Plants on a budget

[Undawada]

I have a 24 US Gal planted tank (for details see profile). I have java moss, java fern, anubias var nana, red and green hygrophilia, red wisteria and some sort of red lily.

I currently have a single 20W 18,000 K bulb and no Co2. My plants are surviving, but I know I need better light and Co2 for them to thrive.

I am saving to buy a double bulb light with better bulbs, and also want to add Co2.

Is there any point adding DIY Co2 before I upgrade my bulbs? It will be at least a month or two before I can afford the lights.

 

[Colin_BC]

Before you spend a ton of money on new lights, what double's are you looking at and where from? When I first "upgraded" my lights I dropped about $100+ CAD into a new double normal output fluoro, only to find it wasn't enough light for what I wanted. I've since purchased a Coralife Freshwater Aqualight power compact hood for a reasonable price and it's much, much better. If you're checking Big Al's Canadian site, you'll find they are very expensive compared to J & L Aquatics (click here for link to their compact fluoro page). I looked all around and they were cheapest online store in Canada.

As for the CO2, there really is no point under your current lights. Your wattage is your limiting factor right now. Once the lights increase to 2+ WPG, you will need to start considering CO2.

HTH

Colin

 

[Undawada]

thanks for the info!

My current bulb is flourescent, and I think I must switch to power compact if I'm going to go up to 65 W (which is where I think I should be).

The light I'm thinking about now is a Coralife 24" Freshwater Aqualight Strip 1 X 65 W.

It's $74.95 at J&L but it costs $45 shipping.. total $119.95
It's $109.99 at Big Al's with free shipping...

I might look around some more to see if I can find a better price.

Is there really a difference between the freshwater and marine versions? They're the same price...