View Full Version : Lighting in a 10G
I bought a used 10 Gallon tank and have put plants in it that (from what I can figure) are medium to high light lovers. Anyway the tank had 2 cheap old incandesant bulbs in the hood. I replaced one with a screw in flourescent light to give the plants a usable source of light. The bulb I bought says it gives 60 watts of light for 15 watts of power. Does this mean I have a 15 watt bulb (therefore 1.5 watts per gallon) or is it 60 watts (6 watts per gallon)? A little confused about this. Thanks for the help.;)
kveeti
03-06-2003, 2:32 PM
15 watts for 1.5 per gallon.
Thanks. Right now there is just the 1 15 watt bulb screwed in one side and the old incandescent on the other side. Should I buy another 15 watt and therefore have 30 watts, or is my tank too small for that much light?
You don't say what kind of plants you have. Many plants will do just fine with 1 1/2 watt per gallon. I don't know what your experience is with plants, but 3 watts per gallon is a lot of light, especially in a 10 gal. tank. My suggestion is to stay with the 1 1/2 watts and see how they do. Going to 3 watts would almost certainly necessitate going with CO2 injection, IMO, or you might have a problem with algae.
It would help to know what plants you have. Maybe if we knew that, we could tell you that 1 1/2 watts would be OK.
Len
I think that I have Water Sprite and something called Cardamine lyrata. I have had one plant in the past and it died (possibly from my Betta munching on it). I don't really want to mess with CO2 right now, so I guess that I will stick with one bulb for now.
Thanks for the help