Help Needed on Aquarium Lighting

[Kalyan02]

Dear All,

I am very new to this hobby & hoping to get some opinion on Lighting my Aquarium.

I am setting up an approx 15g fish tank. I bought BUYO EC 600 tank. I have added substrate & started cycling the tank. The tank is a covered tank with 10W (600 lumen) LED, the tank is covered and the filter is inside the cover. The filter is a combination of wool & charcoal.

I have added the following plants: moss balls, liverworts & anubias nana. I plan to add amazon swords, some red background plants & Nymphea lotus for color & some more glososstigma for carpeting the foreground. I plan to allow the tank to run just with plants for 4-6 weeks before introducing any fish

I plan to keep the following fish in my tank - Danio (6), Guppies (6), Amano Shrimp (4-6), Cherry Shrimp (4-6), Nerite Snails (2-3) & 1-2 bottom feeding fish. I plan to introduce 4 fish & 2 shrimp at a time.

I want the plants in the tank to be a greater focus than the fish themselves

My questions are:
1) I hear than red plants need very bright light, my current light is 10W (approx 600 lumens), what should be the appropriate lighting for the tank I describe? Any idea where I can get a high powered LED tube with suction caps than I can replace my current light with? I am restricted for choices, my tank is covered & space is limited. I tried to buy an LED strip from a local store, but it doesnt work, the top of the tank doesnt close.

2) Do I need a fan to cool the temperature? can someone recommend stores where I can get a small fan? I need one that is really small

3) What should be the lighting duration? Should I also allow some blue/ red light in the morning/ evening to simulate dawn/ dusk? could someone recommend a shop where I can but a timer to automate the lighting?

4) I am assuming my setup would need CO2? What choices do I have? can I also have some recommendations on CO2 kits & shops. I would ideally like the kits that can be automated to start with the lighting & stop with it

5) How often & what should I fertilize my plants? whats should I be careful about when I add fertilizer? how will they impact my fish.

Thanks a Ton

[Kingelliot]

Hi Kalyan, for the fan, you need more than a small fan. You need ventilation for heat transfer. Make a lot of holes on ur cover for evaporated water vapour to excape, else it won't works. It will be a green house if no heat transfer happen between ur tank and the surrounding.

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[Kalyan02]

Hi! Kingelliot - thanks for the tip, will do