[Witchydesign]

This isnt something im going to be doing today, but id like to up my lights to something in the middle range. Right now i have stock Topfin leds which dont seem to think watts would be important information. I get the impression they are for looks. Unfortunately to upgrade the light ill need to also replace the hood. Yey... I am not dosing CO2, i only have a java fern, a carefully corraled duckweed cluster (4 bendy straws stuffed together into a box works awesome), and a moss ball right now and plain gravel substrate until my lfs gets my activflora order in. When i get that changed ill be looking at more plants and upgrading the lights. Is there any bulbs i should be looking towards? I dont think im ready to dive into high lights yet. I want to slowly build up to it so i can learn as i go.

 

[aquarist]

If you eventually want to go with highlight on this tank then you will want to look into getting a T5HO light or one the the nicer LED lights. Just look for a T5HO fixture that has independent bulb control, this way you can use only one bulb now and when you are ready to go high light you can use the other. A good brand would be Current USa, the kind of eBay work okay, but sometimes the ballasts don't work very well, these are also good lights to get second hand you can easily replace the bulbs and it'll be good as new. The best choice would be to go with the LED light you will want to look for a model that can be dimmed, this way you can have the exact level of light you want, and you can have a low light, medium light and high light tank with the same fixture. A good choice for the LeF would be a BML or if you don't want to be able to dim it you can go with a finnex.

 

[Witchydesign]

Led that can be dimmed? That sounds perfect actually. Thank you

 

[AGUILAR3]

If you have the $ to spare, you cant go wrong with one of the top LED brands readily available. If you're on a budget, a simple 13w cfl should do the trick.

 

[jrman83]

A Finnex Planted + LED will get you well into the med light level. It is about as high as I would want to go, without the addition of CO2. I use it on my 20 high.