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Old 16-04-2010, 01:01 PM posted to rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants
JLG JLG is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Apr 2010
Posts: 3
Default Lighting for a Planted 29 gal high

On Apr 14, 10:25*am, "Smedulb" wrote:
"JLG" wrote in message

...

I have one flora glo 20 W- 24 (61 cm)- 25 mm Diameter- T8 bulb for my
29gal high planted aquarium. *Is this enough lighting? My fixture can
hold two bulbs, should I add another?


What kind of plants are you growing? *Are they growing well? *Do you have
algae problems? *20W of light in a 29 gal aquarium is a *very small* amount
of light, especially in a "high" aquarium where the light has to penetrate
through more water to get to the plants. *In my experience, even low light
plants like java fern and most crypts tend to do better in the 1-2 watts per
gallon range. *Right now you're running at a little less than .7 watts per
gallon. *Keep that in mind when purchasing new plants, but don't fix what
isn't broken. *If your current plants are doing well without algae problems,
and you don't have any desire to grow plants with high light requirements,
then you should be fine with things the way they are.


I just finished treating my tank for ich using rid ich. I made a
rookie mistake of adding a new fish into a new tank (2 weeks old)
from an unreputable place with no quarantine and my clown pleco showed
signs of ick. All my plants survived. I currently have:
1) two small patches of micro sword
2) one water sprite
3) one amazon sword
4) and one bananna plant
All the plants survived the ich treatment. the only plant that is
browning a drop is the water sprite (ironically also the tallest
plant).

I have a place to add a second bulb in my hood. Based on what I have
in the tank now should I add a second T8 Flora glo?

Thanks again for all the advice. I am a complete beginner and am
trying my very best to get this right, but you cant always trust the
people in the store as these days they are high school kids who never
even had a fish tank.