I used to have a 29 with baby tears which I would trim into a 'sod'. I had a 55W AHS retrofit plus a 20W standard strip light - along with pressurized CO2. I don't know that you could do what you want with less.
I wish that you you would use the normal front and the normal front color.I have two aquariums that I need lighting help with. One is a standard 20 gallon (24x12x16) and the other is a standard 29 gallon (30x12x18). Right now the 20 gallon has two 15 watt fluorescent lamps (5500K), the 29 gallon has one 20 watt bulb (6700K). Both tanks have DIY CO2 and use the Flourish line of fertilizers.
The plants I'm keeping are Amazon Swords, Moneywort, Banana plants, and Dwarf Baby Tears. I'm having trouble growing a carpet of the Dwarf Baby Tears and I think it's most likely that my lighting is inadequate.
Neither of my hoods has a reflector, just the white plastic thing. Would adding a reflector be sufficient or do I need to upgrade to PC fluorescent? If so, how much lighting for the two tanks?
You can check the dimensions of the AHS reflector on their website, then compare that to how much room you would have to install it. I suspect there wouldn't be enough room in most light fixtures you could buy.What if I bought an already completed light hood and just added a reflector from AH supply?
I really don't know anything about T5HO.
I still haven't decided which route I'm going. But I came across this item.
That would put my 20 gallon tank at 2.4 WPG and seems more reasonable to maintain. I really don't know anything about HO and the availability, durability, and quality of the lamps. I'm also going to check out the Metal Hallide fixtures.
Can anyone give me some pros and cons of the different options?