Lighting suggestions needed for a 20L!

I'm starting up a 20 gallon long tank that will be solely dedicated to shrimp--specifically Red cherry shrimp. Since it will be a shrimp tank I'm wanting it to be fully planted and I intend to use Tahitian moon sand which I will be picking up tomorrow. I know I'm definitely going to have rocks and maybe a bit of driftwood and the almost obligatory java moss and ferns, but I am a bit torn on other plants.

I do work in a pet store in the fish department, but I am still learning things each and every day and unfortunately I cannot usually focus on my freshwater fish as much as saltwater fish.This is because they cost the store a LOT more money and therefore consume a lot more of my time researching new things we get in and such.

Anyways, some plants that we carry that I'm interested in are Gold Lloydiella, Red WendtiI Crypt, Purple Cabomba, Water Wysteria (a friend of mine has a ton and is willing to give me all of hers), Anubias nana, Red Ludwigia, Water Sprite, and Chain Sword.

I'm trying to do as much research as I can, but do any of you have some advice on easy vs difficult to care for plants out of those in that list? I'm also in the process of getting a light but that's still in the works, so if anyone has any suggestions as far as that goes without breaking the bank, that'd be great!

I plan on using Flourish but will not be dosing CO2.

 

A few things...

So far your plans are good. A 20 long will be good for a lot of shrimp, you could have upwards of 500 in there easy.

As for plants, I have not heard of Gold Lloydiella so I can't comment on that one. The other plants all are relatively easy except for the cabomba. I don't have personal experience with it, but I've heard it needs high light, and lots of CO2.

As for lighting, if you have some money to spend, the Finnex LED lights are pretty good, and highly recommended by plant enthusiasts. You may pay a little more upfront, but you will save on electricity bills over time, and won't have to deal with temp. fluctuations due to the tank heating up from lights in the summer. Shrimp can be susceptible to bacterial infections at higher temps above 80F or so.

If you are wanting to save money up front, I would go with 2 clip on shop lights from Home Depot/Lowes etc. They are around $12 each and you can put a screw in CFL that is labeled as "daylight" or in the 6500k range (ideal for plants). You could get 2 bulbs and 2 fixtures for $30 or so, and have all the light you would ever need, as you can adjust to different wattage bulbs to go low light up to high light. For a 20 long I would start with 12-14 watt bulbs, and go up from there if needed.

As for Flourish, I'm assuming you are talking about Excel. Be careful with Excel and inverts. Many say it's perfectly fine at normal dosage, and other say it has wiped out their tank. I use it occasionally with my cherry and ghost shrimp and they seem fine. On the bottle they suggest a higher initial dosage then go to a normal dosage. Do not use this higher initial dosage. Just start with the smaller dosage, and preferably I would start with half that amount, and work your way up over a week or so. If you are talking about Flourish Comprehensive (a great all around fertilizer) then you are fine to use at normal dosage with that. Some people worry about the small amount of copper in it, but it is a really small amount of copper. Remember that living things need some amount of copper, even shrimp.

Planetinverts.com is a great shrimp info resource with great care sheets on left side of page, and a lot of great articles on right side of page. These articles cover almost any question you would ever have from acclimation, diseases, pests, breeding, feeding, really anything.

 

The Anubis, crypt, java fern and java moss will be fine without co2. I have tried green cabamba and it has been hit and miss. The purple is harder to grow as far as I know. The wisteria, sword and sprite will also be fine with lower light. Root tabs along with liquid frets is always better for the swords.

 

For the shop lights, would this do the job adequately?


It seems like a good product and people mentioned reptiles in the reviews but nothing about fish. I've been light shopping all day and they aren't cheap!

Well, the shop lights are, but "real" light fixtures aren't! And I have a glass top to go with the aquarium as well.

 

I am also looking for some lights but for a 20h. Interested if the light linked above would hold okay onto an aquarium with a glass hood.

 

It should with some positioning. You could also attach it to a wall behind the tank or something like that. Lots of options if you are handy. Some people install a horizontal pipe or pole across the length of their tank and then attach hanging lights to it.