[Alex95]

I have been looking at all of your journals on here and I thought I would start one. I got the 20g long at petco $ per gallon sale. The first tank I had was a 10g with blue gravel and a couple plants from petco. BTW, the only truly aquatic plants in petco are the amazon swords and the bulbs in packages. Im planning on going medium to heavy planted tank.

With this tank I plan on putting more effort and cash into it.
My plans include:
-Eco-complete or other similar substrate
-HOB filter (no place for canister)
-2 to 3 watts per gallon light
- glass cover
-pressurized co2


Would this setup be good? What light would you recommend (I was thinking t5 maybe)? :icon_ques

 

[2in10]

Good start, those bulbs are hit and miss at best too. A 2 bulb T5NO or T8 fixture will give you plenty of light.

 

[londonloco]

+1 on the two bulb T5NO, a 20g long is only 13" high...plenty of light.

 

[Alex95]

What filter would you recommend? I want something quiet and to give good flow but not too expensive.
Any certain brands for lights you recommend? Something cheap but does the job.

 

[londonloco]

On both my 20g longs I have xP1's....they keep the water crystal clear.

 

[the planter]

an aquaclear HOB.

 

[Alex95]

I can't do the xp1 because I don't have a place to put it. The aquaclear sounds good. Should I get the 50 or 70? Any cheaper places to get them?

 

[Eldachleich]

I love my aquaclear. I would go with the 50 but thats me...
Also felt I should add that my petco has only aquatic plants... Just saying.. they arent all bad lol...

 

[londonloco]

I'd get the ac50 from here:

http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-50-...0FUM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316460684&sr=8-1

Amazon has been almost giving them away for some months now. The AC70's are only 34.50$....

 

[Alex95]

How is the flow difference with the 50 and 70?
What about lights?

 

[SJInverts]

I just setup my 20g long yesterday. Petco sale as well. I am running a AC20 and I am using a dual T5 NO(normal output) fixture. If you are planning on doing T5 NO, the fixture in the link below is a good one.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/209809/product.web

 

[Alex95]

Anyone else use that light? Is It good?

 

[2in10]

I haven't used one but the brand is a good solid one. You should have no problems with the light. Bulbs should be fine too.

 

[Alex95]

Well I just placed my order for the ac50. It should get here in about a week.
Could I go with more light if i have co2 or would that cause more algea?

 

[2in10]

If you increase the CO2 you can increase the light. It all depends on how much work you wish to do.

 

[Alex95]

Well I am not too sure on the lighting so I looked around and found a zoo med HO light. Is this too much and what is the difference between HO and no?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002DIRBY/ref=aw_d_iv_pet-supplies?is=l&qid=1316480352&sr=8-1

 

[londonloco]

A 20glong is only 13" high. Even with co2 I think your going to be fighting algae with an HO fixture. Look here at Hoppy's chart:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/105774-par-vs-distance-t5-t12-pc.html

 

[SJInverts]

I think the T5NO will give you plenty of light, without growing an algae farm. You could always buy a 2nd fixture down the road if you wanted more light and still be under the cost of most T5HO fixtures.

 

[genyosha]

Anyone know where I can get that 30" T5NO fixture in Canada? The shipping is crazy expensive

 

[MoeBetta]

I've got a 20 long and pressurized CO2 with three spiral CFL bulbs in brooder lamps.

Algae city until I raise the lights or get a more reasonable lamp.

Sometimes the right light isn't the brightest light. Food for thought.