Lighting Issues

[chimera_786]

Hi!
Ive had this aquarium from about a month now and everything looks good. Ive just added two plants which happen to be the java fern and a mayaca. Well i planted both of them in the substrate. As i found out, the fern does better attached to wood, rock or some structure. So ive decided to move the fern onto the rocks with the help of simple rubberbands. This should make a good effect. Well, ive been curious about the substrate as i dont think i have enough gravel for the roots of the mayaca to plant its self firmly. What substrate would be good for it and also, i have a single 17watt flourecent bulb. I dont think its enough for the plants to grow quickly and healthy. Its a topfin 20 gallons and i dont think i'll be able to mount a reflector on the hood caz the bulb takes up all the space. Ive been looking on the web for some lighting accesories such a heavier wattage bulb. Im not sure of the size that would fit in my present hood. I did measure the bulb in the my hood and its coming out to be 17.75iches. Now i cant seem to find the bulb which is of the same length that would fit in my hood along with a heavier wattage. Im looking for 1.7 WPG. Maybe i need to get a different hood which might be out of my budget range. All input is greatly appreciated.


TANK OCCUPANTS: 3 rasboras
3 danios (2 zebra danios and 1 long finned blue danio)

 

[rhoda55]

I'm pretty sure I have the same tank as you and I used the original light for about 8 months before upgrading. I was able to keep Vallis and Amazon swords, but was having a lot of algae issues. I recently upgraded to this and it seems to be helping. Java fern can grow with low light, but i don't know about the other. There is no higher watt bulb that you can put in your current fixture, you have to get a totally new system because each ballast is designed to only support a certain wattage.

 

[chimera_786]

well i think u were having algea problems because the algea was out competing your plants for the nutrients and henceforth u had algea problems. I want enough plants to use the excess nutrietns. Hmm, maybe i need to get plants which require low lightings. Could u help point to species of plants that use low lightings.

 

[waterdrop]

Well you've got a great start with the Java Fern, best low-light plant there is from what I've seen. You can also search TFF on the term "easy plants" and find some good threads.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[pippoodle]

well i think u were having algea problems because the algea was out competing your plants for the nutrients and henceforth u had algea problems. I want enough plants to use the excess nutrietns. Hmm, maybe i need to get plants which require low lightings. Could u help point to species of plants that use low lightings.

maybe some marimo moss balls - they are basically algae and as such live on the nurtriens algae need
they also are happy in low lit aquariums - look quite cool spotted around the tank and all i do is once a month fish them out of the tank and rinse them in tank water to get rid of any muck (like you do filter sponges) and then stick them back in