20 Gallon light Recommendations

[gmt980]

Hey guys im brand new to the forum and the reason i have joined is to learn about planted tanks. First of all, i thought i would show a picture of my tank as it is now(20 gallon high):

I have added a little driftwood since then for my pleco, but that is pretty much the gist.

Now i am trying to make this tank low tech planted and i want to simply use easy plants like java fern and java moss, but i am worried that although these plants are low-light, i still dont have enough light for them.

My tank came with a light strip that is only 18" long, so it produces only 15w of light. Will this work? Also i heard that the light power breaks down in about 6 months, and i got this tank off craigslist about 4 months ago so its probably due for a new light.
If not, if there a bulb out there that will give me the lighting i need or should i look at modifying my hood? Keep in mind that im poor haha.

Thanks a lot guys,
GT

 

[BigJim]

Welcome to AA!

What kind of pleco is it? If it's common, I'd consider trying to trade him for something else. He'll get much too big for that tank.

For java fern and java moss, that light should be adequate. If it doesn't work for you, the cheapest option is to retrofit the hood with a few incandescent bulb sockets and use some spiral CFL bulbs.

As for the light losing intensity, I believe that six month time frame applies to HO bulbs. I wouldn't worry about it on your hood. If you want to replace the bulb anyways, look for something in the daylight (6500Kish) spectrum.

 

[gmt980]

Welcome to AA!

What kind of pleco is it? If it's common, I'd consider trying to trade him for something else. He'll get much too big for that tank.

For java fern and java moss, that light should be adequate. If it doesn't work for you, the cheapest option is to retrofit the hood with a few incandescent bulb sockets and use some spiral CFL bulbs.

As for the light losing intensity, I believe that six month time frame applies to HO bulbs. I wouldn't worry about it on your hood. If you want to replace the bulb anyways, look for something in the daylight (6500Kish) spectrum.

The pleco is a clown. I researched it and it shouldnt outgrow my tank.

Thank you for the advise on the lighting. I will look for that

 

[BigJim]

Good work doing your research.

 

[gmt980]

Good work doing your research.

well thank you!

i bought a java fern today! hopefully it will live!

 

[gmt980]

Here are some pics of my tank with the java fern inside tied to driftwood. This is java fern isnt it? That is what the tag at my lfs said.

Not the prettiest of plants, but its pretty much the only thing i can get

 

[sampster5000]

I dont know what you are trying to show here but there is no java fern in the picture. What you have centered, which is kinda swirly, looks like cryptocoryne leaves.

 

[gmt980]

I dont know what you are trying to show here but there is no java fern in the picture. What you have centered, which is kinda swirly, looks like cryptocoryne leaves.

yea i only have that one plant, and i do not think it is actually a java fern. The pics are bad cause i only have a cell phone. I looked up cryptocoryne and it does look kinda like that. I guess my LFS is incredibly wrong

 

[gmt980]

Question

Have you guys seen anyone make a DIY hood using compact florescent strips? It seems like i could just replace my 2 prongs with one 4 prong and make the switch with the help of my electrical engineer brother, but i havent seen anyone do this so far. They all seem to make their custom hoods CF's

 

[TequariumLerro]

The 15 watts should be enough provided you keep the light on for at least 8 hours a day for your type of plants. Java moss could be kept in really low light. Most of the recommendations that we read regarding intensive lighting are for those Dutch type aquascapes. For a low tech, a little less than 1 watt per gallon should be fine.

I have an 8 gallon with mostly lotus plants and ADA as a substrate. These plants are growing with 11 watt lighting for about 5 hours a day.

 

[BigJim]

I'm pretty sure you'd need a different ballast to go to power compacts.

There are retrofit kits to go to T5HO. A pair of T5HO bulbs would let you grow just about anything you wanted. Otherwise, just get a cheap shop light from Home Depot or Menards.

 

[gmt980]

I'm pretty sure you'd need a different ballast to go to power compacts.

There are retrofit kits to go to T5HO. A pair of T5HO bulbs would let you grow just about anything you wanted. Otherwise, just get a cheap shop light from Home Depot or Menards.

Yea i was looking at something like that but i was having trouble finding one that is 24" online. Maybe i will just have to go in and take a look.

 

[gmt980]

The 15 watts should be enough provided you keep the light on for at least 8 hours a day for your type of plants. Java moss could be kept in really low light. Most of the recommendations that we read regarding intensive lighting are for those Dutch type aquascapes. For a low tech, a little less than 1 watt per gallon should be fine.

I have an 8 gallon with mostly lotus plants and ADA as a substrate. These plants are growing with 11 watt lighting for about 5 hours a day.

Yea i kno, but i would like to see a lot of growth in my tank and i dont think it will happen with 15w.

Although i did get a fert/ water conditioner thati have been dosing.

 

[BigJim]

Try Hagen AquaGlo brand. I've seen retrofit kits in the store under that brand that would work with a couple bulb lengths. I think they had a ballast that would work for either two 24" T5HO or two 36" T5HO bulbs. They also had nice parabolic reflectors. It's a little expensive, but a good investment if you're serious about growing plants.

 

[gmt980]

Try Hagen AquaGlo brand. I've seen retrofit kits in the store under that brand that would work with a couple bulb lengths. I think they had a ballast that would work for either two 24" T5HO or two 36" T5HO bulbs. They also had nice parabolic reflectors. It's a little expensive, but a good investment if you're serious about growing plants.

Thanks for the advice. Well im serious about growing plants, but im a poor college student. Maybe for christmas or something!

There is a guys with a retrofit 2x16" t5 on craigslist by me and i am trying to grab those for $20

 

[Wy Renegade]

Might want to check on used stuff - I know I do and I'm sure that others have some old ballasts and things lying around that you might be able to build a power compact light out of.

 

[gmt980]

Might want to check on used stuff - I know I do and I'm sure that others have some old ballasts and things lying around that you might be able to build a power compact light out of.

yea thats a good idea. Or i could even get another hood and add the light to it

 

[gmt980]

I think i found some brilliance!

My parents have a black light kit that they brought out for halloween. It happens to be 18" T8, and 15w. The exact same as my fish tank light!

Here it is: Creative Motion 18" Black Light Tower Light (15 Watts)

Now what i am planning to do it take it apart at try to fit it into my hood, then get an aquatic bulb for it. That way i get 30w and it only cost me the amount of the bulb!

Do you guys think i can adjust it for room? Will it get too hot wit two bulbs in there?

Give me some insight on how i should go about this


Here is the progress: Im still trying to figure out how i want to set this up!

 

[gmt980]

got it working!