CO2 + Lighting Needs for small Tank?

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Jan 1, 2008
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For the better part of a month I've tried to get my little 16 gallon tank to look the way I truly wanted to it. It cost me a lot more time and money to redo mistakes thanks to learning the hard way from the "experts" at the LFS. Now I've got Eco-Complete as a substrate (looks so much better) and a few low light plants in the tank (wysteria, Anubias barteri, Red Crypt, Java Fern, Moss Ball, and I think Anubias congensis.) They are only on the side of the tank and not nearly the mass vegetation that I've seen in some tanks. I'll post a picture The major questions I have after going through all this are:

(1) Do I need more light than the 15 watts for the 16 gallons I get from standard hood? I've heard that I do, even though with the high substrate in the tank I probably have more like 12-13 gallons of water. I've been able to find a 36 watt CF retrofit kit that promises to do the trick. The challenge is that if I ever decide to revert I heard I'll get major algae growth with this bulb and may do the same as well.

(2) Do I really need a CO2 injector with a tank this small? I'd prefer to stay away from this if I can and don't care to have plants much larger than I have right now and slow growth is good. Right now I have a small air pump that runs at night which I'm not sure is worth much of anything but figured it might help.


(3) What else do I need that might help sustain my little planted aquarium? I got a bottle of Seachems Flourish. I have Boyd's Chemi Pure in my filter in addition to two sections of bio-material for the bacteria. Here's a picture.

newtank070120a.jpg
 
Nice tank

Regarding the light, Yes, you really need to get more light than a single 15 watt bulb. Look around online for DIY "upgrades" to the lighting system.

And as far as CO2 goes, I would suggest CO2, helps cut back on the algae. Injection would be overkill in a 16 gallon tank, just google DIY CO2 Aquarium. Should yield plenty of results.

and as far as additives go, be EXTREMELY careful dosing that stuff, I had green water from H*** when I dosed that stuff (without CO2)
 
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Thanks for the comments guys. Thanks for the heads up on the fertilizer. I've only added one cap and will do it only once per week.

The problem with what to do is that I keep getting conflicting advice. First is the lighting - 1 WPG is supposedly sufficient for small tanks with low light plants such as I have. The ONLY choice I could find for a 20" wide tank is a retro kit with 36 watts (a hefty $75 with a bulb) that will supposedly add a lot of algae. I'd get the extra lighting if it wasn't for pricing (this little hobby is now costing a fortune) and if it's really a necessity. If the plants just arent working out I'd go back to the plastic, end of story.

That said, I'm told that while I may benefit from more light, CO2 is not necessary unless I want a very lush look and faster growing plants. Almost same thing with the light. I'm hoping to maintain what I have with minimal growth and minimal hassle. Adding CO2 now seems to be yet another thing to worry about and with DIYs, very easy to kill the fish. That said, are the tablets or liquid a reasonable (and seemingly easy to use) substitute?
 
I agree, if you up the lights then your stuck with adding the other 2 things that make plants grow to outcompete the algae. co2 and ferts. if you stay at your wpg now then you get nice slow growth and no need for c02 and it sounds like the mild ferts youve been adding are ok and you havnt seen a algae bloom or green water.

If its a screw in type bulb or if you keep your old one you can always switch back. If you want alotta plant growth get the high watt bulb ?kit? then add a 2L of DIY Co2 and the ferts your already doing and see how it goes. If you get a algae attack then youll have to change around some fert dosing- assuming your setup with co2 was consistent and your lights are on a timer.
 
Thanks guys... I had just ordered the extra lighting (Coralife 28 watt CF strip light for only $30) and a good CF bulb along with a cheap CO2 cannister. I really didn't want to but it seemed that everyone was saying that with my tall tank I was really going to be in for a challenge with 15 watts lighting a 16 gallon tall. I'm also experiencing some red crypt rot and the anubias seem to be getting dark spots. So for $70 total I got the cheap CO2 kit with a few replaceable cartridges too and perhaps this will help curb the problems. Tim Barr (I think) mentioned that a 1.5 WPG and CO2 was really the best to do "low light" and his aquarium looked downright amazing. Given I don't have his skills, perhaps these items will help compensate and, at the worst, I still have my old lighting to go back to.

Regarding algae, I'm noticing is that I'm getting loads of diatoms (I think that's what the dark brown is) on the wood and probably due to its proximity and closeness to the light. I don't see any other algae bloom going on although that isn't to say I won't see the dreaded beard algae that benefits nobody. I'm not sure if this is temporary but the water is definitely not green at all. On my second tank I added a few Otocinclus and they basically chowed down on the diatoms. I figure maybe I'm best off in having them do the same and see what gives.

Thanks so much for your comments as they are really helpful.
 
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