Questions about lighting for a 10 gallon tank..

H

hb3133

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Jul 13, 2005
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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!
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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