Too much light for a 2g?

[adblair]

OK... I have gone a little crazy here, I know. I put plants in one of my tanks and I like them so much, I decided to plant my 2 gallon. I have a flourite substrate and.... a 15 WATT BULB! Yes I know how many watts per gallon that is.... thus my question is will I be able to keep anything alive in there or is that just too much light? I also use Flourish Excel. For plants I thought I would start with some dwarf hairgrass. I don't have any fish in there yet, but I am thinking of adding some shrimp and maybe a snail. I have also thought about a betta instead, but I hesitate to put one in a tank that small. Any advice on the lighting, plants, or fish would be appreciated!

[Tempest]

What *sort* of 15 watt bulb? Regular flourescent, CF, or incandescent?

[Gomer]

The watts per gallon rule breaks down in small tanks. My 10g is running 7.2wpg (which is more like 4wpg on the "normal scale") and my 0.6g is at 14wpg (which is more like 1.5wpg on the "normal scale"

[adblair]

incandescent bulb....

So does that mean I don't have too much light?:confused:
How would I determine how many wpg I actually have then?

[Aquarius0015]

Question: If I add a 15w CF or reg fluor. to a 5.5 gallon, is that still about 2.72?

[OrionGirl]

Incandescent lights don't really offer the spectrum preferred by plants. See if you can get a screw in compact fluorescent light--it will be better than the incandescent light. Most home warehouse stores carry them--between $5-10, in a range of wattages. I use on on a 5 with no problem, but the bulbs are a bit bulkier, so finding one that fits can be a challenge.

[adblair]

hmmm..... I'll check Lowes tomorrow.... the hood is pretty small, so it may be difficult like you said. Should I look for a lower wattage if possible or will it matter?

[slease]

plants love light :D get the highest wattage that fits. when buying a CF make sure not to get one that says "soft light". check out walmart's fish section for a cheap CF that works well.

[djlen]

Use the Lowes or Home Depot suggestion......cheaper.....better selection.
If in doubt, take the fixture with you and make sure it will fit. Get the straight type CF rather than the curly type as it will be narrower and probably fit better.
15 watts over a 2 is not going to be a problem, as Gomer says above.
I would suggest that you start off with stem plants and nutrient hogs and let your tank age up for you. Then you can go with some of the other plants later. Try to stick with mostly small leaf varieties as, IMO, they look more in scale in a tiny tank.

Len

[Aquarius0015]

I went to Lowe's yesterday. I only saw the spiral CF not the straight tube CF. The smallest spiral CF I saw was 7 watts and still quite wide (although it was 7 watts, I think it was meant to replace a standard 25 watt).

[adblair]

I just got back form lowes and I found a 15 watt spiral that fits. The straight ones had a larger piece right above the base and I didn't really have the clearance for it, but this one fits great. THANKS OG! :D
The new bulb really makes the water look clearer too. Go figure. :scratch:
I have got a couple of plants in there now, not sure I will keep them there, I just moved a couple of new ones from my other tank. Will they be ok with no fish? I am thinking I will move some gravel from my other tank in there (for bacteria) and maybe get some shrimpies in there later tonight.
If I did decide to get the hairgrass in the future anyone have any suggestions on planting the stuff? From what I have seen it comes in that "stuff" in pots and the plants are SOOOO tiny when you take them out.... how do you get them to stay planted without burying the whole darn thing? Or is there another "ground cover" that someone can recommend? I really don't think want to do a lot of tall stuff in there....
ALSO.... if I wanted to do a crypt, would I have too much light?

Ya'll are so helpful! THANKS for everyone's advice!

[djlen]

If you have another tank, squeeze out the sponge from that into some tank water and the siphon the gunk(mulm) into your new tank right onto the new tank's gravel, or if you have two sponges in the established tank, take one of them and put it into the new tank's filter. This will establish a bacteria colony quickly for you.
The plants will be fine without fish. Give them a week/10 days to establish themselves before adding fish.
Planting: remove the plants from the pot and remove any packing material that surrounds the root gently. That stuff is probably loaded with nutrients that could cause algae problems down the road. Then decide where you want to plant a particular plant.....take the plant by the crown(just above the roots) and put it onto the substrate an inch or two away from where you want it to eventually be, and gently push it into the substrate while gently sliding it toward the desired location. You will notice the roots going under the substrate as you move it to it's final spot. If you have done it correctly, the crown should be slightly buried and as many of the roots as possible, buried. Now gently pull the plant out enough so that the crown is at the substrate surface with no roots showing. This method should keep it in place.
Plant as heavily as you can and you won't have to worry about a 'cycle'. The plants will take care of that for you.
The reason I suggested stem plants is that they are fast growing, and use a bunch of the toxins that the fish you will eventually introduce, will give off(ammonia & nitrites) until the tank can establish itself. Down the road the ammonian will give way to nitrites which will give way to nitrates. At that point the tank is on it's way to being 'established'.

Len