My friend gave me her old 5.5g tank, but the problem is there's no light fixtures in the hood. I wanted to keep some low light plants in here such as java fern, java moss and anubias. Can they still grow on just the room lighting? I have a flourescent lamp that I can keep over it during the day, but it would have to be through the hood which is a light a light brown see through plastic. Will be this be better, or is there anything else I can do? Thanks.
5.5g with no lighting
- Thread starter Bender81
- Start date
It would be hard to get enough light over that tank with a lamp and a tinted top. Do you happen to have the tank dimensions? If we nkow the size of the top opening, we can maybe offer some suggestions.
Bender81 said:
If the room light is bright enough the java moss will do alright. I have some in a 5g and the light is not too bright but apparently bright enough. You could always get a small flourescent lamp to put over it. Foster & Smith has several small gooseneck types.
http://tinyurl.com/6alek
Tom
I'd change the top to clear glass. Some LFSs sell glass tops and incandescent light fixtures separately - I recently bought both for one of my tanks, they were very inexpensive. You can find small screw-in spiral compact fluorescents (look for 'daylight' or 'full-spectrum', 'warm white' lights aren't very useful to plants) and use these to provide a good amount of light. 2-9W spirals over a 5g tank would give you lots of light.
You can also find compact fluorescent desk lamps at office supply stores, Wal-Mart, and other places. I use 13W CF desk lamps to grow plants in small containers, they work quite well.
You can also find compact fluorescent desk lamps at office supply stores, Wal-Mart, and other places. I use 13W CF desk lamps to grow plants in small containers, they work quite well.
Thanks for the replies. I can't take off the hood, because I'm planning to get two ADF's to go along with my betta eventually. Will plants be ok if I put a lamp over the tinted hood? Kinda ugly though, 'cause it gives off a light brown/orange glow to the tank... 
I imagine you'll lose most of the useable light. Honestly, a glass top for a 5.5g top should be VERY inexpensive at a LFS, or you could have glass/plexi cut to size if you can find a hardware store/home improvement store that will do it.