Quick lighting question...

[JasonC]

So I have 15 watts over my 20 Gal tank. I have been told that I am okay to have floating plants in the tank, but I was curious if I could also include some submerged low light plants. I know this is not optimal low light conditions for the plants to thrive, but would the plants at least survive in a holding pattern til I can spring for a better fixture (next couple of months)? Or is this a death wish for anything below surface level?

 

[colematthewmalaka]

Depends what kind of plants you have java moss and things like that thrive in low light conditions, if you need lots of light i use good fluorecent lightbulbs. They do sell lights for the purpose of keeping your plants healthy.

 

[JasonC]

Looking at Hornwort, Watersprite, Java Moss... stuff that I think is super low light and super low maintenance.

Not nessisarily looking for the plants to thrive right away... but I will eventually be upgrading fixtures as I am basically maxed out with the wattage for this one... 18" 15watt flourescent, single tube... generic tank lid. I would like to move up to med.low to med. light.

 

[fort384]

How deep is the tank? Under 1WPG will make it difficult to keep even low light plants. You may get away with some java moss & hornwort. I think you would have trouble with the watersprite under 1 WPG in your tank.

 

[Purrbox]

I'd probably stick to Anubias, Crypts, Java Fern, and Java Moss with that amout of light. Definately wouldn't expect them to do much more than survive.

 

[JasonC]

Thanks for the info! I went and stared at the lighting at home depot for a while and think I may have found a cheep DIY solution to tide me over til I can afford a fancy schmancy lighting system... I'll create a thread if I am able to figure out something that is shareworthy.

just another thought, can anyone point me to a link with info on figuring out what light level I am at based on tank size/wattage/type of lamp? Thanks!

 

[fort384]

LOL, it is all very subjective, but AA has done their best to quantify it. Check out the sticky in the plant forum "Updating the WPG theory" or whatever it is called, first or second thread in the forum.