I have a 20 gallon high w/ a few plants and recently I got a deal on a Coralife 65 watt compact flourescent strip that I couldn't pass up. I thought more light = great, I can add more plants. Now the more I read I'm feeling very overwhelmed. I've never grown any but the lowest light, hardiest plants (read: java fern lol) and now I'm worried w/ this much light I'm going to have an algae problem, have to add CO2, and start messing w/ a bunch of ferts. I was really hoping to start slow; I don't know if I'm ready to dive right into the world of plants.
Currently in this tank I have a basketball sized java fern, about 8 stems of I believe rotala, a tennis ball sized banana plant and a piece of anacharis about an inch long (escaped from my anacharis in my 55 so I thought I'd pop it in there and see if it did anything). It is a 65 watt compact flourescent w/ an older bulb. I add Flourish occasionally. Until this point have very little algae. The bulb I replaced was a standard flourescent, I'm thinking about 18 watts. Am I asking for trouble?
I would really like to keep this light as it really makes the plants/fish look nice.
Currently in this tank I have a basketball sized java fern, about 8 stems of I believe rotala, a tennis ball sized banana plant and a piece of anacharis about an inch long (escaped from my anacharis in my 55 so I thought I'd pop it in there and see if it did anything). It is a 65 watt compact flourescent w/ an older bulb. I add Flourish occasionally. Until this point have very little algae. The bulb I replaced was a standard flourescent, I'm thinking about 18 watts. Am I asking for trouble?
I would really like to keep this light as it really makes the plants/fish look nice.
