Using a 25 Watt Bulb

T

The Loach

New Fish
#1
Nov 17, 2010
3
0
0
#1
I recently decided to step into the nano freshwater world due to me moving into a new place, and having limited space. So I'm starting a small 5 gallon planted tank, in which I'll probably just place a couple cory cats, or I may go the dwarf puffer species tank route. I'm still working out the exacts ;). But anyway, I already had the tank, filter, and heater, and all I needed was a hood. Unfortunately my local Petco didn't sell 5 gallon hoods, and all the kits are bowfront with crappy little worthless filters, and no heater. So I went to walmart in a last ditch effort, and there was a 5 gallon kit (With tank and filter) for $30. I figured I'd probably end up spending that much anyway if I ordered just the hood online, so I just got the whole kit.

So I got it home, snagged the hood and put it on my cycling tank, and realized in the manual that the hood "will take bulbs up to 15 watt". I was going to put a 25 watt bulb in the tank for proper lighting for the plants. So what I'm wondering is should I be concerned about putting a 25 watt bulb in this hood or not? Honestly the lowest wattage I even see them selling at pet stores is 25 watt, so can I put it in anyway, or have I been screwed by Walmart cheapness yet again? *celebrate
 

O

OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#4
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#4
15 watts over a 5 gallon tank will be 3 WPG, but since the tank is so short (top to bottom), it will be intense light. You can treat it like 4 WPG. No matter the plants you plan to use, you will need to either add a carbon source like Flourish Excel or at least a DIY CO2 input, or you will likely have algae problems.

I have only 10watts over my two 5 gallon tanks (2WPG) and am able to grow red plants that lose color if moved to a 29 gallon tank with 3.75 WPG. The 'WPG' just gives you an idea. It is the light that actually reaches the bottom of the tank that matters. I get more growth out of my 20gallon long tank with 55 watts than I do with my 20gallon high tank with the same 55 watts. Both have 2.75WPG, but 12" depth vs. 16" depth makes a big difference.
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#5
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#5
Since I am more of a plant newb than Orange, I will be stressing the importance of floating plants in a setup such as this. something like duckweed, amazon frogbit or any other plant that can be used as floater (hornwort anyone?) will not only help by shading some of the light and making the tank into a low-medium light tank again, but will also help with algae control. floating plants usually have the edge over submersed algae since the floating plants are closest to the light and they can take CO2 directly from the air.
Excel is a good choice, especially if you are not a fan of floaters.
 

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