I have a 14g tank. i want to put lots of plants in.
i have a 15W fluorecent light tube. do i need more?

are the fluorecent lights tubes used in aquariums plain tubes or there are specific tubes for aquariums? :listen: :listen: :listen:

Hi Kflynt!
Its somewhat a low light, some of the plants do well with low light, but others don't do at all! What length is the bulb? Some of the new lights out have a higher wattage then the standard lights we get with our Aquariums.

I've found several different types, but when I needed a new light, I replaced with a plant/aquarium light from wally world. But now i'm upgrading my whole light system and those really great light systems are very spendy!

So in the long run, your probably better off going to a regular fish store and getting a better brighter light in the sunlight types unless you can swing a spendy light set up! The rest is sort of picking and chooseing the right plants to go with the light level!

hm...
im confused!

my fluorescent light tube is 18'' or 15''
but i couldnt find any 18 or 15'' tube higher than 15W... are there any?

i have 5 plants in a 14g now and i want them to live long!

what else can i do for them except light?

what sorts of plants are they? are there fish in the tank?

you could put fertilizer, depending on what plants you have,

no idea what are their names.... just picked them from lfs because i liked them...

No, you won't find a regular flourescent bulb in any wattage higher than what you have for that size. Not unless you start messing around with the ballast and other electrical things .

I just buy regular old bulbs from nnnnnn or wherever, and try to get 9000-10,000K bulbs, but that's just because I like the color. Many people just get the GE Sunshine bulbs.

At that wattage, you are limited as to what will survive. Crypts, anubias, java fern, java moss, anacharis (maybe), hornwort (maybe). But a nice crypt/java fern tank can be so much easier to take care of than one that grows like crazy and needs lots of pruning.

The rule of thumb for plants seems to be 2-3 watts per gallon.

I just solved my problem, I bought new glass canopy's and two new light systems, dual sunpaq's with a lunar light, those are very spendy though even for a cheap system. The original system was all plastic and only provided a total of 30 wats for the entire tank!

So I didn't have hornwort or anacharis do real well, though a few things seemed to hold there own.

But those new lights are spendy even for cheap models on sale too, a 40 watt single light system like mine with the lunar light, thats a 20" light for a 15 gl tank (I'm looking in the catalog now) is on sale for 54.00, the double light set up for 80 watts is 108.00 These have fans in them too, so there is more plugs to plug in also.

what about taking another 15W and put OUTSIDE the tank?

is this ok? does glass prevent light from getting to the plants?


will i be ok with 15W+15W for a 14g? thats about 2 watts per gallon...

is a plain fluorescent tube from electics store ok or do i need an "aquarium" tube?

You don't "need" an aquarium tube. Basically what I do is find a color I like. Some are purpleish, some are yellowish, some are white. I like as white as possible but that's just me.

Plants do like some light spectrums better than others, but for the most part, its not going to make a huge difference, especially if you are sticking to easier plants in the 1-2 watt range.

I'm not sure how much the extra light would help, it may reflect off the glass somewhat. But it could be worth a try.

is there any possibility of havin TOO MUCH light?
i have 15W in tank and 3x18W outside.
thats a total of 69W in a 14g...

If the light is outside the tank, you won't be getting the full wattage, you might also get a algae problem, but 3 - 5 watts per gallon will give you a better choice of plants, just remember to limit your lights on time.

Well, it could be. The hardest part is you don't know how much light is really reaching the plants.

If it is all reaching the plants, you'll need some fast growing, nutrient using plants in there or they algae will gobble up all that light and nutrients. And once you start getting over 2.5watts per gallon, you really should start thinking about adding CO2, which gets a little complicated especially in small tanks. Then, now that you have all these high light, fast growing plants in a little 15 gallon, you'll be pruning every few days....

I think its easier to stick to low light sometimes heheeh...

ahh.......
low light = plants will die...
high ligh = algae and CO2.....

With lower light plants won't die, just have a limited choice, bright colored plants will struggle, ie red ones. Just research plants, not all need mega light.

Yes, you just have to pick out the right kinds of plants. I really enjoy my anubias and crypts and javas much more than the dang watersprite and hygro which needs to be trimmed constantly to be honest. And in my tanks, the only plants that really NEED the amount of light I give them are a couple small swords and a few other oddball things.

i got no idea how much light my plants need.

ill test... its not big deal if a lose a couple of plants