10g hood lighting and plants Q's

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geewiz916

geewiz916

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May 5, 2010
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Later in this upcoming week, im going to be re-renovating my 10g tank. Im planning on restarting the tank fresh, since i hate the way it is right now. Ill be changing my rock substrate to sand and adding plants. I want to have the tank planted, but not heavily planted. Just enough for a decent amount of different types of plants.

The hood that i have on it, is an incandescent 2-bulb fixture (screw-in). I currently have two florescent 5100k bulbs inside the hood and plan on using these bulbs, unless they will not hold up for what im going to be doing.

So my questions are this:
1. Is this adequate lighting for the 10g? Will this be enough light for a moderately planted tank? (Ive seen a journal on these forums about a 10g incandesent lighting planted tank, if someone could find that for my that would be great)

2. With this type of hood and lighting conditions, what are my plant options? Should i be planting low light plants? Medium, high?

3. Ive seen how much a DIY co2 works, so should it invest in building one for this tank? Keep in mind that I will have my 2 julli corys and 5 glo-light tetras in the tank. (This is their permanent home, but can be relocated if necessary.)

4. I do have a small sponge filter attached to my air pump. Would i need to keep this in the tank? Or will the DIY co2 be better to use?
 
fishycat

fishycat

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Dec 9, 2009
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What is the wattage of your bulbs? Are they CFLs (spiral shaped)? I have 2 14w 6700k CFLs on my 10g which is almost too much light (off & on dosing with Excel). Did very well with DIY co2.

DIY co2 is very inexpensive, but IMO takes a lot of upkeep to keep co2 levels anywhere near stable.

What type of plants were you looking to grow?
 
geewiz916

geewiz916

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The bulbs i use are 10W 5100k bulbs. They are not spiral, but 2 small linear tubes that make a long "U" shape.

Is dosing ok with fish? Will that kill them or not?

Im not worried about the upkeep on the DIY. I enjoy messing around with my tanks. Gives me that precious "quiet time" :p

As far as plants, it really has to come down to my questions that ive asked. I need to know if this lighting is ok. If my fish are going to be a problem... etc. So once all that is answered, i can take all suggestions. Im open to anything
 
dundadundun

dundadundun

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Jan 21, 2009
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ge 6500k daylight cfl's are great... i'd use them if i had a choice. not knowing what bulbs you're actually using and not having experience with them (since they're 5100k) i cannot advise on them particularly.

since i cannot advise on your current lighting i couldn't say what plants would do well. without knowing what watts and t-rating i couldn't even say whether it's enough or too much light either.

co2 is always a great option and always doable in a planted tank. just be sure to start your mixture on the low end and build up to recommendations. dual bottles and switching between the two weekly also really helps to maintain stable levels. something to consider if you go diy. excel can really help to bridge a gap also.

the air pump would have to go if you inject co2. it would be counter-productive.
 
geewiz916

geewiz916

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well with the recommendation of 6500k lighting, i will go with those instead. With two of those bulbs, what plants do you recommended then?

And also, what does two 6500k bulbs classify as? Low, med or high intensity lighting? With me knowing this, i can find plants on my own.

Or is there some kind of calculator that calculates my wpg??
 
dundadundun

dundadundun

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Jan 21, 2009
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if you're using 13-15 watters you might want to ask fishycat. if you're using more i'd assume almost anything would grow. less... probably only very easy plants.

i use mine on a very different tank than a 10 gallon, personally.

to clarify things 6500k (kelvin) is a color, not intensity. you'll go by wattage once you've picked your bulbs unless you have a par or lux meter.

if you'll be injecting co2 don't forget npk and micros.
 
James0816

James0816

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Feb 14, 2007
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I grow a very nice variety of high light plants in 10g tanks. My lowest output 10g tank is a 17w daylight flourescent. Now I do use DIY CO2 and dry ferts as well (which I would recommend).
 
fishycat

fishycat

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Dec 9, 2009
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You can pickup 9w CFL daylight bulbs (6500k) and easily be able to grow plants like anubias, java fern, java moss & most crypts. If you opt for 13-15w CFLs, you could easily grow dwarf sag, lawnmarsh pennywort, aponogeton crispus, moneywort, etc. Depending on the plant, you may want to add root fertilizer tabs (for plants like the dwarf sag, crypts & aponogeton). I grow these plants in sand with root tabs. My anubias, moss & fern are attached to wood/rocks. I dose Flourish Complete (liquid fert for water column) once a week (@ water change) and Flourish Excel (carbon) a few times a week. The Excel, as well as diy co2, is optional. I was running diy co2, but really with the plants I listed it's not necessary.
 
geewiz916

geewiz916

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So i have completly redone my tank since my last post.

Changed substrate to Active-Flora, since it was the closest to florite. Washed it out completely since others were having problems just sticking it right into the tank.

Ive been seeding the tank with a sponge from my other tank. So my aqua-clear has sponge, bio-max, sponge as its filter layers. Also ive got some mature substrate in a panty-hose hanging out ill it cycles.

Changed out the lights. Now im running 2 6500k 10W CLF's.

Bought plants. Anubias, java moss, java fern attached to driftwood. Small crypt, crypt lutea and bunched plant. (dont know the name, looks like a myrio or something, ill post pics soon)

DIY co2 is almost done. Just need to buy or make a good diffuser. (im up for recemmendations)

So hows this looking? I do have a couple things i wanna go over...

1. How long do i keep the lights on? And when i do have the co2 running, will this make any difference in length of time that they need to be on?

2. Ferts? What should i do now and what should i do when the co2 is inside?

3. I do have 3 glo-light tetras and 2 corys in there. WIll this be a problem now or even when the co2 is running? Do they need a new home? Will they be ok with the ferts?

And anything that i need to look for. What i should be checking or doing... anything
 
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