BleatingHeart

Moved to appropriate forum by Admin.

I am setting up my first planted tank and I was wondering if my lighting will be too intense.
I have a 15 gallon tank and I am putting a 130watt Power Comapct light with two day bulbs in them, no blue lights. Each bulb is 65W. I bought the Jebo Odyssea 24". I am not using a lid, but having the light on legs with an open top. That would be over 8 Watts per gallon? Too intense? Will I have a major algae problem?
The substrate I think I will use is all Flourite or perhaps a flourite base and top with 1-3mm gravel/sand. I also plan to add a CO2 of some sort, but not all too sure which one just yet. I saw a Hagen set up, but thought it was a bit cheesy.
I have had various fresh water fish/aquariums since I was 10, but never a "planted" aquarium. I have only had a few live plants, but in an only gravel substrate. So this is new to me. I am setting up a 15 gallon because I have to room for my 55 gallon anymore. Ahh, the Apartment life
The plants I have already are 2 ANUBIAS BARERI REG. 2 ANUBIAS NANA REG. 2 JAVA FERNs 2 BOIVINIANUS 2 CRYPTOCORYNE BLASSI 1 ANUBIAS (the smaller kind?) Will these die under those lighting conditions? Could I use duck weed as a type of filter to lower the intesity?
I have two Gourami's, a yellow bushy/bristle nose pleco and two marble snails going in there as fish (so far).
What do you guys think?

AaronT

That is way too much light to start off with. I would only use 1 of those bulbs. Are you coming from a reef backround by any chance?

trenac

I agree, to much light. It's much better to start off with less light and as you get more experienced you can up the light. But I personally would not go over 4wpg, which you can grow any plant with you want.

For C02 I would go with a DIY pop bottle setup. If you don't like the Hagan setup, there is a new setup out by Redsea that uses a power head to distribute the bubbles. Maybe it would be more to your liking.

stcyrwm

With these plants you have the option of keeping your lights way lower. You could do 2 wpg, skip the CO2 and start out simple.

Bill

Robert Hudson

It will not kill the plants, but you will have major algae problems. Why would you even want that much light?