single 15watt flourescant bulb differences...

[wigglejaggles]

Hey now all,

I have a 10 gallon that I plan to start fishless cycling within the next week. I know that once cycled I want to have a pleasant 10 gallon plant tank.
My question to you all is this. I have the deluxe all-glass hood with 15watt flourescant light. Will that light suffice? I plan to buy low light plants.
I read an article that said a single 15watt Triton bulb is great for a 10 gallon planted tank.

So i guess what I am getting at is...what is the difference between my 15watt flourescant bulb that came with the deluxe hood versus the 15 watt bulb triton. Does the triton emit more of the spectrum which causes plants to photosynthesize...the blues and reds? Is that what makes it better?
Or will I be fine with the 15watt that came with the hood?

thanks!

take care,
Jared

[NJ Devils Fan]

The bulb in there now is fine. No need to buy another one. I would only buy another fixture if you want to keep very high light plants, but sinse you want low light ones, then the fixture and bulb are fine.

[750t]

My 10 gal with 20 watts and low light plants is by far my best tank. Plants are green and lush with just a small amount of algea. What substrate are you going to use. By the way I do add co2 only in small amounts and NO ferts. I also only do water changes every 2 weeks and this tank has 10 very fat non-pregnant female guppies. Good luck Tim

[wigglejaggles]

Hey Now,

Thanks for the replies guys!

I will be using onyx sand as my substrate. I am glad to hear your guppys are thriving! It must be so satisfying to see nice healthy fish in your tank every day,and to know that you are giving them a great home! I cannot wait to get my aquarium started!
Anyhow you seem to have a very simple method,and I am glad to hear it, because all the talk about plant fertilizers really gets me confused!
I am alittle nervous about exessive algae growth. I dont want algae soaking up all the nutrients before the plants do!
I just went out earlier and bought a new book published by barrons called the Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants by Peter Hiscock. It really seems like a great and informaative read so I am looking forward to getting into that. I figure i will have if finished well before my tank cycles.

ok I am rambling on and on!

take care,
Jared

[MrGoodbytes]

Have a look at the fertilizer sticky at the top of the forum if you are unsure about what to do.

I think the only real difference between your tubes is that Tritons have longer life and their spectrum is more "tuned" to grow aquarium plants. There arent any really big differences between tubes made for the hobby.

There was a site that had comparisons between different bulbs, but I can't get there now.

Graeme

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by MrGoodbytes
....There was a site that had comparisons between different bulbs, but I can't get there now.
Graeme
This site may help some...
Link: Light Comparisons (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/2637/spectra.html)

[NJ Devils Fan]

Hmm, there is a mistake there. The philips daylight bulb is 5000K with a CRI of 92. I have 2 of them and 2 Daylight delux.

[Captain Hook]

NJ maybe you could let him know by sending him an email.

nguyenh@spawar.navy.mil

[Dabbler II]

for one of my 20gal tanks I went and bought a "Life glo" bulb (hagen product I think) it made a world of differance. It seemed that the tank was getting twice the light than from a normal bulb ( Both were 15 watt). The life glo has a built in reflector in the bulb I don't know if that is why or not but it was worth the extra $ for it tho.IMO