Advice on Fluval Nano vs. 3.0

[Cbass]

Hi all...I know that this sounds like a silly topic. So before I start, my tank is a 20gal long rimless, 36" wide, 12" deep and 12" high not including substrate which is about 2-4" inches ramped from front to back. 

I currently have 2 Fluval Nanos and they work just fine now that I figured out a good lighting routine. They are about 4" above the water. However, the middle of the tank is somewhat of a dead zone. At the center of the tank is a driftwood branch (looks like a tree) with weeping moss at the top (it's almost at the waterline) and some anubias at the base. Anubias are fine since the moss filters the brunt of the light. But the moss in the middle isn't doing as well as I'd like and it's trying to reach where the lights are. Moss that is closer to the lights are fine.

I was thinking of doing one of the following:

1. Get another nano and put it in the middle.

2. Spend 2x the cost of the nano and get the 36" fluval 3.0 and call it a day. Did not consider this before because with the exception of my AR plants (which are struggling anyway since I don't run Co2) most of my plants have medium light requirements and are growing.

3. Do nothing and remove some of the moss in the middle. Move the 2 nanos closer together and just let the ARs fend for themselves or just give up and replace it with repens or some other low to mid light plant. 

What would you all do? I'm fortunate to have a job to support my hobby, but hate spending when it's unnecessary. Then again, it's like any hobby where you get in deep and end up spending it eventually.   

Edited June 10, 2022 by Cbass

[nabokovfan87]

I actually had a similar issue with my tank, 29G, due to some dead spots and other issues trying to get enough light at the substrate level.  Please check this out:

https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/22333-journal-29g-black-venezualan-corydoras-breeding-project/?do=findComment&comment=211695

Edited June 10, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Ken Burke]

On 6/9/2022 at 9:50 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I actually had a similar issue with my tank, 30G.  Please check this out:

 

Are you missing a link?

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/9/2022 at 7:47 PM, Cbass said:

What would you all do? I'm fortunate to have a job to support my hobby, but hate spending when it's unnecessary. Then again, it's like any hobby where you get in deep and end up spending it eventually.   

Do you have a place to use the nano lights? Beyond left to right, how is the coverage you're experiencing with the nanos front to back?

On 6/9/2022 at 7:47 PM, Cbass said:

I was thinking of doing one of the following:

1. Get another nano and put it in the middle.

2. Spend 2x the cost of the nano and get the 36" fluval 3.0 and call it a day. Did not consider this before because with the exception of my AR plants (which are struggling anyway since I don't run Co2) most of my plants have medium light requirements and are growing.

3. Do nothing and remove some of the moss in the middle. Move the 2 nanos closer together and just let the ARs fend for themselves or just give up and replace it with repens or some other low to mid light plant. 

A lot of the issues I've had is not with having "enough" light, but not having it where I needed it.  (Hopefully that makes sense)

I have not had issues with plants that get tall, and I'm realizing why so many people run 2-3 lights on a tank to get the light to depth for larger tanks.  Even though everything "looks fine" there's always been weird hit and miss issues in my planted tanks.  Anubias I can grow like a weed.  PSO too.  Val is easy.  But, there are some plants that just weren't working and I went down this rabbit hole of having a high tech tank.  What I'm trying to have success with now is making the "right" changes and adapting things slowly over time to fix the issues in the past.

With that being said, I changed my light from a 24" light to the 36" light on a 30" tank.  The real change was going from a just over 20" LED strip to a 30" LED strip.  Ultimately I went from 168 LEDs to 252 LEDs.  You're talking about going from 63+63 LEDs to 252 LEDs.  The real change is geometry of the light.  How it functions and interacts with the tank itself. You will have it closer to the water surface (good) and this alone is probably the thing to fix a lot of the issues you're seeing with the moss.  You might see the plants doing well show signs of "too much" light as a result as well.  Ultimately, I'd start with moving the lights closer the surface. I would try to see what that does and it will give you an idea of how things change moving to the other style of light. If you're lacking coverage in the front to back of the tank, then I do think it makes sense to use the other style light.  If you're simply looking to cover another spot better, but everything overall is "fine" by moving the light closer, then I think you can get away with another nano.

You'd also be going from 7500K to 6500K lighting.
1000 lumens --> 3300 lumens
 

On 6/9/2022 at 7:51 PM, Ken Burke said:

Are you missing a link?

Had to click off to add it 🙂

Edited June 10, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Cbass]

@nabokovfan87 front to back isn’t an issue. I have rotalia in the back and I’m having to trim them back. However the one on the left is bigger because it’s closer to the light source. The one on the right is slightly further. So I think it’s a coverage issue from right to left. 
 

Ill try to drop the lights lower first. If no change then maybe the nano since I like the idea of having lighting zones I can adjust. That’s why I didn’t get the 3.0 off the bat. I didn’t want to have this awesome light that was too much for the tank. 

[nabokovfan87]

Best of luck, let us know!

[Cbass]

Will. Thanks as always. 
 

Also, no. If I got a 3.0 the nanos would go back in a box or I would sell them. Or I would try to convince my wife we need a 10 gallon to breed ghost shrimp so the betta doesn’t eat the fry. Mama is berried again (4th time in 3 months). Lol. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/9/2022 at 8:41 PM, Cbass said:

Also, no. If I got a 3.0 the nanos would go back in a box or I would sell them. Or I would try to convince my wife we need a 10 gallon to breed ghost shrimp so the betta doesn’t eat the fry. Mama is berried again (4th time in 3 months). Lol. 

or houseplants.