Beginner looking for advice

[tomreynolds93]

Hi everyone!

I have a new five gallon planted tank. It's this one http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/aqua-one-aqua-aspire-22-glass-aquarium-22-litre.

I've taken out the verigated one since I've been told it's not aquatic.
I think all the plants in there are low-light plants and I'm hoping to get away without CO2 injection.

I can't find any proper information about the light on it. There's 9 LEDs and its rated at 7W.
Is this suitable for the plants?

The plan is for the tank to slot into a shelving unit and there is only a few cm's room at the top of tank so I'm looking to DIY an LED light system to fit into the space above the tank (it has a glass lid).

My current plan is to form a square out of some aluminium cable duct to act as a heatsink and attach some 5050 RGBW LED Strip, the white is 6000K. Control this with a 5 channel LED timer/controller so I can set different lights at different times etc.

Would this provide enough light for the plants?

Thanks

 

[kadoxu]

Hard to know without more info on the LEDs...

I tried to do a DIY LED lighting for my small tank and learned a lot from the comments there. Check it out http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/led-lights-for-nano-tank-lid.41530/#post-456189

Also, Tropica website has some info you may find interesting http://tropica.com/en/guide/make-your-aquarium-a-success/light/

 

[Aqua360]

there are a lot of factors involved in lighting, that the experts on here will be able to go into detail with you on; I'd say though, that i've grown plants on 4w lights, so it can be done

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I've taken out the verigated one since I've been told it's not aquatic.

Yes they are non-aquatic, they are <"Dracaena fragrans "Warneckei">.

cheers Darrel