Lights on 20 Gal High

[Platosdog]

Hello all, so I have a 20 Gal High with just the lid lights that came with it. Looking to get a better light for plant growth. I have guppy grass, Java fern, Java moss, anubius, giant hairgrass, lutea, wisteria, water sprite, moss balls and subwassertang. I am looking at finnex alc but not sure what would be good for a high tank, plus most my plants are low light anyway. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!  
 

[FrozenFins]

The finnex should be fine for your setup. As you mentioned most of your plants are low light so there shouldn't be much to worry about.

[KaitieG]

I swapped my lid lights for a Nicrew Plus Planted light about a month ago.  I have anubias, java fern, water sprite, moss balls in my 20 high tank, and I'm happy with the amount of light it provides.  I have some brown diatom algae showing up on the tank glass with the increased lighting.  Haven't noticed a change with the anubias (they were doing well before with the tank lights), but the java fern and water sprite are happier.  I went with these just because they were a cheap option and I was on a sneaky budget where I didn't want $ questions getting doodads for the smaller tanks while I have a big tank project in the works.  😉

[Platosdog]

Thank you for the advice! My water sprite and wisteria are growing good as they get closer to the light but the hairgrass isn’t growing at all, it’s not dying either so that’s good 😌 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Platosdog

[Streetwise]

You can get excellent coverage with a 24" Fluval Plant 3.0 light, since it is almost the exact same width.

[Paul]

@Platosdogif you’re  doing lower light plants the Stingray 2.0 will give you plenty of light. I have them on most of my tanks with the 20Ls being the exceptions. They’re too bright for these shallower tanks. On my 120 (2ft deep) I grow a mix of low and med light plants with good results. This is a mid priced light. If you’re budget is a little tighter Beamswork & JC&P are all good lights just make sure whatever model you chose is UL or similar certified. I use both of these lights on my 20Ls

[MBStevens]

The finnex should be fine. I have a 20 high and a fluval 3.0. It's considered "high" light if on full strength. If you were to want to experiment with high light plants in the future, fluval could do that for you, but also can do low light when it is ramped down. That said though I would probably go for the cheaper option of the finnex.