Yet another CF related question

[Crocodylus]

Which is better for a 36L x 18W x 16H aquarium… one 36” 96W CF or 2 22” 55W CF ?

I’m not trying to grow a jungle, but a fairly well planted aquascape with some neons, guppies, platys, mollies, corys and ottos, also my substrate consists of 3/5 fluorite and 2/5 gravel

Thanks for your advise :p

[djlen]

How many gallons in that tank and what kind of plants do you want to grow?
Len

[Crocodylus]

40G and im planing on growing some glosso, anubias, riccia, maybe some swords

[djlen]

I think you'd be fine with the 96 watts. Glosso is a high light plant, but with only a 16" high tank you'd probably be ok.
Do you have any experience with plants and lighting?
Len

[Crocodylus]

only with low lighting plants like anacharis, hornworth, cabomba, etc. on a 10 gal aquarium doing 1.5W/G

[gnome]

Originally posted by Crocodylus
only with low lighting plants like anacharis, hornworth, cabomba, etc. on a 10 gal aquarium doing 1.5W/G

All three of the plants you mention need particularly strong light, actually. Many people give up on plants because anacharis and hornwort are sold as "easy-to-keep" and cheap varieties, while they really aren't so easy. The beginner gets discouraged that the hornwort is getting "leggy" and/or losing its needles, and the anacharis stem is constantly rotting away at the bottom, eventually completely going to mush... To make matters worse, beginners tend to shy away from *actual* low-light plants, like Anubias spp., Java moss, and Java fern because they usually sport the higher price tags. A low-light fully-planted tank is entirely possible, when one chooses appropriate plants.

That said, with CF lights, anything over 2 wpg is enough to grow just about any plant. Of the plants you say you want to keep, I'd only worry about the riccia, if it's being tied down, but since I've never tried it myself, I can't say for sure if there is reason to worry. Are you going to inject CO2? You probably should.

[Matak]

I would think that the 96W CF would be better because it is a single point source of light if the light is centered over the tank. Other than that, I beleive the twin 55's would be best because there would be more light available to all plants.

[djlen]

Croc, you put 96 watts of CF over that tank and you will have few problems growing anything in it.
I've got Riccia growing in less light than that as a floater and tied down. It pearls both floating and on the substrate. A beautiful sight to see.
BTW, if you use Anubia plant it on wood or something else portable so that the object with Anubia attached can be taken out and dipped periodically in a 19:1 bleach bath for 1 1/2 mins. to remove the inevitable algae that they pick up. I do mine every couple of months and they come up beautiful and grow better. Works great on Java Ferns as well.
Len

[Crocodylus]

Thanks all for you expertise, and yes i kind of agree with gnome on using some sort of CO2 source, be it DIY or other, also, my cabomba and anacharis seem to be doing ok, both have to be prune once a week :p.

Matak: Actually both setups go from end to end, the diference is that the the 2 55W overlap, so i got a little more light front to back and in the middle

djlen: yes, i am gonna attach my anubias to some driftwood, also if i get some riccia i will do the same on another log or maybe put a grid on top of them and plant some glosso (yes i know it needs lots of light and CO2) interwined.