Is this excessive?

[yohann976]

I'm moving so I have to get rid of my 90 gallon surf-line tank. Hopefully I'll be able to sell it. Anyways, I'm thinking of getting a smaller tank so I can still get my aquarium 'fix.'

I'll probably get a 20 gallon but I need to know if I'm going way overboard with my lighting. I have two 55 watt pc bulbs from A H supplies. Will 110 watts be too much, or should I just go with the 55 watt? With my 90 gallon, I really didn't have to worry about CO2. I did use ferts from Greg Watson though.

Here is what I was thinking...I could use more ferts and add a yeast CO2 system supplemented with Excel. I will have some stem plants as well as some good high-light ground cover plants since I've never had any of them before. Am I insane because I'm going to use 110 watts? I've had planted tanks for years, but they have always been closer to the medium to low light tanks.

 

[ingg]

That'd be pretty insane, yup. That'd be like reef tank lighting.

Just use one of them.

 

[black hills tj]

Nearly 6 watts per gallon...hmmm. I want to see it done. Yeast CO2 won't do the trick. You will need pressurized for sure. Once you figure out what it takes to control the algae, it may turn into a neat tank.

 

[neilanh]

You have options. Just run 1 bulb, like ingg said, you'll be better off. yeast CO2 isn't going to support that, and you'll just end up in algae nightmares.

I do successfully run 65W on my 20g, with pressurized CO2 though.

 

[yohann976]

I suppose one of the bulbs would be enough for a 20 gallon. Since both bulbs run off of one ballast, I could use the other one for an indoor bonsai next to the tank.

I do have one concern about using just one bulb though. Will that focus too much light cross the center of the tank? Or will the light spread to the front and back of the tank?

 

[fish_4_all]

There is the option to move the light above the tank, maybe way above. lol.
This would slightly reduce the overall amount of light that penetrates and could even light up the tnak more evenly. Might even have enough light that way for the tank and the Bonsai.

I would think that 12-18 inches above the tank would be a good place to start if it is an option.

 

[JohnPaul]

If the ballast is such that you MUST have two bulbs in it in order for it to function, then another option would be to replace one of the two bulbs with a bulb that doesn't provide light in the spectrum plants can use. Extra "visible" light isn't going to cause problems, it's the plant-spectrum light that will cause headaches.