Lighting a 20 gallon planted tank

[MattMan1212]

Hey Everyone,
I have a 55 gallon cichlid tank and a 20 gallon long. I am looking into creating a planted community tank. I was wondering what the best lighting system for this tank would be. Maybe 2 or 4 flourescent, but which brand? Any help would be appreciated. Also wondering if eco complete is what i should go with for substrate?

 

[ringfinger]

I have had the most success with my 20g long community using the Coralife 30" Freshwater Aqualight. It runs a pair of T5 lamps at about 17 watts each. I have grown a wide variety of crypts, anubias, and even a carpet of narrow leaf chain sword at these levels. I also have some Stargrass, but the growth has been very slow and I will probably move it. I only dose No3, trace, and K once a week after the PWC. No algae problems at all for about 3 months and counting... My stock consists of Neons, Corydoras, and a female Betta. Fun tank IMO, and very low maintenance.

Before this I had the Coralife 65W PC fixture, and grew in a thick carpet of Glosso. The dosing and DIY Co2 was more than I wanted to handle while going to school, and soon BBA took hold. But because it looked so amazing, I will probably go back to high light and glosso with this tank when I have more time.

 

[MattMan1212]

Thanks for the recommendation, i was looking to grow some anubias and crypts. I will look into the Coralife 30. Just bought 20 pounds of eco complete and I am letting that settle out right now. Any great sites for ordering plant packages? The local pet store only carries a small selection and I would like a unique look if possible.

 

[newfound77951]

I love Eco-complete. If you've got the money for it, get it. It helps so much with plants....I think my rocks have even grown roots in the stuff by now! If you hunt around online, you can usually find a good deal on it, one of the online aquarium plant dealers (maybe aquariumplants.com?) has a free shipping deal that is well worth it.

As for light, ringfinger had good advice. Decide how much work you want to do, and then choose a high light (ie 55/65 watt PC) or low-medium light (the Coralife or similar). Either will work fine, it just depends on how much you want to do, and what types of plants you want to grow.

Good luck...that's a nice size tank to start with...much easier to aquascape than a 55 (guess how I know that!)

 

[MattMan1212]

Thanks newfound, very helpful. The eco complete looks to be a great substrate and we will see where I go with this tank. Ill put up some pics when I get the aquascaping started. Thanks again.