Plant lighting

[corylover5]

I have a 29 gallon tank with a few plants right now. I plan on getting a lot more plants and I wanted to get a strong light for the plants. I have a lid on my tank that has LED lights built in to it but they aren't very strong. All the plant lights I am finding online attach over your tank without a lid like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7391M2/?tag=ff0d01-20 I need to have a lid because my mystery snails are little escape artists. Are there any strong plant lights I could get and still have a lid on my tank? I am also trying to find liquid fertilizer for my stem plants but I'm having trouble finding one that won't harm my snails or cories. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[Byron]

On the plant fertilizer, any quality comprehensive liquid supplement will not harm snails, crustaceans or fish (including cories) unless overdosed. Below are links to three I know of, there are probably some others esp in the EU that I do not know, but the three here are good. Make sure you get exactly the one named, as these companies all produce several different products under the banner name but some of them can be risky if not dangerous.

I have been using Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium for over ten years.

Seachem - Flourish

www.seachem.com

A near-identical product is Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti.

Brightwell Aquatics - FlorinMulti

www.brightwellaquatics.com

In the UK there is TNC Lite

TNC Lite 250ml

TNClite is Nitrate and Phosphate free. It is specifically designed for use in lightly planted aquariums and for aquariums with a high fish

www.aquariumgardens.co.uk

The above manufacturers also produce substrate tabs, and these are especially beneficial to larger plants such as swords which root in the substrate. Using the tabs means less need for liquid fertilizers (though these are still beneficial for non-substrate plants) so that provides nutrients without getting into the water column.

 

[Byron]

On the question of the light and cover, you want to get a good LED with a "daylight" spectrum around 6500K for plans. My experience with LED is minimal so I will let others comment on brands. But it is easy to get a glass cover for the aquarium, and then you can have any light that sits across the frame (like the one linked). I have a glass cover set on my 40g. It is two panes of glass connected with a "hinge" strip of plastic so the front portion opens for feeding, and there is a plastic strip along the back that can be cut out for heaters and filters. This cover set sits down on the inside lip that runs around the top frame of the aquarium. They come in all the basic sizes for rectangle tanks and I think bowfront too. This is a link to the Aqueon for a 20g high/standard tank, and I have one of these on my 10g.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AS7ZS/?tag=ff0d01-20

 

[seangee]

Do you have a reason to believe your lights aren't strong enough? Lights that are too intense cause new problems of their own.
The light you linked to can be attached to the inside of your lid. You may have to remove the existing light and / or be a little creative on the fixing. The little metal tracks can be removed completely. Another option (depending on your lid design) is to lay the light across the tank and the use a file / sharp knife / dremel to cut notches in your lid for the tracks.
For the little extra it costs I would suggest you get the single channel controller they refer to in the ad. This will allow you to set a timer (recommended anyway) and to dim the lights if need be.