5 Gallon Tank Best Light for Plants (Dirt Substrate)?

Is there some sort of consensus on the best light(s) for a 5.5-gallon tank?

I am setting up a tank, with a dirt substrate, capped with white pool filter sand. At the moment, I have in there an Anubias Nana, one small grassy plant (can't remember what I bought), some stems of Rotala (Indica?), some stems of Ludwigia, a smallish (suffering) Java Fern. More plants are coming, and I really would like them to flourish with a strong light, which I would leave on for a limited number of hours, to avoid developing algae.

I was looking at the Finnex FugeRay + (Amazon.com : Finnex FugeRay Planted+ Aquarium LED Light Plus Moonlights, Cliplight : Pet Supplies) Yet, I am not sure it can be used with a timer (can it?).

Any suggestions would be truly appreciated.

By the way, my tank will have a glass top.

 

I hear many people rave about the fluval plant lights but have never used them myself. I actually have had the best success with just normal grow lights used for indoor plants! A lot of them come with a built in timer and have a big heavy duty clip to attach it to the table or whatever its on. You could in theory attach it to the tank directly though I wouldn't recommend that as it would interfere with the lid and possibly fall in.

This is the one I use but that would be an awful lot of light for a 5.5 gallon. I would recommend something more like this, this, or .

 

I have a 55gal also and they are deep tanks. I bought a Fluval 3.0 and I didn't like it for the deep tank (maybe if you have low light plants like anubias). I think the Finnex ray 2 is the way to go for a deep tank. And yes you can set the Fugeray to "Max" and just use a timer with it.

Edit: My apologies, I thought it was a 55gal but your tank is a 5.5gal.

 

I have a Fluval Planted 3.0 on a 75 gallon tank, it works great for low to medium light level plants. That's all I need since I don't see myself getting into any high tech/high light plants requiring CO2 injection.

 

I hear many people rave about the fluval plant lights but have never used them myself. I actually have had the best success with just normal grow lights used for indoor plants! A lot of them come with a built in timer and have a big heavy duty clip to attach it to the table or whatever its on. You could in theory attach it to the tank directly though I wouldn't recommend that as it would interfere with the lid and possibly fall in.

This is the one I use but that would be an awful lot of light for a 5.5 gallon. I would recommend something more like this, this, or .

I’m interested in the light you mentioned. Could you please post a picture of it lighting your tank? I’m curious as to how it displays everything.

 

I used this aquaneat light found on eBay for my 5.5 shrimp tank. Plants grew great

 

I’m interested in the light you mentioned. Could you please post a picture of it lighting your tank? I’m curious as to how it displays everything.

It's pretty yellow but the water in this tank is also fairly tannin stained. Excuse the current mess of uprooted and half eaten plants- my snails have done some of their own aquascaping lol.

 

I have a Fluval Planted 3.0 on a 75 gallon tank, it works great for low to medium light level plants. That's all I need since I don't see myself getting into any high tech/high light plants requiring CO2 injection.

Thanks for your input! I'll look into whether they make one small enough for a five-gallon tank.

 

I have a 55gal also and they are deep tanks. I bought a Fluval 3.0 and I didn't like it for the deep tank (maybe if you have low light plants like anubias). I think the Finnex ray 2 is the way to go for a deep tank. And yes you can set the Fugeray to "Max" and just use a timer with it.

Edit: My apologies, I thought it was a 55gal but your tank is a 5.5gal.

Thanks! But maybe they make a small one. I like that you can set it to max, and use it with a timer.

 

It's pretty yellow but the water in this tank is also fairly tannin stained. Excuse the current mess of uprooted and half eaten plants- my snails have done some of their own aquascaping lol.

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Thanks!!!