Lighting

[Wonderboy]

How many watts would you recommend in order to grow glossostigma successfully in a 2.5 US gallon tank?

Dimensions! = 12"L x 6"D x 8"H

Thanks,
Wonderboy!

 

[wei0204]

I am thinking of a 10W but it might be too much lighting for a small tank like that. A light about 6 - 7.5W should be enough, but I am not sure can get that type of light or not.

 

[three-fingers]

I would say around 20 watts if you want it to carpet . 7.5 watts would be pretty low, since the WPG rule isn't supposed to work for small tanks .

 

[Wonderboy]

I would say around 20 watts if you want it to carpet . 7.5 watts would be pretty low, since the WPG rule isn't supposed to work for small tanks .

Yes, I know - I am able to actually get 9 watts, 18 watts, or 36 watts over it. Would 36 be too much?

And, yes, it's CO2 induced with a substrate for planted aquariums. I won't be doing EI, as it is simply a little betta bowl boredom for me - haha.

Thanks
~ Wonderboy!

 

[RadaR]

Personally id go with the 18W. Maybe a bit easier to cope with.

 

[three-fingers]

I'd personally go with the 18 watt too, much easier and safer.
Unless your prepared to jack up the co2 to very high levels, but this requires research and for all the other conditions to be right so not to suffocate this fish("The amount of wattage necessary is related to the amount of co2 being added......"-Amano). I would have thought the betta would be the best fish to deal with any problems though, since it can breath air too. You could have some amazing results with 36 watts, but I'm just guessing, since i've never seen a tank that small with that much lighting.
And if it's yeast based co2 then you don't really have a choice other than 18 watts.

 

[Wonderboy]

Yes, I figured with the betta being an "air gulper", that was my better choice for fauna. If it is necessary to balance the amount of CO2 with the amount of lighting - consider this:
I just took out an old nutrafin unit (yeast based) and ladder and hooked 'er up on it - aside from the ladder wich does not fit in the tank - haha - I just ran the line into the "mini filter's" intake. Anyways, this unit is rated to be sufficient CO2 supply for up to 20 gallons. With this amount of CO2, what do you think now, 18 W or 36 W?

Thanks for your help so far!
~ Wonderboy!!!

 

[three-fingers]

18 watt, because yeast based co2 isn't that stable, and with light that high and unstable co2 you would gets lots of algae . It also depends on the mixture your using in the canister .

 

[Themuleous]

Small tanks need relatively speaking lots of light. My 4G recently had 36W over it but thats now 48w. But you dont need a very long 'day' Im down at 6hrs now, definitely not more than 8hrs for very high light.

Sam

EDIT - according to the Finches lighting article (see 'amano lighting article' in my sig) you need 32 watts over a 8lt tank.

 

[Wonderboy]

I've decided to go with the 36 watt fixture - keep in mind that I can always take one bulb out reducing it to 18 watts, or cover up part of the fixture in order to prevent all light exposure. (This is if all goes wrong)

As always, thanks for everyone's help (special thanks to Themuleous - for the understandable and reliable source)!

~ Wonderboy!