Questions about lighting for a 10 gallon tank..

[hb3133]

have been doing alot of research on starting my first planted tank. I have decided on a small 10 gallon do to linited space. I have also decided on low light plants due to relative ease and limited time. When I went to the LFS for more information, I was pressured into buying a high watt, compact flurorescent lighting system. I believe it was 64 watt. It was a system that you hang over the top of the tank, thus eliminating the need for a hood. I am new to calculating WPG but wouldn't that be over 6 WPG. Now the questions for all the experience aquarist.

#1. Do I need that much lighting for low maintence plants?

#2. I have read that low light plants need around 1-2 WPG of light. Would over 6 WPG be to much light for the plants I want? Would it hurt or kill the plants to have that much lighting or would it cause other unwanted problems?

#3. If the LFS was just trying to make money off a newbie like me, what lighting system should I get instead?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Goatman]

64 watts over a 10 gallon tank is a bit overkill, and yes, they took you for a ride to make a few bucks. Take the PC fixture back. Fortunately for you (and unfortunately for the LFS), lighting a 10 gallon adequately will run you about $8 for bulbs, and potentially nothing for the hood if you got an incandescent with your tank. Go to Wal-Mart or Home Depot, some big chain store with a decent hardware department. In the lighting dept there will be compact fluorescent bulbs that screw into an incandescent socket. Look for "daylight" bulbs at the highest wattage that can fit into your hood, you'll probably find either 25W or 27W. Screw em in, and presto, about 50 watts over your 10 gallon tank. At that point low light plants are an option, not a neccesity. Add a quick DIY C02 generator and a decent fertilizer and you've got a nice little planted aquarium. Good luck.

[hb3133]

Thanks for the help. The LFS was going to order the lighting system for me today but I'll just cancel that order.

[dorkfish]

If your gonna go with high lighting levels(above 30watts on a 10g) you'll have to go with high light and/or fast growing plants in order to keep algae at bay.

[hb3133]

I am a liitle confused. Do most basic hoods for a 10 gallon tank come with a fixture to fit two bulbs? I thought the hood only comes with one light. Thanks

[dorkfish]

Incandescent hoods(usually run off tubular light bulbs, similar to what you may have in your living room) come with two 25 watt incandescent bulbs. You can replace this with the compact flourescent lights as suggested.

Flourescent(long tube shaped bulbs) hoods will only come with one 15 watt bulb.

Please note: this refers to the molded plastic hoods only.

[Zen4t5]

If you do above 2.5 wpg you will need some form of co2 injected into your tank. Above 3 wpg and you have to do a lot of research to keep your tank balanced. The max wattage of a lamp is controlled by the fixture and not the bulb. Good choice on planted tank. It's more work, money, and research in the beginning, but it is incredibly worth it. I guarantee when you are done with your 10 gallon, the first thing you will want is a bigger tank. More and more ideas will pop into your head and you will have run out of room. 10 gallon fills up too quickly.

[hb3133]

I checked out both Petsmart and Walmart during my lunch break. Here is what I found:

#1. Petsmart... First they had a TopFin 10 gallon tank/ hood combo for $24.99. The hood does not come with lights but has two fixtures. They are also selling just a 10 gallon tank for $7.99 and I could buy a hood which included a flourescent light for $29.99.

I believe both light sources were 15 watts.

#2. Walmart had another brand of hood/l flourescent light combo for $28.47. I couldn't find the small 15 watt flourescent bulbs that you could screw in on both sides.

Any suggestions or is it more of a personal choice?

[Goatman]

The fluorescent bulbs are called "compact fluorescent" and are in the light bulb section of the hardware department. There is a section about 12' wide in one of the aisles with nothing but CF bulbs. They are either corkscrew shaped, or have several small "U" shaped tubes. You need to find an incandescent hood, not fluorescent. It will have 2 15W or 25W bulbs in it that you will be depositing in the trash in lieu of the CF bulbs.

[John N.]

For the screw in type hoods, insert two 15 watt CF bulbs found in the lightbulb section of Walmart. Look for a brand, Lights of America. This bulb will not be found in the pet section. THe prices is about $9 for two bulbs.

-John N.

[Ms.Bubbles]

First, regarding screw-in CF bulbs--plants ideally need a bulb with an output of 6700 K -10,000 K. These type of bulbs are not easily found in hardware stores, but are often available in aquarium shops (although pricey). Secondly, a warning: the more light you put over your 10 gallon tank over and above 15-20 watts, the more risk there is for algae, unless you start injecting C02. More light is not always better!

A single 15 watt fluorescent aquarium plant bulb will easily grow low-light plants in a 10 gallon tank.

You could get a glass top instead of a hood if you wish, then buy a shop-light or aquarium lighting fixture that lies on top of the glass and shines into the tank. This way, you can easily upgrade to more lighting by simply putting another fixture on top of the tank.

[RockabillyChick]

everyone is forgetting that 30 watts of light over a 10g tank does not equal 3 watts per gallon. i have 30 watts over my 10g and it looks so dim compared to my 20g long which has 50 watts. the small tanks need a bit more light to equal the same ammount in a larger tank.

[Ms.Bubbles]

The watt-per-gallon rule is just a guideline. It's a good starting point for determining your light levels. You can adjust up or down once you see how your plants are doing.

I'm using the rule for both my 10 gallon and 3 gallon, and the it seems to hold true for me.

[TwoTankAmin]

If you want to start simple with easy to grow low light plants, then you can get away with anything from just under 1 wpg up to about 2 wpg. Good low light plants like ferns and anubias etc. will do better at lower levels than they will at higher levels where they often need to be shaded to prevent algae. In a low light tank you do not need to add co2 and need little to no fertilizers/suppliments and, imo, these can cause more problems than benefits in a low light tank.

I have four 10 gal tanks chocked full of thriving plants and they pretty much have 15 watt fluors over them. (The strip light is one designed for a longer tank and it hangs over the each end of the tank by about 2 inches- but the bulb itself is about the same length as the tank.) They have been up and running for years and all require regular pruning. They get a small dose of tropica mastergrow and a dose of flourish excel with their weekly water change, and that is it.

Until one gets their "plant legs" under them, I normally suggest they follow the KISS theory and then work their way up the planted tank learning curve.

[hb3133]

Until one gets their "plant legs" under them, I normally suggest they follow the KISS theory and then work their way up the planted tank learning curve.


What is the KISS theory?

[dougall]

KISS principle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle)

[hb3133]

I am back from both Walmart and Petsmart. I wish Flagstaff had more options.
Anyways, I purchase a 10 gallon glass tank for $7.99 and a Incandescent Hood made by All-Glass for $15.99. I then bought 2 Compact Fluorescent bulbs from Wal-Mart. The bulbs are 20 watts and work nicely in the hood. With people telling about how the WPG rule is different on small tanks, I thought 4 WPG would be good on the 10 gallon. I guess I'll try it out and see how it goes. I plan on going to the LFS tomorrow and buying a bag of Eco-complete along with some gravel. I think I will also order some Bio-spira and add both fish and plants and the same time. I think I am ready to begin the journey. My head is starting to hurt with all the information so I am just going to start. Sometimes it's better to do things yourself and learn from your mistakes.

[TwoTankAmin]

its is an old saw that means: Keep It Simple Stupid- (that is not meant to imply you are stupid btw- its just what it means). basically don't try to start with the most advanced type of high light planted tank which needs co2 and almost daily dosing of suppliments. Start at the low light end of the plant spectrum and as you gain experience and success, then you can move up the curve.

[Signus]

I've had a lot of luck just going with plain gravel, hygrophilia species, sag grass, water feeders (elodea, hornwort, java moss, java fern), some occasional light from a north-facing window and a CO2 bubbler. Btw, run the CO2 through your filter to break up the bubbles more. Oh yea, a 28w cf light fixture, but that was after a whole year of an 18w bulb.

It's a bit tricky sometimes, but will look ok after a few weeks of "grow in." Don't expect phenomenal growth or the ability to prune your plants a lot. Good luck!

[Ms.Bubbles]

With people telling about how the WPG rule is different on small tanks, I thought 4 WPG would be good on the 10 gallon. .

First of all, only 1 person told you this! Second, the WPG rule is NOT different on small tanks!

4 watts-per-gallon over a 10 gallon is a lot of light, and probably way more than you need. Anything over 3 wpg will likely require the addition of C02 and/or fertilizers to keep up with plant growth. Without good plant growth, algae can become a real problem in high light tanks. IMO low-light = low maintenance = Simple :)

[Signus]

They're quite right about saying the wpg rule goes out the window on small tanks.

Give me a second and I'll pull up the article that outlines the ideas behind it. Basicly, it's all on orders of magnitude with different sized tanks. Nano tanks (which include 10 gallon tanks) have incredibly small areas for the amount of focused light energy needed for photosynthesis and other plant processes.

[Ms.Bubbles]

Pull up all the articles you want, but I can tell you from practical experience that applying the watt-per-gallon rule for small tanks works perfectly well.

I have also witnessed the unfortunate fact that even 3 watts-per-gallon over a small tank can cause ongoing hair/fuzz algae problems too.

[phanmc]

Here's an article from thekrib about wpg:

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/Lighting/

The article shows that smaller tanks do need more wpg than larger tanks.

That said, 4wpg over a 10 g tank can be a bit much if you're going for a low light setup. You're approaching the medium light levels and may need to think about CO2 and additional fertilization. I think 1 20w bulb is enough for a low light, low maintenance tank.