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29 gallon lighting help please.

2K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Bobbiep 
#1 ·
Hello,
I am posting here to request help with my 29 gallon tank. I was unsure whether to post in lighting or algae as my question has to do with both. All help is GREATLY appreciated!

My tank specs:
29 gal topfin kit, hood and filter are what came with it. It is 30 in wide, 19 high (16 inches from top water edge to substrate) 12 deep. The hood has 21 leds but I cannot for the life of me figure out how much light these put out. There is no documentation on the lights, I could find nothing online either.
I setup this tank about 9 months ago, I have 1 angelfish and 10 neon tetras in it. The plants in it are water wisteria, 2 anubis, 1 amazon sword, 1 water sprite and one other that I cannot remember what it is called. These are planted in about 2 inches of Flora Max substrate. I have been battling brown algae for about 8 of the months it has been setup. The wisteria grows and one of the anubis is blooming. I realize that my lights are probably not bright enough but I have researched planted tank lighting and everytime I look into it I get more confused. Everything says that you cannot use the watts per gallon rule anymore and the measuring lumens isn’t accurate either. I am posting here to ask what others would recommend for a lighting. My budget is limited so the cheaper I can go the better, however I do want to have the correct amount of lighting so that my fish and plants are happy. I do have pressurized c02 set at about 1 bubble a minute and I have been dosing Flourish once a week with my water change and I just got some Flourish tablets to put in the substrate and I put two in about a week ago. I do perform water changes every week, without fail and my water numbers are perfect, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, .5 nitrates and my ph is 7.8. The tank is in the living room with some ambient light but the window behind the tank is always covered.
To summarize my questions:
How much light do I need for the size of my tank? It is 16 inches from the top of the tank to the top of the substrate.
Can someone recommend a inexpensive hood or light fixture?
Is the light causing the algae problem? I have read that it will go away but I don’t think it is going to on its own as it has been about 8 months.
I have tried to give all of the tank info but if there is something I left out, please let me know. Thanks again for the help!
The attached pics show the algae and how my tank is setup.
 

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#4 ·
I hope that was a typo when you stated your co2 was at 1 bubble per minute? If it wasn't you need to turn your co2 up, I'd say on your tank you should be at atleast 2 bubbles per second. A clean up crew will help, you should look into getting some snails and otos. Most otos are wild caught and there survival rate isn't that great. Buy more and buy more than you feel you need, they like to be in bigger groups and eventually you will get some that stick around for awhile.
 
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