Lighting Questions

[Thomas 2507]

Okay, so i plan to upgrade my lighting in my 20 gallon to a 36w t5 tube.

here are my questions:
what does t5 mean? i kjnow my current light is t8 but i don't know what this means either
is this too much light (almost 2wpg) without using proper fertilizers and co2 (i will be using liquids)?

cheers

 

[Colin_T]

T5 is 5/8inch, T8 is 1inch diameter.
T5 is a newer design of fluoro globe and provide more intense light. They do need a different light unit but are worth it if you want to grow plants. Look for high output (HO) T5 globes and units. They provide even more light again.

You can have as much light on the tank as you like. However the plants will do best when supplied with good light and supplemental fertilisers. If you have fish in the tank and a biological filter then they should provide most of the CO2. There is also plenty of CO2 in the air and that gets into the tank as well.

If you use a liquid iron fertiliser it should be fine. If the leaves start to go yellow then they are lacking nutrients.

If you are worried about it being too much light just run them for 10hours per day. If you are still concerned reduce the photoperiod.

 

[Thomas 2507]

thanks for that but it still doesn't realy answer my question.

will 36w of light be too much? aka will it promote a lot of algae growth? i will only be using tropica plant nutrition and flourish excel dosing for ferts and co2. photoperiod about 10 hours

 

[aaronnorth]

36w/ 20g = 1.8WPG (watts per gallon)

This low/ medium light which is a good starting point, there is a wide variety of plants to choos from (see link below), CO2 isn't necassary but it will help, 10hr photoperiod is fine, as is the TPN, dose daily for best results. (approx 5ml daily, adjust if necessary). Excell will help but i would get a cheap fermentation kit like the nutrafin plant gro.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry1382934