not sure what to do... --- light intensity vs CO2

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Evaunitone

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Dec 12, 2009
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Ok here's my situation. I have a 20 gallon long and the light I was planning to buy is a double lamp with two 39watt bulbs in it. This means my wpg would be really high (3.9). That's cool with me because I'd like to be able to grow a very lush and pretty tank, however, I really cannot afford a pressurized CO2 setup. I was hoping to do DIY, but I know if there are problems with my CO2 system I could really quickly develop a terrible algae problem. What are my options? :-/
 
If your fixture has separate switches for the 2 light, you can always turn one off. Some fixtures are wired so that you can remove one bulb & the other will still light - you need a fixture with electronic ballast wired in parallel. If all else fails, you can swap out one bulb for an actinic. Actinics don't count as far as plants are concerned, so you would in effect cut your light in half.

You can also try cutting down on the photo period ... ie running the lights for less than 12 hrs. But for really lush growth, high light & CO2 is a must.
 
get pressurized co2 first. then upgrade your lights. its your best bet in my opinion. especially if you cant afford both.

co2 is just as important of a nutrient as N-P-K and micros. upping your lights, especially that high, without having proper nutrients available is asking for trouble. and diy wont cut it.
 
Until you can afford the pressurized CO2 you can use an actinic like jsoong said, use DIY CO2 and you can alway supplement it with Excel by Seachem if you start getting to much algae. You can always spot dose Excel if you need to.
 
the lights are 3 foot t5 ho right? the tank is 30 inch. what i would do is just keep the light higher off the tank as normal. this way not as much light getting in the tank and would prob look better over all since it would be harder to tell its 3 inch longer on each side.

You can also try cutting down on the photo period ... ie running the lights for less than 12 hrs. But for really lush growth, high light & CO2 is a must
this isnt 100% true. i get great growth in plants with out co2. yes co2 will speed it up but not everyone is looking for that. in a 20 long you really dont want stem plants growing too fast or you will be trimming them 2-3 times a week. i would also start 8 hours of lighting to start and see how it goes.
 
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