Thanks to everyone who pointed out that I don't have enough light for
the plants in my coldwater tank. It's Hagen kit tank 25 gal, 30" long,
16" deep. 12" wide. It came with 1 20 watt 24" Aqua Glo flourescent
light which gives me less than 1 watt per gallon. I am keeping small
native fish - 3 rosy red minnows and 3 of what I have tentatively
identified as banded killifish.

Ok, I want to upgrade the lighting for my tank so the plants do
better. Looks like I can't just get a brighter bulb for my hood. I saw
various options at Big Al's when I bought the tank a few months ago.
The kit seemed to be a much better deal at the time than buying the
parts separately, and now here I am buying more parts!!! Sigh...

Anyway, I saw glass tops which you could put separate lighting
fixtures on top of. I would like something flexible so that I could
add more light later if I decided to really get into this planted tank
thing. Would this be a good idea? I am thinking of staying away from
CO2 at the moment. So could I buy a glass top, maybe use the light
from my existing hood plus another fixture on the top? Would they fall
off if my kitten jumps on them?

I've been studiously reading the back posts on watts per gallon. Would
three 20 watt bulbs be ok? That would be 60 watts or about 2 1/2 watts
per gallon. Is that suitable for the size and shape of my aquarium?

Thanks!
Judy
http://jumaka.com/aquarium/index.html