20g Planted aquarium

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Ivy

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
48
Location
Texas
Can anyone give me a good website to learn about lighting a tank effectively? I would like to populate my tank with low light plants so I don't need anything major, but I have no clue where to start, what I am looking for, or reasonable prices. My hood currently has one stock bulb, and I don't plan on upgrading from one anytime soon. But can I replace the bulb with something more productive? My understanding is that brown algae forms from lack of appropriate lighting, and my tank is just starting to show signs of this. I am going on a trip this weekend to pick up some driftwood, it will take me about a week to sterilize it and probably some time soaking to get it to sink, after I have everything set up I am ready to start planting before I add any more fish. Any information you may have would be great. Thx again
 
Ivy,

What kind of light is in the hood (i.e. florescent, incandescent)?

How many watts is it?

For a 20G tank, you are going to want around 30 watts if possible to grow plants, and the bulb should be in the 6500-10000K color temperature range. Many stock hoods don't come with a bulb that is suitable for growing plants. This additional info will help us give you a good lighting solution for a low tech planted setup.
 
Sadly, I have no idea. The kit didn't specify and there is no writing on the bulb anywhere. I am however currently looking at these two bulbs to assist with plant growth in my 20g freshwater. Any opinions?

Zoo Med Ocean Sun 10,000K Bulbs



  • 10,000K high intensity lamp with strong emissions in the blue spectrum simulating deeper ocean environments.
  • Emission spectrum strong in the blue and red regions supports the photobiological processes of marine algae and fresh water plants.
  • Promotes the growth of zooxanthellae algae, essential for the growth and well-being of all photosynthetic corals and invertebrates.
  • Ideal for all marine aquariums, reef aquariums, and fresh water aquariums where a deep water effect is desired.
  • Long lasting: effective for up to 10,000 hours.


Shop All Products By Zoo Med


Zoo med reef sun 50/50 bulbs

  • 50/50 combination of 6500K trichromatic daylight phosphor and actinic 420 phosphor in the same lamp.
  • Ideal for all marine aquariums, reef aquariums, African cichlids, and discus fish.
  • Provides high intensity full spectrum illumination, strong in the short wavelength blue region essential for photosynthetic corals and invertebrates, balanced with 6500K daylight for natural color enhancement and viewing pleasure.
  • Long Lasting: effective for up to 10,000 hours.
 
Sadly, I have no idea. The kit didn't specify and there is no writing on the bulb anywhere. I am however currently looking at these two bulbs to assist with plant growth in my 20g freshwater. Any opinions?

Zoo Med Ocean Sun 10,000K Bulbs



  • 10,000K high intensity lamp with strong emissions in the blue spectrum simulating deeper ocean environments.
  • Emission spectrum strong in the blue and red regions supports the photobiological processes of marine algae and fresh water plants.
  • Promotes the growth of zooxanthellae algae, essential for the growth and well-being of all photosynthetic corals and invertebrates.
  • Ideal for all marine aquariums, reef aquariums, and fresh water aquariums where a deep water effect is desired.
  • Long lasting: effective for up to 10,000 hours.


Shop All Products By Zoo Med


Zoo med reef sun 50/50 bulbs

  • 50/50 combination of 6500K trichromatic daylight phosphor and actinic 420 phosphor in the same lamp.
  • Ideal for all marine aquariums, reef aquariums, African cichlids, and discus fish.
  • Provides high intensity full spectrum illumination, strong in the short wavelength blue region essential for photosynthetic corals and invertebrates, balanced with 6500K daylight for natural color enhancement and viewing pleasure.
  • Long Lasting: effective for up to 10,000 hours.
the 50/50 bulbs would be a waste.
 
Is the 10000k too much? or should I be looking in the 6500-8000k range?
 
Anything between 5000k and 10,000k grows plants. Many prefer a mix of 6500k bulbs and 10,000k
 
The higher you get the whiter/bluer light you get. The lower you go more towards red, so at 6500, its yellow, 10-12k is white-blueish. I have a 12000k and a grow-lite (pink) on my 29, and they look pretty nice.
 
If you're going to stick with the same fixture, you won't be able to increase the amount of light as they are built to take a specific bulb. You just need to make sure you're buying a bulb that is good for growing plants and make sure to replace it every 6-12 months as the spectrum shifts.
 
Thanks joy, I actually bought a new fixture that holds to up to 40W bulbs. I will worry about the bulbs themselves when I get it in as I know the casing is flimsy so my husband is going to install it into my stock hood. I am thinking of going with 50/50 bulbs so that it isn't overkill. The actinic factor will just go to waste and bring me up to a safe 100 percent. Any thoughts.
 
For a 20 gallon tank, a 40w bulb would give you 2wpg, so personally I'd go for the 6500 or the 10000k (or the plant bulb). With neons though, I noticed that they were bluer with an actinic bulb.
 
Actually I'd go ahead and go with the full 40 watts. It will allow you to grow a nice variety of plants without a lot of work.
 
I think my mistype made for some confusion. The setup will hold 2 40w bulbs not just one, so I thought that both of them in a 20g high might be a bit of overkill. Sorry about that.
 
I think that rather than going 2 50/50, you should do something like 1 6500k and a actinic or a 6500 and a 50/50, so you'll get 40 or 60w of light. If you ever want to upgrade you can just switch out the second bulb rather than upgrading both.
 
Actinic is stupid w/ a Freshwater IMO. Not just because I think they look dumb, but because they do nothing!

Kinda looks like your car if you put in fake HIDs.
Lame example=
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The reason he is putting actinics in his tank is because if not, he'll have 80w of light coming down.
 
Can he not just remove a bulb? -- Sorry if I'm sounding like a jerk (don't mean to be).
 
I'm not sure. I was thinking about it earlier, but I assumed he wanted both bulbs running.

Btw, hope that car doesn't drive at night because he won't be able to see anything..
 
LOL, i'm getting confused now. I thought his hood had 4? well, either way -- I mean, He'll have to let us know if his hood can have an empty spot.
 
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