Would like to put plants in my tank

[Sheila]

I would like to put a few plants in my tank and have been reading though the pinned topics on plants, but I have some questions. First of all, I don't think I have enough light....I have an AllGlass 38 gallon tank with the standard light that came with it. I just checked and it's only a 20 watt light. My question...is this enough for some low light plants, or do I have to replace the bulb in the tank? And if I replace the bulb, do I need to get a whole new hood for it, or can I just put the new bulb into the same hood? I don't want to short circuit the tank or melt the plastic. Would appreciate some advice. Thanks
Sheila

 

[Lateral Line]

Yes, your light is very low. You may be able to get a brighter lamp with a similar power rating to that which you already have, but you shouldn't try to run a more powerful lamp from an underated starter, it probably won't fire the tube anyway.

You can often squeeze more lumens by using a good reflector. Remember also, that fluorescent tubes get dimmer as they get older, the rate at which they do so depends a lot on the quality of the lamp. If your lamp has been in situ for more then 9 months, you may be suprised how much it has dimmed.

You could always try a few plants and see. Anubias species will almost grow in the dark, and Java fern is very tough and very tolerant.

If you want to start seriously growing plants, you're going to need to up your lighting quite a lot, which will probably mean a new hood with space for more then one lamp. As a guideline, for "Medium" light, you need about 2 Watts of full spectrum light, (~6000K colour), per gallon of water.

 

[tstenback]

Lateral line gave you some great advise but if none of these are an option at this time you can use your existing hood and get a full spectrum bulb if you dont already have one and create a reflector if you can to get more light into the tank. In addition to the plants mentioned by lateral line i have had great success with crypts and swords. They grow slower with less light but they stay healthy.