Lighting With T8's

i have a 29gallon planted tank with a lifeglo t8 20watt bulb and a floraglo t8 20watt bulb and have been having problems with my plants growing/dying...i only have a fixture that holds one of the light bulbs at a time..after all the research ive done i believe my plant problems are a result of poor lighting..ive had many plants such as anacharis die, and my copragrass isnt spreading at all..i have cheap plant bulbs bought from petco that have grown very fast(odd)...i recently had no co2 but built a diy co2 reactor and diffusor..only been set up a few hours so dont know the results yet...my question is this..are my lights sufficient if maybe i swap them out every now and then or do i need a new fixture that can hold at least 2bulbs..if i do need a new fixture do they make them for the lights i already have bc i cant seem to find any that hold two t8s at a decent price..even with the two bulbs at once are they both strong enough lighting for my tank?? the most inexpensive way is the best with my budget but if it means spending a little i will bc i want a thriving planted tank..

hi am pretty much a noob so dont quote me on this, but i read somewhere that its best to aim for atleast 2wpg for a planted tank, which means you'd need atleast 58/60 watts altogether.

i'm not sure about glow bulb either, i heard they dont have a good rep, but again wait for others to reply i'm sure they will. Good luck with your tank

I'm still learning this stuff

Look into compact fluorescent fixtures. It is the only way to get good WPG on small tanks. Coralife makes a good one.

I'm transferring this into the Plants section whereby I'm sure our resident experts will be able give you a definitive solution to your problem
Regards
BigC

your lighting is fine, are you dosing any fertilisers?

aaronnorth said:

your lighting is fine, are you dosing any fertilisers?

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I agree in theory, but something your saying is kind of bugging me, Gh0st. Are you lights both on, over the tank at the same time, or are you switching them out? Your wording is awkward.

Here is a twin fluorescent fixture that I dug up. It holds a 24" 17W bulb, but may be something to consider. It wasn't expensive and you can put the bulbs you want and the lighting will be rougly the same as your current setup.



Slap that on a glass cover.

llj