# lighting question...do i have enough



## jeff5347 (Aug 15, 2011)

I had recently upgraded fron a 10 to a 20 gallon tank. My previous tank had 2 15cfl watt bulbs making 3 watts a gallon. I have about 4 aponogetons, 1 dwarf lily (just starting to srpout) vand one anubius that has been seeing very minor growth now. I read on one site Lighting | Aquarium Basics | Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine
that 4-5 if you have co2 and ferts.
FOr that im running 2 3L bottles of diy co2 and the ting is bubbling a ton. I also had osmocote in pills capsules that were in the 10 but since changing to the 20 i scoped all the stuff up. 
SO my questions are..
1. i was gonna get 2 26 wattcfl bulbs making 2.6 watts/gallon. Is this enough or way to low?
2. also should i refert the plants with capsules of osmocote or should i wait since i disturbed them in the tank upgrade.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

WPG doesn't work with spiral CFLs (I assume this is what you had) . 2CFLs should work fine. If you are going to transfer the substrate from the 10g, no need to refertilize. Just be careful with how much you add. 4-6 (approx) capsules in a 20g is about all you need.


----------



## jeff5347 (Aug 15, 2011)

jr, thanks forthe input here and on other posts. I have the spiral cfls and they are 15 and one is 26. The 15 says it is equivilant to i think 60 watts and 26 is equiv to i think 100. So would that mean my tank is getting 160watts?


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I never pay attention to equivalent wattage. Just focus on actual wattage. Make sure they are in the right spectrum.


----------



## jeff5347 (Aug 15, 2011)

Hopefully someone will read theis update and post on what they think. So i added another 2 sockets into my DIY canopy and now have 2 26 watt PC cfls and 2 10 watt cfls. The 10 watts are these..Lights of America
They are both 6500k. So now since i have a 20 gall and the lighting is a total of 3.6 watts. The 10 watts bulbs have 600 lumen each so give off 60 lumens per watt or 30 lumens per gallon each. The GE Pc 26 watts are around 1600 lumens each so about 61 lumens per watt and 80 lumens per gallon. 
The lighting is bright and so far the plants seem to eat up the lighting. I dont knowthe whole par, pur, lux and all that so im not sure how these do in that arena. So would i be right in saying my tank is getting 220 lumens per gallon and if so is that good? Am i way off on my calculations and numbers? 

Im just wondering if 3.6-4 watts per gallon is way to much or if i am at a good point right here. Any advice comments, applause is welcomed. Oh also im not sure if my calculations i just gave are "correct" so if nor please re-educate me. 
Thanks


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I think you should be fine, given it is going to be mounted in a hood and probably not the optimum way to have CFLs. If they were mounted pendant style and you had individual reflectors you maybe would have too much. Either way, monitoring it for algae or other issues will be necessary.


----------



## jeff5347 (Aug 15, 2011)

Thanks JR, I agree thats one reason i was curious as i was wondering if it would give algea a start. So far the plants seem to love the bright lights, the fish dont seem to care which is goo. Since i ganged my DIY co2 it is producing a ton of co2 so i think im good there


----------



## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> I think you should be fine, given it is going to be mounted in a hood and probably not the optimum way to have CFLs. If they were mounted pendant style and you had individual reflectors you maybe would have too much. Either way, monitoring it for algae or other issues will be necessary.


+1
I have that exact bulbs as well and they are super bright, you should be fine with the plants you have. it might end up producing too much algae for you in the long run and you might want to go to only one bulb. good luck!
my .02


----------

