights ive added a green star polyp, pulsing xenia, green mushroom, and some button polyps. They are great at adding color to your tank, my sand is black too. The little blue tint makes my fish look cooler too

i wish i had a purple tint though

 

[Wolfsblood]

That light looks pretty nice. I would have to find a glass top for my tank to use it. I cant go hoodless because I have a Firefish and they will jump. It looks like it's going to be hard to find one and I may have to make something. The little bowfront looks great but I kinda wish I just had a regular tank. Was hard for me to pass up at 60% off though.

 

[DanS180]

That light looks pretty nice. I would have to find a glass top for my tank to use it. I cant go hoodless because I have a Firefish and they will jump. It looks like it's going to be hard to find one and I may have to make something. The little bowfront looks great but I kinda wish I just had a regular tank. Was hard for me to pass up at 60% off though.

You have a 16g bow front? I was in the same ball park not 4 months ago. I couldn't find a glass top for that tank(don't bother looking, they're almost extinct) so I switched to a 29g tank.

 

[Wolfsblood]

Yea haha, I looked for like 5 minutes and was like oh man this isnt gonna happen. I think what I could maybe do is use an acrylic sheet for the square rear portion of the tank and then just keep the black flip lid over the bow.

 

[DanS180]

Yea haha, I looked for like 5 minutes and was like oh man this isnt gonna happen. I think what I could maybe do is use an acrylic sheet for the square rear portion of the tank and then just keep the black flip lid over the bow.

You could do that.. me personally, I wouldn't like the look BUT if your a DIY kinda person, you could get some sort of screen kit and make your own top. Only problem with that is the bow part lol I have a 1/4in screen kit on my 90G rectangle tank and it looks awesome. And very easy to make. Go on BRS and see what they have, I think the smallest kit is a 3ft package.

 

[Wolfsblood]

I would have to figure out if I could make it look nice. The last thing I want is some rigged top on my clean little tank. I will definitely check out the screen. What material is the screen made out of?

 

[DanS180]

I would have to figure out if I could make it look nice. The last thing I want is some rigged top on my clean little tank. I will definitely check out the screen. What material is the screen made out of?

Not exactly sure. Its pretty sturdy tho