# Lighting for 20 gallon tank



## BlueJack (Apr 15, 2011)

tall....20 Long is 30"12"12. That amount of light should grow those plants fine(very slowly). Add another strip if you want to grow other plants.


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

So, to add another strip, i'll basically have to remove my current hood,buy a glass one (or make my own, just to add another strip light?
I want to add more light so the plants will grow faster


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*20 G Lighting*

Hello Cokers...

You have close to 1 watt per gallon of tank size. That's enough to grow low light plants. There's a pretty long list of them, but if you want to grow most aquatic plants, then lighting in the 2 watt per gallon range is required.

I keep low light plants that include Java fern, Anubias, several varieties of Cryptocoryne and Hygrophila, Pennywort, Onion, Peace lily, Red ginger, Water wisteria, Indian fern, Singapore moss, etc. Anyway, you don't need a lot of light to grow a lot of plants.

B


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## BlueJack (Apr 15, 2011)

Cokers said:


> So, to add another strip, i'll basically have to remove my current hood,buy a glass one (or make my own, just to add another strip light?
> I want to add more light so the plants will grow faster


yep...just buy a glass hood or if you're up for some DIY, cut out a piece of clear acrylic. 

If you want some faster growth you could also add a little diy co2. It wouldn't hurt.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

Im with brad on this.
Get an 6500K or 6700K 18 watt bulb, do low light plants and you wont have to mess with your hood.

if you really want more light is your existing hood and light such that you can just remove half the hood and put a second strip in its place? 

Both my 29 and 10 had a hood where the back half was just a flap that did nothing more than cover the tank, the front half had glass and the light. I never did it, but I could have removed the flap and stuck a second strip behind the original.


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

LOL actually, i did just make a DIY co2, it has yet to make any co2 however.
I actually have a spare fixure that i can use, except, where can i buy a glass hood?
I like having a feeding slot, makes feeding alot easier


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

Cokers said:


> LOL actually, i did just make a DIY co2, it has yet to make any co2 however.
> I actually have a spare fixure that i can use, except, where can i buy a glass hood?
> I like having a feeding slot, makes feeding alot easier


fish stores sell them or what I did for my 29 gallon was to get a piece of think plexiglass and cut it to the size I needed. Only downside is it starts to bend over time (like a slight curve after 2-3 weeks) to combat this all I do is flip it when I do tank maintenance I have a wash cloth I use with tank water to keep it clean. Works pretty well and cheaper than a glass top specifically made for a tank.


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

gah! it sounds like alot of troule -_-


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

then get a glass one and you wont have the trouble.


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

but if i get a glass one, i'll have to find a space to put my current hood, and then buy a new hood.
>.< why can't they just make lights with more watts


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

Cokers said:


> but if i get a glass one, i'll have to find a space to put my current hood, and then buy a new hood.
> >.< why can't they just make lights with more watts


cause then they would make less money, plus a large portion of the fish keeping population does not grow plants....its unfortunate


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

*sigh* guess i'll just keep the 18 watt


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

ok guys, i MIGHT try and make my own glass hood, gonna maybe make some notches in the corners for filters and such, and perhaps a sliding front (not really sure on this one), but question is, will the light strips slip off at one point or another?


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

Also, if im gonna make my own glass hood, is it possible to have a 24" strip light that can have 2 lights at once? my current ones (both the one im using and my spare) can only hold 1 light


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## BlueJack (Apr 15, 2011)

I've got a glass hood over my 20L and it holds 3 24" T8's


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

Are you going with real glass or plexiglass? 

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking about the strip lights sliding off.

There are quite a few dual 24 inch lights, the Coralife is pretty good. Lights here You might be able to find something at the hardware store that uses 2 bulbs in that size, a quite search only found 48" ones though.


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## fishbone (Aug 16, 2011)

I am in the exact same boat as op. I've decided to stick with the single 18in fixture for the crypts that I have.
The question I have is related to the Kelvin rating recommended here. The bulb I bought was an Aqueon Floramax in the 5000K range I believe. Exo Terra and Zoo Med also have bulbs for plant growth in the same Kelvin range. Are they not optimal?


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

5000K to 10000K is generally accepted as the best range for plants. I read the Encyclopedia of Aquatic Plants by Peter Hiscock that 6500K was the ideal in that range.


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## fishbone (Aug 16, 2011)

Wish I knew that, I prefer the color temp of 6500K. Wh do they brand the bulbs then as plant growing? They supposedly give off more red and blue?
Le: ok, so brief re-read and once again appears the light spectrum is the more important. I'll stick with what I have then.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

fishbone said:


> Wish I knew that, I prefer the color temp of 6500K. Wh do they brand the bulbs then as plant growing? They supposedly give off more red and blue?


I guess, I'm really not sure.


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## fishbone (Aug 16, 2011)

I think people go with 6500K because it's closest to what the sun would be at noon. All things being equal that's a good approach, but what I'm gathering is in an artificial light source the color spectrum may not be optimal at that color temp. So I guess it depends what bulb you're looking at. I figured going by the color spectrum was a better approach so I opted for the bulbs designed for plant growth, regardless of their Kelvin rating (as long as it looks nice). I'm happy with the Floramax and should be better than a wide spectrum "generic" bulb.


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## JasonG75 (Mar 1, 2011)

Cokers said:


> Also, if im gonna make my own glass hood, is it possible to have a 24" strip light that *can have 2 lights at once*? my current ones (both the one im using and my spare) can only hold 1 light


Yes but those are T5's (NO or HO) and once you go that route things can get a little more complicated. If you want to keep it SIMPLE for now stick with 2 18w T8's. You could look into a single T5no strip that's 24W and will give you 3 times the lighting of the T8.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

here is a two lamp, 24 inch, T8 fixture. you'd have to wire it so that it has a plug (not hard)

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1340686&CAWELAID=109381937


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## milesm (Apr 4, 2006)

you can retrofit an ahs 36w cfl kit, and keep your hood, no need to buy a lid.


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## milesm (Apr 4, 2006)

JasonG75 said:


> You could look into a single T5no strip that's 24W and will give you 3 times the lighting of the T8.


couple of misleading statements: t5no is not 24w, t5ho is. t5no is 14w. 24w is not 3 times the lighting of 18w.:biggrin:


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## milesm (Apr 4, 2006)

Cokers said:


> ok guys, i MIGHT try and make my own glass hood, gonna maybe make some notches in the corners for filters and such, and perhaps a sliding front (not really sure on this one), but question is, will the light strips slip off at one point or another?


consider using clear glass louvers. one is roughly 4" wide. pretty cheap for being quite thick. our lhs (local hardware store) cuts it to length for free.



ok. im out.


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## JasonG75 (Mar 1, 2011)

milesm said:


> couple of misleading statements: t5no is not 24w, t5ho is. t5no is 14w. 24w is not 3 times the lighting of 18w.:biggrin:


My T5ho are 54W 

When we are talking about PAR yes a 24W T5 is 3 times are powerful as a 18W T8 bulb


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