Lighting for Culerpa

[Krustylove]

I am sure I am going to have to figure this out by trial and error but it doesn’t hurt to ask, anyways I got this neat little 10 gallon that has a portion portioned off for a wet/dry filter compartment and I have the smallest little compact florescent fixture I have ever seen for it-but it is the same old story with these small set-ups and the heat load is warming up the water too much so I was considering just putting a low wattage garden variety fluorescent fixture on this tank. I have really cool feather culerpa in this set-up and am not sure if this is an algae that will survive low light conditions? I can always just get a clip on fan and deal with the daily top-offs but in the meantime changing a fixture would be nice if it will work?...thanks

 

[graveyardworm]

Have you tried raising the light up 4 or 5 inches to reduce the heat problem?

 

[Krustylove]

No, not yet-I plan on building a small canopy for this set-up and to also hide the filter compartment. From all my different tanks that I have had raising the level of the lights doesn’t seam to make a difference? Culerpa need lots of light?

 

[graveyardworm]

Caulerpa doesnt need alot of light, what you have on it in the pic should be enough. When you build the hood make sure it has a fan.