Too much light for a 2g?

adblair

adblair

Fisher
Dec 5, 2003
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Memphis, TN
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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!
 
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"
 
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?
 
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.
 
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?
 
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
 
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).
 
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