Question About Lighting And Plants

[MegTheFish]

Ok, heres my situation. I have a 20 gallon long with 2 small goldies and 3 weather loaches, and have been told that I have to move the tank down stairs, in the old part of the basement (where I keep my bird/fish/rat supplies), where barely any natural sunlight reaches because there are no windows. There is a bit of light coming down from the stairway IF the sun is strong outside and the light can reach the basement. Also the light would be on for maybe a few minutes several times throughout the day, but basicly it will be dark 24/7. So obvoiusly, for my fish to survive (thrive?), I need to get a light for this tank. The tank is 2nd hand and light didn't work, top is crappy so I'm replacing it. I was planning on having the light on a timer, however I don't know how long it will be needed to keep on. And I figured, if I'm going to be to be causing my parents electrical bill to be even more costly, why not plant the tank? If I go this route I will rehome the goldfish and possibly the weather loaches. So my main questions are:
Would the plants thrive if the only light they get is from a flourescent tube, for a certain amount of time each day?
What would be the best wattage to get, keep in mind I have NEVER owned a live plant before, and the plants would have to be hardy/starters.
And since I am pretty low on money right now, I thought, instead of dishing out $100 for a new canopy and light (yes it is that expensive here, unfortunalty), why not get a light you would get at a hardware store or something? Like the bendable ones that could hang over the tank? It doesn't have to be visually appealing, its in the basement after all.
I haven't done much research yet so may be able to find answers to my questions before anybody posts, sorry if they've already been asked before (many times...)

Edit:
Using this guide :
0 to 1 WPG ? Very Low
1 to 2 WPG ? Low to Medium
2 to 3 WPG ? Medium to Medium High
3 to 4 WPG or above- Medium High to High
Over 4 WPG ? High to Very High
I've figured that I would like 2 to 3 WPG, so I can have all the low light/easy growing plants to start out with but if I start to really get into it I can "upgrade" the plants a bit and go with ones that need medium/medium high WPG. Does this sound ok?

Oh BTW, I forgot about fertilizers and all that, if I were to go with low to medium light plants, do I need to go into all the complicated stuff , or can I stick with the tabs that you place in the gravel?

 

[Sibelius]

Firstly, you should be fine with your tank in the basement, all your plants will need is flourescent light. I think you'll probably need a proper aquarium one. I'd recommend T8 arcadia ones which aren't hugely expensive, but do their jobs well. Easy/starter plants are crypts (Wenditii for example), Vallis, Creeping Jenny, Amazon swords, java moss, anuabias. However, all plants do well in different tanks so it might be a case of finding out what's right for you. I'd suggest you invest in a good substrate like Tetra Complete Substrate or a similar thing made by tropica, that can go underneath your main substrate, sand (or alternatively gravel.) There are alternatives that are the whole substrate in one, rather than having 2 layers, though these tend to be more expensive.
I also suggest you read the pinned article on CO2, and set up a DIY system.

 

[MegTheFish]

Firstly, you should be fine with your tank in the basement, all your plants will need is flourescent light. I think you'll probably need a proper aquarium one. I'd recommend T8 arcadia ones which aren't hugely expensive, but do their jobs well. Easy/starter plants are crypts (Wenditii for example), Vallis, Creeping Jenny, Amazon swords, java moss, anuabias. However, all plants do well in different tanks so it might be a case of finding out what's right for you. I'd suggest you invest in a good substrate like Tetra Complete Substrate or a similar thing made by tropica, that can go underneath your main substrate, sand (or alternatively gravel.) There are alternatives that are the whole substrate in one, rather than having 2 layers, though these tend to be more expensive.
I also suggest you read the pinned article on CO2, and set up a DIY system.

Are you sure I have to go with an aquarium light though? I read some links to articles from the pinned topics, and they said lighting from hardware stores would work fine, they mentioned "daylight bulbs" and "full spectrum bulbs". Its just that there is NO selection for lighting here from the two pestores in this town, one store carries plants but thats as far as it goes (I have to go to travel to another city, 2 1/2 hours away, to get a good selection of plants), which really sucks.
And the one petstore (the one I don't work at) carries Vallis and Crypts, so thats good
Would normal gravel be fine? Again, I doubt I would be able to order any of the fancy stuff in, we don't have those luxuries, makes me want to move to a big city some times . I just recently bought the gravel and its a very fine, fine enough for some of it to get sucked up the gravel vac.
Ugg this is turning out tougher/more expensive them I thought, maybe I'll stick to plastic plants.
Sorry if it seems like I'm ignoring all your info Sibelius, I'm not trying to, honestly! And I'll read the pinned topics on CO2.

 

[MegTheFish]

I have a couple more questions, can a bubble wand be used in the tank? And regarding how many hours the light has to be kept on, I've read everything from 6 hours to 12 hours. Does it have to consecutive? Like I was thinking of starting off at 8 hours and seeing how thats goes, but instead of 8 hours straight in a row, 4 hours in the morning and then 4 hours later on, because I don't want the bulb to get too hot.

 

[Dave Spencer]

I have a couple more questions, can a bubble wand be used in the tank?

Is a bubble wand one of those fancy devices run by an air pump to give a wall of bubbles? If so, it will drive off the CO2 in the water, which will be detrimental to your plants.

And regarding how many hours the light has to be kept on, I've read everything from 6 hours to 12 hours. Does it have to consecutive? Like I was thinking of starting off at 8 hours and seeing how thats goes, but instead of 8 hours straight in a row, 4 hours in the morning and then 4 hours later on, because I don't want the bulb to get too hot.

The lights should generally be on for ten hours (called the photoperiod). This roughly mimics what plants would experience in their natural environment. You might as well keep things simple and just have the lights on for ten consecutive hours.

Cheers, Dave.

P.S. Lovely looking dog in your signature.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Okay. Generally if you have more than 2 watts per gallon (wpg) you'll need CO2. When you inject CO2, you'll want to minimize surface agitation. So if you do have CO2, you probably won't want a bubble wand. Most people here keep their lights on 10-12 hours. Some people do this: 5 hours on, 2 hours off, 5 hours on, 12 hours off, repeat. I think the plants still will photosynthesize with the 2 hours off, thus extending the photoperiod AND reducing algae at the same time. Something like that.
Hope this helped,
neon

 

[MegTheFish]

I have a couple more questions, can a bubble wand be used in the tank?

Is a bubble wand one of those fancy devices run by an air pump to give a wall of bubbles? If so, it will drive off the CO2 in the water, which will be detrimental to your plants.

And regarding how many hours the light has to be kept on, I've read everything from 6 hours to 12 hours. Does it have to consecutive? Like I was thinking of starting off at 8 hours and seeing how thats goes, but instead of 8 hours straight in a row, 4 hours in the morning and then 4 hours later on, because I don't want the bulb to get too hot.

The lights should generally be on for ten hours (called the photoperiod). This roughly mimics what plants would experience in their natural environment. You might as well keep things simple and just have the lights on for ten consecutive hours.

Cheers, Dave.

P.S. Lovely looking dog in your signature.

Ok, skip the bubble wand then. 10 hours? Sounds good. Does it matter when it starts, I was thinking maybe 9 or so in the morning, then ending at around 7. And thanks, her name is Ginger

Okay. Generally if you have more than 2 watts per gallon (wpg) you'll need CO2. When you inject CO2, you'll want to minimize surface agitation. So if you do have CO2, you probably won't want a bubble wand. Most people here keep their lights on 10-12 hours. Some people do this: 5 hours on, 2 hours off, 5 hours on, 12 hours off, repeat. I think the plants still will photosynthesize with the 2 hours off, thus extending the photoperiod AND reducing algae at the same time. Something like that.
Hope this helped,
neon

For now I'm just going to stick with 2 watts per gallon, maybe upgrade in the future, so I don't have to worry about CO2. So your saying if I don't go with CO2, I can use the bubble wand? Can you tell I really want to use it, lol, oh I bet it would look nice in my 55...Anyways the 5 hours on, 2 hours off, 5 hours on 12 hours off sounds pretty good, I'd like to try that.

 

[MegTheFish]

I visited Canadian tire and was able to find a 24" flourescent "aquaruim" bulb, but its 34 watts, so thats 1.7 WPG, do you think this will be enough, I don't mind sticking with low-light plants. And if I find they don't do well under the light then I can hopefully search out a better light but for now I was hopeing I could just stick with this. And, can I just let it sit on top of the strip of glass on the canopy, where the light strip that came with the tank would normaly sit? Its not just the tube, it has a little cover on the top and you just plug it in.

 

[n3ont3tra]

That light sounds good. Not sure what you mean by the other question though.

 

[Dave Spencer]

Make sure you balance it carefully. Couldn`t you secure it with some rust proof wire?

Dave.

 

[MegTheFish]

Just a bit of an update, I got the light I was looking at and so far its been working great. I decided I can't part with my goldies, so I will search out some none-tasty plants in a bit, but for now I'm just leaving the tank as it is. Its in the basement so nobody really sees it, its my guilty pleasure (I just tossed any plants/funky decoration I had lying around in there), atleast the gravel is natural

 

[cheesy feet]

Hahah that has some funky colours