SOL? Lighting for 15 gallon column tank?

[jenelle]

I have a newly planted 15 gallon column tank. I'm a complete newbie flying by the seat of my pants and I realized today that the light the tank came with is not bright enough. It was a full spectrum T5, 12 inch, 5 watts. So I started calling around and surfing, and the absolute best I could find is an Hagen Aqua Glo at 8 watts! It's now installed. It seems that 12 inch lights don't come with much wattage. Argh!

Over the past week I've added Flourish and Flourish tabs and a TINY bit of CO2 booster.

The substrate is Instant Aquarium by Caribsea.

Any other suggestions? Am I doomed to witness a slow death or do I stand a chance?

I hate the look of fake plants plus I think real plants add to a healthy tank so I hope there is some way to make it work.

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[brennae]

I'm not a lighting expert but that's a nice looking tank!

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[Fishperson]

You aren't doomed yet. Column tanks arent very easy to light, i.e. they are very tall compared to their length, but it is still doable.

You probably need to find a stronger light. I'm not sure what exactly because the tank is so tall and thin.

 

[jenelle]

Hmmmm...how to get more light with 12 inch bulb that seems very limited in levels of wattage...?

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