Light For 3 Gallon

[kennygater]

hi i am planning a 3 gallon tank like george farmers one. is a 11w bulb enough for this tank? i am only having moss mainly but i want to grow glosso in the bottom. i am also using co2. thanks

 

[arif_93]

if u want to grow glosso i woulg get at least 2 or 3 11 watt lamps bcuz in nano tank the ratio to wpg and levels of lighting is different compare to larger tanks.
u need more lighting

 

[nry]

George used an 18w Power Compact T5 I believe, 11w is a fair bit lower, my suggestion is to try it with a small amount of glosso as the moss will be fine with that level. No point spending money if it will work OK.

 

[RadaR]

George did indeed use an 18W. But later on upgraded to a 24W for the later stage.

 

[TammyLiz]

I have used an 11 watt CF bulb over that same tank and I can assure you it wouldn't be enough. The highest light plants I had in it were rotalla and HM, and they did OK, although growth was slow, and I seriously doubt you could get a glosso carpet. Actually, I'm sure you couldn't. Also, depending on exactly which bulb you're talking about you might have even less success than I did. I've used hardware store type bulbs (same wattage, same K) that wouldn't even grow wisteria.

You can do a nice setup with that kind of bulb over that amount of water. In fact, I have five right now (I can't believe I'm saying that), although only one is the same dimensions as George's. You just have to keep in mind that the light is low-mid and choose the plants accordingly. I have a lot of fun tinkering with these little tanks.