Lighting upgrade for 20g

[SkarloeysMom]

If I decided to upgrade to better lighting in my 20g long how would I do it?

I know there are glass tank covers you can buy to replace the standard hood and light set up. So if I get one of those, could I just get a nice light strip and set it right on top of the glass cover or does it have to be suspended?

I've never thought about lighting much since I have fake plants but now that I have 2 Rams in my tank I'm thinking better lighting would bring out the colors more and make it easier to take pictures. Sooner or later I might want to put some real plants in too.

[cocoa_pleco]

T-5 would work, especially the hagen GLO T-5 fixtures. i have the 2x54w 48" model, and 2x24w 24" model, they come with a hanging kit or they have legs that you can pull out to fit longer tanks, so the 2x24w 24" model works well on a 20g long. the light itself is $80-$120, ebays your best bet

[Sasquatch]

If you have a glass cover, you can put the light strip directly on it.

I've got a DIY acrylic hood (I hacked the top off my stock hood and siliconed a pane of acrylic.) and I have a lighting unit with CF bulbs. There shouldn't be any overheating problems as long as it's ventilated and there is some air circulation.