how much light you need for healthy plants?

[Jen]

I have a 35 gal tank, 18 inches high. I only have 1 light strip in there, and I know it's not enough as my plants are not doing too well. I can't remember the wattage of it off hand, but I will check it when i get home and post it.

*EDIT* The bulb is a 20 watt tube

The one problem that i know I have is that my hood only has room for 1 light, so short of making/buying a new hood, is there anything I can do? do different bulbs have higher watts?

Thanks

 

[Paul_MTS]

unless you can fit a bigger tube in, tubes tend to have the same wattage to the length that they are. You could try a different type of tube using a different light.

I'ved just added a 2nd tube to my tank to achive 2 watts per gallon. (25 gallon tank) with 2 25W arcadio original tropical tubes.