I've got a 20 gallon long tank with 4 temple compacta plants an anubias plant an Amazon sword and a moss ball. My light setup is rather unusual since I have 2 desk lamps above my tank with a 60 watt incandescent light on each lamp. I know incandescents aren't the greatest idea since they are known to cause algae problems but I guess ive gotten lucky and haven't gotten much algae aside from the small patches of brown algae. I have 4 mollies and 3 ghost shrimp. My plants have grown from having 2 little tiny brown leaves(temple) to much larger and more bushy bright green leaves. The Amazon seems to grow extremely fast too. My anubias grows a new leave about every 2 weeks also. I use dirt underneath my gravel in case that helps. Thanks guys
Incandescents aren't bad lights, the only potential problem I can think of is the heat output possibly causing temperature fluctuations. Other than that though you can get them in the right spectra to grow plants I figure if your plants are growing and you don't have algae issues then things are going alright!
Sometimes but not always I will see the temp go from 78 to 80. Will that stress them out? Should I raise them a big higher perhaps?
That's not a huge swing in temperature so I wouldn't worry. If you're concerned though you can try raising them slightly. If your plants suffer, move them back
