Lighting

[achase]

So I was thinking that maybe I should get a new bulb for my 16 gallon tank to promote healthy plant growth.

Currently I have 8,000K 15w T8 (which came with the hood).
The hood says it supports 120volt (19w) 20" Fluorescent bulb.

Any suggestions on what lighting improvements I can make?

On a side note....
For those following my kuhli problems I just wanted to let you know my last kuhli died this morning. Same issue as before! Urgh!

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

What plants do you have and what do you want to grow?

Sorry about the loss.......

 

[OrangeCones]

So I was thinking that maybe I should get a new bulb for my 16 gallon tank to promote healthy plant growth.

Currently I have 8,000K 15w T8 (which came with the hood).
The hood says it supports 120volt (19w) 20" Fluorescent bulb.

Any suggestions on what lighting improvements I can make?

There is not much more you can do with another T8 bulb. The max WPG you can do with the hood is about 1.2 WPG.

If you wanted to build another hood or possibily use the existing hood and do a retrofit, you could upgrade to a CF light with 36watts (which would give you 2.25 WPG). This company makes a great product and with two identical tanks with identical plants in them (no fish) and the exact same ferts/CO2 being added, I can attest to the reflector they sell in their kits. I got 30-40% more growth with stem plants when I had the 55watt CF hood vs. a straight t-5 tube that was 65watts. Considering I had 10 LESS WPG, that was quite a surprise. (These were over 20 gallon high tanks).

Your plant selection will go up quite a bit with 36watts (which with their reflector will seem like 58watts). It would be like having about 3.6WPG.

36 or 55 watt Bright Kits

On a side note....
For those following my kuhli problems I just wanted to let you know my last kuhli died this morning. Same issue as before! Urgh!

Sorry to hear of your loss. With the care you take of your aquariums, I can only deduce that you had a 'bad batch' of loaches that eventually died of the prior stresses they had been put under. I've had them live for YEARS (and breed) with just living among the plants and no special care, just finding whatever leftovers they find.

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

@OC-I know I have read this somewhere, but don't know where....What is 110W of CF = T8 tubes? So if I have 110W CF over a 55 gallon, would I have more then 2.0 WPG?

Sorry about the hijack achase!

 

[achase]

@Dylandrewsdad - I currently have Java ferns and Anubis (sp?). No worries about hijacking I do it all the time! Hehe!

@OC - I don't want to change my hood (to much effort). Would CF light with 36 watts cause any problems since my hood says max wattage 19watts? I don't really know anything about lighting.

You know I was almost hoping it was something I was doing because then I would know how to fix the situation for the kuhli's. What I thought was weird was the period of time between each kuhli's death.

 

[aakaakaak]

You could head down to the DIY section and there's a couple nice threads about adding CLF's into an existing hood, as well as overdriving your lights.

Something I'm going to give a shot is DIYing a plastic rain gutter with screw in CFL's at 6500K. If I can fit four 23W bulbs I'll be at 3.17WPG. I'm guessing I'll only be about to fit 3 in for 2.4WPG. Straight up Home Depot job. (Actually lowes because HD's daylight bulbs are 5500k) You can do similar things with straight tubes as well.

I'm having a string of crappy luck with fish myself. I completely feel for you.

 

[Mjnorcal922]

So I was thinking that maybe I should get a new bulb for my 16 gallon tank to promote healthy plant growth.

Currently I have 8,000K 15w T8 (which came with the hood).
The hood says it supports 120volt (19w) 20" Fluorescent bulb.

Any suggestions on what lighting improvements I can make?

On a side note....
For those following my kuhli problems I just wanted to let you know my last kuhli died this morning. Same issue as before! Urgh!

sorry about your loss
but hey your dwarf puffer? is that a freshwater fish?!?! i wanted to get a puffer fish but idk what u have to do

 

[aakaakaak]

There are a couple puffers that are freshwater throughout their life, but many of them can start out in fresh, but need to be moved to brackish over the course of their life. The salt would crew with lippy badly. It may kill him.

If you want a puffer I suggest you do your research on what will work. Achase should be an excellent resource. You asked the right guy.

 

[achase]

Dwarf Puffers aka DP's are indeed freshwater puffers and remain freshwater. DP's should be in a species only tank or sometimes they can co-live with larger snails or shrimp but either can be food depending on the personality of the DP. The minimum tank size for a single DP is 5 - 10 gallons and then you need to add 3 - 5 gallons for every additional DP. There adult size is about 1inch. Also DP's need to be in a medium to heavily planted tank especially if there is more than 1. That is a brief overview if you have any questions just send me a msg!!

You asked the right guy.

I'm actually a girl! Hehe!