Reddit mentions of Beamswork DA 80 FSPEC LED Aquarium Light Pent Freshwater 0.50W (80cm - 30")

20 gallon long. with a bit of planning, you can make this tank into a heartbreaker.

AquaClear 100, a tiny bit on the noisy side, but extremely customizable as far as filtration options.

BeamsWork DA, 30", cheap, and you can actually grow a ton of plants with it.

As for plants most anubius species can basically live on hopes and dreams, if you kill one, it was probably premeditated murder.

I think you’re right, I have this model

https://www.amazon.com/Beamswork-FSPEC-Aquarium-Light-Freshwater/dp/B01LFF07I8

Ah nah that's it right there. Unless you bought a tank specifically labeled for planted tanks that light is probably too week for any non mosses. After all the hobby was rather fake not too long ago and still had to deal with algae so making lights that show off the fish but don't grow algae was a good thing. Get yourself a cheep full spectrum light if you want plants. I use these (beamsworks). They aren't the cheapest, nor do they come with any fancy bells or whistles, nor are they the best but they're full spectrum, ready for timers, and do a good job growing basically whatever I throw in the tank. You know, besides the dead half of my Monte Carlo. The live half's at least growing though! lol!


And uh, maybe look into the walstad method if you're serious about running planted tanks. A lot of people swear by it's results and it just makes sense.

1. Don't bake or boil rocks. They can explode. A good 10 to 1 bleach scrub with a soak in dechlorinated water will work best.
   
2. Have you ever had a planted tank before? I do not recommend starting with potting mix as it is very messy and will cloud your water and cause ammonia spikes. Your best best is something like 2 lbs per gallon of the black blasting media with root tabs and fertilizers in the water. That way you can make mistakes, rescape your plants and not have to worry about mucking up your water each time or controlling ammonia. You don't have to bake substrate. A thorough rinse in a bucket with a garden hose will do. Black blasting media has oils on it that will look weird in your tank and might make the glass blackish. That's normal and harmless. Just wipe it off with a paper towel.
   
3. Those lights will do fine. If you want red plants, do something like this https://www.amazon.com/Beamswork-FSPEC-Aquarium-Light-Freshwater/dp/B01LFF07I8/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Beamworks&qid=1562758334&s=pet-supplies&sr=1-1. aim for 660 red spectrum for vibrant plant colors. Just don't turn that one on high. It has 10k light and will cause algae and burn your plants. Run the white light at about 70%. https://www.petsmart.com/fish/heating-and-lighting/lights/fluval-aquasky-led-aquarium-light---35-watt-5282426.html this is what I am running on 1 set up planted tank and 1 future planted tank. It has a cool app that you can set sunrise and sunset for and My plants are doing ok with it. You may need 2 light bars on you 55 to get the intensity of light needed for medium light plants. You want to do no more than 8 hours of light per day. I aim for my lights to come on around 11 and go off around 7 or 8 so I can see the tank lighted when I'm home from work. The most important thing for plants is a consistent photoperiod.
   
4. There are so many plants you can do.
   
   Water wisteria https://www.fishkeepingworld.com/water-wisteria/
   
   Pogo erectus https://www.flowgrow.de/db/aquaticplants/pogostemon-erectus
   
   Ludwigia repens https://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Ludwigiarepens'Rubin'(033D)/4450 (won't be red without CO2 FYI)
   
   Rotala Wallichii https://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Rotalawallichii(032ATC)/18748
   
   green myrio https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/1617/?pcatid=1617
   
   dwarf hairgrass https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/3622/dwarf-hairgrass?pcatid=3622&c=768+1630+3622
   
   Melon sword https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/829/?pcatid=829 (will turn red without Co2)
   
   Ludwigia cuba https://aquariumplants.com/products/ludwigia-inclinata-var-verticillata-cuba
   
   Ludwigia Ovalis https://buceplant.com/products/ludwigia-ovalis
   
   Cabomba Furcata https://www.azgardens.com/product/cabomba-furcata-bunched-aquarium-plant/. Will be slightly orange and purple without CO2 but still adds color to the tank
   
   Those are my favorites. You can do anything with low light (1 light bar), medium light (2 light bars), and no Co2. Red plants will be green without CO2 but they are still gorgeous.
   
   Make sure you buy good fertilizers. I love Thrive http://nilocg.com/thrive . Pricey but super concentrated. Its an all in one fertilizer. Just 1 squirt per 10 gallons once a week and you're done! Fertilizers don't have to be complicated. Excel is an algaecide and not a good CO2 substitute. If you are having slight algae issues, it can help get it under control.
   
   Edit thanks for the silver and glad i could help!

Thanks! I am using a Beamswork LED light, you can find them here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LFF07I8?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title


It is pretty bright, I had to cut it down to 5-6 hours a day or I start getting algae build up. Great for high light plants though, and has a "moonlight" blue setting if you are into that kind of thing.

does the end of the cable have a female tip with 4 pins in a square pattern? I cant really tell from the amazon photos, my beamswork has 4 male pins at plug the end of it.

I actually recently (two weeks ago) upgraded from a similar setup as yours to LED lighting. I went with Beamswork DA FSPEC. Beamswork DA FSPEC LED Aquarium... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LFF07I8?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

So far so good! Plus it was only about $50 for the 30’’.

Absolutely! The substrate is plain pool filter sand which is around $5 for a 50 pound bag from your average hardware store. If you're in the Northern United States it's going to be a bit harder to find right now due to winter.

The light I'm using is [Beamswork DA FSPEC LED Aquarium Light Pent Freshwater 0.50W (80cm - 30")] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LFF07I8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ETv.BbJYJ3N7F) with a [Current USA Truelumen Inline Dimmer for 12 and 24-Volt LED Strip] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008FC04I8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_oUv.BbS9Y5FV3) because of how low the light is on the tank.

I'm using this one in my low tech tank, 21" tall, with low/moderate light plants. Someone's gone through the trouble of collecting par data with a 20 gallon long and comparing it with several other LED lights, here.

The 10000k beamswork is 49 . I was told that the 6500k option wouldn't be enough light and I would need the more powerful light. But I need to look into the light you posted. It might be a good option for me.

Their timer is $15 the reason for this timer is that it lets you set a time for both daylight and moonlight.

Which adds up to $65

The Fennex is $85 so difference is more like $20 so is there a $20 quality difference in the two.