Want to try plants

phanmc said:
The smallest light linked is a 2x20w T5HO totaling 40w. T5HO is much more efficient than regular fluorescent and even more efficient than compact fluorescents. I have a 12g tank with 50w of CFL lighting and that hood would be about the equivalent. Growth is very fast, CO2 and nutrient uptake is also very fast. At this light level there isn't much room for mistakes.

Unfortunately there isn't a cheap pressurized system. I'm currently using a $200+ ADA mini CO2 system for my 12g. There is a pressurized system that can fit onto a paintball CO2 canister but that's still close to $100, and you still need to purchase the canister.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/4531/product.web

I think 1 bulb on the T5HO fixture is sufficient for your needs. It should be able to grow a wide variety of plants with the addition of CO2 and not go out of control. Mgamer's idea of using an incandescent hood is also good. Screw in two 20w bulbs and you have all the light you'll need.
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But isn't two 20w incandescent bulbs the same watts as the fixture I had the link to,40w??
Could you also explain what you mean by at this light level there isn't much room for mistakes.What does that mean?Also the link you gave me,all you need with that is the paintball cannister?
 
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There is regular fluorescent (T12, T10, T8, etc), which we base much of the wattage per gallon on. There's compact fluorescent (the spiral and U-shaped lights) which are slightly better. Then there's the high output fluorescent which the T5HO fixture you linked are. High output fluorescent put out much more light than regular or compact fluorescent bulbs, so 40w of the spiral CF lights are not equal to 40w of T5HO.

When I say there isn't much room for mistakes, I mean that the light will drive growth to the point where it will use up the available CO2 and nutrients very quickly. If you do not have enough CO2 and ferts present, plant growth stops and that leaves room for algae to take advantage of what small amount of nutrients are available. Not only will the possibility of algae increase, the plants themselves will begin to show signs of nutrient deficiency much quicker.

The picture you linked is very doable with 20w of T5HO or 30w of CF light. The plants in the pictures are HC, dwarf hairgrass, and java fern. The most light demanding one is dwarf hairgrass and you don't need very high light with them, Mgamer's pic with the 1.5wpg T5HO shows the same dwarf hairgrass.

The CO2 system I linked has most of the important parts, you just need a glass diffuser, bubble counter, and paintball CO2 canister. If you go with pressurized CO2, I would also invest in a drop checker so you know you're not overdoing CO2, they're cheap on eBay.
 
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