troni Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 I have a 20 g high, so about 16 inchs deep, 24 long. I have a double bulb 15w t8 hood came with tank. 30 w total not much. Now how would I increase the amount of light so I can have "high light plants"? Increase wattage? More bulbs? Or is there specific 15w bulbs I can use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epiphany Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Will you be doing co2 and fertilization as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troni Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 No plan for co2, yet but I dose fertilizer, every 2 weeks or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishclubgirl Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 I think you're going to have to change your fixture if you want to go high light. One of the cheapest ways is to get an old incandescent fixture and use cfls but I'm not sure if that's enough for a 20 gallon. Perhaps someone else has some insight on this. I use them on some of my 10 gallons but not my high light tanks. Also when you double the light, you need something to take away nutrients from the algae like fast growing stem plants. Also co2 keeps the algae at check too. CO2 can sound really difficult but I'm a pretty simple person.... So I use the topfin non pressurized containers with a DIY yeast/sugar mix and I haven't blown anything up yet......... :& Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troni Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Bummer but it is what it is. If I do co2 I think ima try a paintball co2 with a regulator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epiphany Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 If you go high light you'll almost certainly want to do CO2 and up your fertilization routine to avoid algae. You'll need to be dosing pretty much daily to properly do high light. Unfortunately it's not as simple as just adding mroe light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troni Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) Well how would I accomplish high light in a 20g? Edited January 17, 2012 by troni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 The way to stay ahead of algae is to make light your limiting factor. Plants need 2 things to grow: nutrients (macros are typically dosed using CO2, KNO3 and KH2PO4 and micros are typically dosed using a trace mix), and light. If your nutrients are ballanced, and supplied in sufficient quantity, the plants will out-compete algae, and you love your planted tank! If you increase light w/o increasing AND KEEPING A BALANCE of your nutrients, the plants have a harder time out-competing algae. Thankfully, the type of algae that you see is a great indicator of what you are lacking. CO2 is the one that is needed most, which is why when you say you want to increase light, everyone asks if you're going to be adding CO2. Another option is going with Excel, and on a 20gal, it isn't overly costly. The trick is to keep a steady supply in your tank, so daily dosing is the best way to keep your nutrients in balance. If you don't want to or can't be at your tank most every day, then maybe going high light isn't a step you want to take; but, many of us have really enjoyed the fruits of our labour! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troni Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Ooohhhhhh ic. Ok if that's the case I will do co2 I looked up excel and that's interesting ill do some more research and make a decision. Ok so I am doing co2 how would I achieve high light in a 20g lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epiphany Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 The way to stay ahead of algae is to make light your limiting factor. Plants need 2 things to grow: nutrients (macros are typically dosed using CO2, KNO3 and KH2PO4 and micros are typically dosed using a trace mix), and light. If your nutrients are ballanced, and supplied in sufficient quantity, the plants will out-compete algae, and you love your planted tank! If you increase light w/o increasing AND KEEPING A BALANCE of your nutrients, the plants have a harder time out-competing algae. Thankfully, the type of algae that you see is a great indicator of what you are lacking. CO2 is the one that is needed most, which is why when you say you want to increase light, everyone asks if you're going to be adding CO2. Another option is going with Excel, and on a 20gal, it isn't overly costly. The trick is to keep a steady supply in your tank, so daily dosing is the best way to keep your nutrients in balance. If you don't want to or can't be at your tank most every day, then maybe going high light isn't a step you want to take; but, many of us have really enjoyed the fruits of our labour! Long term it would likely be cheaper and better to go with a pressurized CO2 system, you would get much more consistent growth and don't have to worry about dosing every day. Ooohhhhhh ic. Ok if that's the case I will do co2 I looked up excel and that's interesting ill do some more research and make a decision. Ok so I am doing co2 how would I achieve high light in a 20g lol You would likely want to go with a T5HO fixture to get high light. Being 24" long you could either go with a 24" or a 20" fixture which would give you either 2x24 watts or 2x18 watts. To be high light you would probably want to get a 24" fixture such as this one. Having 48 watts of lighting on a 20g will be a lot though,so you will need to be on top of fertilization and CO2, you also want to make sure you have enough plant mass to out compete the algae. Another option is one like this which would likely put you into more of a medium-high light which would be a bit more forgiving in terms of CO2 and fertilization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Increase wattage? More bulbs? Or is there specific 15w bulbs I can use? All T8 bulbs of that length will be of equal wattage. More bulbs will increase intensity. No bulb is vastly superior than another. how would I achieve high light in a 20g Reefering to this chart http://albertaaquati...showtopic=31834 A single T5HO (superior reflector) sitting atop your 16" tank will give you around 125 PAR. This would easily fall into the common perception of " high light". More than enough for starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Ooohhhhhh ic. Ok if that's the case I will do co2 I looked up excel and that's interesting ill do some more research and make a decision. Ok so I am doing co2 how would I achieve high light in a 20g lol why do you want to run high lighting?..typically higher lighting has more to do with growth rates then plant selection.. ideally you want spread rather then intensity. This is an example of med light with a good spread..around 60umol..(not my tank) the key here is to have good spread, non limiting nutrients and tons of co2...tank has about 50ppm of co2. You could run similar light levels with 4 t8 bulbs right on top of your tank. My suggestion is before you start getting into higher light, play with co2 and see what that can do for you first. Its far more important imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troni Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Excellent information! Thank you. I want high light cause from what I know I need high light for colorful plants which btw is a beautiful tank! But ok I'm going to start with co2 and try that first. But first I need to research more on ferts. Do all of you test for specific nutrients? And then add specifically or just a general fert like flourish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 I haven't used a test kit in over 10yrs. I use EI to get an idea of what I should add, then adjust when I start seeing certain algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Excellent information! Thank you. I want high light cause from what I know I need high light for colorful plants which btw is a beautiful tank! But ok I'm going to start with co2 and try that first. But first I need to research more on ferts. Do all of you test for specific nutrients? And then add specifically or just a general fert like flourish? that tank is dosed with ei..so no testing needed. That tank is also dosed with 3 different chelates of iron and extra magnesium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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