Help me plant my 38g!!!

[sneakymission]

Ok. I have a decent 38 gallon setup up and running. I have 2 aqua clear 300 filters which work great. My fish are always healthy looking and I have had no major problems, but now I want to start adding plants to my tank. Here comes my dilemma. All I have right now is a 25 watt bulb (.65 wpg). Now I know that I could grow some java moss and other low light plants, but I have seen similar setups and the plants usually look shriveled and discolored. Therefore I want to up my wpg. My problem is that I cant find any existing 2 pin fluorescent bulbs with the proper wattage (anywhere from 38watts to 75 watts). The highest I can find is best I can find is 30 watts (that would make .79 wpg :| ) and then it jumps up to 95 watts (2.5 wpg) and I really don’t want to deal with all that CO2 injection jazz. So here are my choices. Attempt to grow some plants with my current light or upgrade to the 30 watt. Or I could just give up and get some stinky fake plants. The only other option is to buy a twin tube fixture (but that would be about the same as constructing a CO2 injector). What do you think I should do? Does any one know where I could buy a bulb that is in the 38-75 watt range. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[hashbaz]

Sadly, hoods and fixtures are designed to run only one specific size/shape of bulb. All bulbs of that size/shape will have very similar watts. The only way to get more watts out of your current hood is to rip out the electronics in your hood and replace them with bigger electronics. This "cheating" will put more watts through the same bulb. Do a search for ODNO.

It might be better to get a different hood - one with two bulbs or else compact fluorescent.

 

[Jchillin]

Your tank dimensions sound like a bow front. What brand of tank/hood/light strip do you have?

Ideally, you want at least a 40w bulb, however that wattage only comes in a 4ft tube NO.

I would suggest taking a look at compatible light hoods here or even here.

ODNO is also an option if you are so inclined. It's basically using a higher volume ballast and connecting existing bulb to increase the light intensity.

 

[sneakymission]

I have a regular tank, not a bowfront. I have checked both of those sites before and many of the other links and sites in these forums and none of them have what I'm looking for. ill research this ODNO thing and see what i could do.

 

[sneakymission]

*update*

well I researched the ODNO thing and I would still need to buy a new hood for that. so that option is not going to work. does anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Hoovercat]

You should be able to retrofit your hood to a 55 watt cf bulb with a kit from ahsupply.com. Their kits fit in a single tube NO hood. You may need to mount the ballast on top or on the back of your light strip but it's about the only option that won't require a new hood.

 

[sneakymission]

What if I just get the 30 watt bulb and then just get some java ferns and moss and maybe a hornwort or a cryptocorn? does anyone know anything about hygrophilias?

 

[azn_fishy55]

a single bulb on a 55 is kinda low,I really think only java fern,java moss,anubias sp,and hornwort can live in such lo lighting conditions.Hygros and crypts need at least 1.5 watts per a gallon.Without CO2 and moderate lighting your choice of plants is really limited.If you do intend to go with higher lighting use a DIY CO2 set-up with a very good reactor so all that CO2 is absorbed into the water.I thought I could get away with no CO2 but then I realized I needed so I even went with a simple DIY set-up with a good diffuser.Plants essential parameters need to be met and those are temperature,lighting,CO2,and nutrients.To make an living stable ecosystem you must supply these needs.