I have a standard 10 gallon freshwater planted tank with a stocking level that is reasonable-- three otocincluses (otocincli?) and a male betta. They all get along fine, and it is filtered with a Marineland biowheel, 100gph.
However, all the standard 20" hoods I can find all have accomodation for only one 18" flourescent bulb. Even the higher intensity bulbs seem to top out at 15W, resulting in a lowish 1.5wpg. I bumped up the lighting duration to 11 hours a day and it's helped, but everything except the java moss has struggled in that tank. I've stuck with easy, relatively low light plants like java moss and java ferns...
my question is: can I make up for 1.5wpg and giving my plants the light energy they need by simply keeping the light on longer during the day? Or is there a safe, easy way I can supplement my one 15 watt bulb?
There are some hoods that have receptacles for two 25 watt "incandescent" bulbs that I suppose you can put in compact flourescents. But the hoods themselves are like $20 and each bulb is over $10. Seems like an expensive way to increase the amount of overhead light. Is it worth it?
However, all the standard 20" hoods I can find all have accomodation for only one 18" flourescent bulb. Even the higher intensity bulbs seem to top out at 15W, resulting in a lowish 1.5wpg. I bumped up the lighting duration to 11 hours a day and it's helped, but everything except the java moss has struggled in that tank. I've stuck with easy, relatively low light plants like java moss and java ferns...
my question is: can I make up for 1.5wpg and giving my plants the light energy they need by simply keeping the light on longer during the day? Or is there a safe, easy way I can supplement my one 15 watt bulb?
There are some hoods that have receptacles for two 25 watt "incandescent" bulbs that I suppose you can put in compact flourescents. But the hoods themselves are like $20 and each bulb is over $10. Seems like an expensive way to increase the amount of overhead light. Is it worth it?
