Lighting Situation

[illusion54]

I'm currently trying to get a natural, plant aquarium set up in a 29 gallon aquarium. The hood contains a 20 watt 24'' bulb, but i read that you need about 3 WPG for plants. Im having trouble finding a high wattage 24" light for my aquarium, plus i have no idea about the different type of lighting i need.

Here's what ive found though.

Coralife White Atinic Bulb - 75 watts, that good?
Arcadia 7500K Plant Bulb - Low wattage but helps plants? Like i said, i have no idea what to look for.
Ultra Sun Bulbs - Helps plants grow?

Theres a ton more on there but i have no idea what i need, any advice or help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mitch

 

[houndour]

if you only want 1 bulb with higher wattage, you might wanna look at the interpet compact t5 lights. But you'll need the new thing to attach the bulbs to.

I have a 21" tube thats 55 watts for my 30" long tank.

Or you just get more of what you already have, so get another 2 or 3 20 Watt bulbs (and the fittings)

 

[jimbooo]

common problem i'm afraid.

Atinic is a dirty word in planted tanks = HUGE algae problems, steer well clear.

there are lots of options available, you'll hear people talking about K ratings etc.. generally for planted tanks you want tubes between 3000-7500K.

Arcadia Freshwater is a good tube to buy but not the Original Tropical (package says optimum light for photosynthesis, it's not and will also cause algae problems)

take a look at the pinned articles by GF225 in planted section. that will clarify a few things for you.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

You were misinformed on the wattage issue. Different plants require different light levels. You can grow plants in tanks with anything from just under 1wpg to over 3wpg.

Actinics are for sw tanks.

K is as much a question of appearance as anything else. Sunlight is about 5000k, strong afternoon sun is about 6500k. The lower the k, the more "yellow" thinks will look (kinda like being tannin stained) while the higher the k, the more "white" things will look. The plants can be happy either way.

 

[leafs]

It's possible to grow some low light plants with what you have, but growth will be very slow. I have the same set up as you and I'm successfully growing Anubias nana, Amazon sword and a few different Crypts. It really depends on what plants you want.