Plants For Low Light

[Dakota Ice]

Hi all

I'm starting up my 20 gallon yet again and I need some help. I have a 15 watt bulb over 20 gallons of water, leaving me with a dismal 1.3 wpg.

My question is, would disaster strike if I had seachem flourite and CO2 but not the high light? There is no way I'll be able to get anything better than the standard that came with the tank. At most I could lay my 10 gallon's hood over the tank as well, probably not upping it much more than 12 watts but I'll have to check on how many watts my 10 has.

Thanks and all help is appreciated!

 

[IovaykInD]

You have .75wpg, you figure out wpg by diving the wattage by the gallons of water. 15/20=.75

Also, co2 won't really help at such low lighting levels, it would only help the teeniest bit. I wouldn't add too much fertilizer into the tank, because it will cause a lot of algae. I'd rather just let the fish give nutrients to the plants, because at such low lighting levels, it will suffice.

I would try and get as much lighting over the tank as possible, but remember to always plant heavily at first so algae won't take over.

Isaac

 

[Dakota Ice]

Oh, sorry, heh, never been too good at math.

Yeah, figured the CO2 wouldn't help any in my situation.

Do you have any ideas as to getting more light over the tank without buying a new expensive hood?

Thanks for the help!

 

[IovaykInD]

You can get two standard strip lights, which will give you 36 watts, equaling to 1.8wpg. This is fairly enough to grow many plants, and co2 will benefit this tank. You can also start adding fertilizer as fish poo will not be enough at such lighting

 

[Dakota Ice]

How do I get the lights over the tank though?

The hood is very small and the standard light barely fits in it. All the lights I've seen at various stores need some kind of fitter to be able to work and I don't have one (besides my itsie bitsie teenie weenie hood).

Did that make any sense?

 

[Themuleous]

A pic of the underside of the hood would help us see the problem better and we'd then be able to advise more specifically.