I need more light!!!!

[zach_fresh]

i have a 30gal. planted that i have been running on only 18 watts for several months!!! anyway my plants havent died and they have been growing fine, but they are not as "lush" as i would like them to be. im thinking of buying a double florescent strip light, to replace the single one i have now. this is because of money restraints otherwise i would buy a better lighting system. but would 2 bulbs in a 30 gal. be too much light?? for the fish? would it be too bright aestically?

 

[sudz]

depends on the wattage. 18 on a 30 is very little, 2 x 18's would help greatly, but thats still just over 1 wpg. Most plants LIKE 1.5 or higher.I have 25 watts over my 10 gallon, and i will eventually have 96 on my 44 gallon, whenever aquariumguys.com decides to ship it to me. *grumbles*

THe higher light you go, the better for the plant, but you have to beware of algae. The nice thing about low(er) lighting is that you can get away with leaving your lights on rediculiously long (18 hours) doubling that lighting should help, as well, try and get 6700k lightbulbs instead of the generic 10k. It'll help too!

HTH,

 

[Todd2]

It wouldn't be too bright at all. 18 watts over a 30g thats just over .5 wpg. What kind of plants do you have in there? Most people suggest 2-3 wpg over planted tanks. I assume your tank is 36 inches long? By two bulbs do you mean two 18 watter's. That would give you a little over 1 wpg. If you're on a budget I would go to either Lowes or Home depot and buy some 3ft or 2ft shop lights and hang them over your tank. Don't forget to pick up some GE plant & aquarium bulbs while you're there. That should give you the amount of light you want. Although, I wouldn't go over 2.5 wpg because than adding CO2 and ferts is almost essiental.

Another cheap alternative is looking on www.aquabid.com or ebay for deals on lights. They usually have good deals that will save you a bit of money.

 

[travis simonson]

www.ahsupply.com and www.hellolights.com are also highly recommended. The best deals on lighting online. Just like ToddK2 said, if you go over 2 wpg you should highly consider CO2 supplementation or you will be constantly fighting algae. In a 30G you can do DIY CO2 fairly well for very little. Check out the stickies in this forum for great info on how to do it