Need help with a light fixture

ryann

I currently have a shop light with a T5 24 watt bulb over my 20 gallon high tank (24"L x 12"W x 16"H). I do not believe that this is enough light for my plants so I have been looking to upgrade. I was thinking about purchasing this light Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting
but from the sounds of what other people have said this might be too much light for my tank.

Someone told me also to add another of what I currently have but that would be the same price as the one in the link above so I do not want a bad light for the same cost as a much better light.

Is this light ok? Is there something better or cheaper that would be sufficient for my tank?

Here's the list of my plants Your Aquariums in the Aquarium Log

ryann

Can anyone help with how much lighting I need?

Byron

I would not recomend changing the lighting. Looking at your plants, they should all have adequate light with what you now have--which I would view as a bit bright but not too much that it can't be managed. Is there something wrong with the plant growth now that leads you to consider this? I'll wait for your answer (include a photo if you have issues) before going further.

Byron.

ryann

Thanks for the response Byron!

Mostly because other people on other forums have told me that I need more light for my plants.

My water wisteria looks to be brown around the edges of the leaves and the green lloydiella looks really bad. I have a feeling that might be algae but I would like another opinion on that.

I'm not sure if my lights are not good enough for my plants or if the plants are still just getting used to my tank water/

Any help would be great

Ryan

Attached Images

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Byron

Yoou may need less light. The photos show green water, is the tank actually green like this?

Now that I've seen the photos, some other issues appear. How long is the light on each day? And are you adding any nutrient fertilizers, and if so, which and how often?

Byron.

ryann

I have the light on for 11 hours each day. I'm using flourish root tabs. The water was a little green but I think that is from when I changed gravel recently. When I stirred up the old gravel it turned the little bit of water left green and my nitrates sky rocketed. I just did a 50% water change and that cleared up mostly. I have some iron liquid fert as well that I have only used once.
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Byron

I would reduce the light duration, down to perhaps 9 hours. Also, you need some fertilizers to provide nutrients in the water column. Substrate tabs have limited benefit; they are great with substrate-rooted plants with extensive roots like swords, but stem plants benefit very little if at all since they use their leaves as well as roots, and many of them have roots in the water column anyway. Flourish Comprehensive Supplement is one, another is Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti. Whichever, make sure you get the product specified, as both manufacturers have several different products under their line names.

Do not use the iron fertilizer. Plants need 17 nutrients, and iron is only one of the micro-nutrients. In excess it can cause other issues for plants, and fish too, as it is a toxic heavy metal. There is sufficient iron in both products I named, and in balance with the other nutrients.

You should not have nitrates above 10ppm, and usually well below 5ppm, with plants. Do water changes to get this under control, reduce the light, add the liquid once a week the day following the water change, and you should be set.

ryann

Ok thanks Byron. I will make sure I do those things. This is why I wanted to get another opinion before I bought a new light fixture.
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