Help With Basic Lighting Q's

[dixaisy930]

I have a 29 gallon tank that I would like to attempt live plants in.  I think I finally start to have a grasp on fertilizers, CO2, and substrates...but I'm still a little confused with lighting.  I have the basic Aqueon Deluxe Fluorescent hood.  Now, is that a T5 bulb in it?  Can you use T8 bulbs in this fixture, or is there a completely different fixture you need for T8 bulbs? 
 
I was interested in plants that have low to moderate light requirements...nothing needing bright light.  Can I accomplish this with the basic fluorescent hood?

 

[dgwebster]

I dont know your specific hood, but the diameter of the bulb will tell you: T8 is 1" whilst T5 is 5/8ths.

The fittings for your hood along with the watts rating determine what you can put in there. For example, the ballast lighting your tubes may say "18W - 20W" which means they will light bulbs between 18W and 20W. Technically it will light ANY 18W to 20W bulb, doesnt matter if its T12, T8, T5, T5HE, T5HO and so forth. BUT your bulb fitting will hold only one size (diameter and length) which is your limiting factor.

 

[dixaisy930]

My lighting fixture is a T8, and currently has a 20W full spectrum bulb in it (the bulb it came with).  Did I read correctly that you need approximately 1.5WPG for plants?  I was looking at the Aqueon FloraMax T8 bulb (17W), but would that be any better than the bulb I currently have?  Would I be able to have any live plants with a single tube?

 

[dgwebster]

Yes, you can do it with a single bulb. I have a single 30W bulb in a 47 gallon tank but by keeping to hardy, easy, fast growing plants i get ok results. Changing your bulb there wont make any worthy difference.

You may be able to get a T5 retrofit kit (allows it to fit a T8 fitment) and if you get a T5HO 20W bulb it will perform better than your current bulb, giving you more light.

 

[Shadders]

I agree with dgwebster, I have 1wpg and successfully grow plants, java fern anubia, java moss etc, there a lots of so called low light easy plants that will thrive in your tank, I have to prune and thin mine out quite regularly or there would be no room left for the fish lol, the java fern in my sig started out as 3 leaves less than 12 months ago, and has been split twice in that time. once you get up to 1.5, 2, 2.5 wpg then your getting into the realms of co2 and ferts.