What is my lighting level?

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Plague

O.o
Aug 4, 2010
718
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0
Miami, Fl
I had originally 13w T8 full spectrum on my 10g but my leaves weren't very green. They also grew very very slowly.

So now I switched back to my incandescent hood that I still had and put 2 full spectrum 10w CFL bulbs. So I have a total of 20w CFL over my 10g. Does this put me in the medium lighting range?
 

tolawdjk

AC Members
Sep 8, 2010
636
0
0
You most likely have more than enough light on a 10 gal with both of those.

Light, however, is not the fix of alot of plant growth problems, but is usually the problem of a lot of algae.

1. What plants are you trying to grow? You might just be experiencing slow growth from slow growing plants.

2. Do you add CO2? Pressurized or DIY?

3. Dose ferts?

Knowing those three things will allow others to better help you. More so than just going for "MOAR LIGHT!" will.

My guess is that if you started adding even just some Flouish and Flourish Excel you would see increased growth, depending on your plants.
 

Bk718

No Monkey Business
Nov 29, 2007
7,148
1
60
Brooklyn, NY
It also depends on the reflector that the fixture has. You can't really put a watts per gallon on spiral bulbs due to all the restrike the light goes through. But 20w is enough to keep most plants alive and thriving. Depending on plants you have (stems) you can add diy co2 and 1ml of flourish 3x a week and will see a noticeable difference.
 

Plague

O.o
Aug 4, 2010
718
0
0
Miami, Fl
3 times a week eh? I was adding flourish only once since originally it was low light I thought it required low ferts. I don't use Co2 only because I have Excel and the tank has vals, anacharis, and crypts. I remember reading excel would melt them.

The plant growth was being gauged from the anacharis being a fast growing plant. I'm aware the other plants are slow but even the anacharis wasn't growing. My first 10g tank didn't have Co2 either and the plants grew faster there.
 

prober

AC Members
Dec 20, 2010
492
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eastern Washington (the state)
Real Name
Jeff
Excel will not be good for those, at least initially. You could do it if you started with 25% of the daily dose and worked your way up. They would probably acclimate as some other plants I have that excel melts have, but you have to ask yourself if you really want to bother with that. I would not.

Just get some good normal ferts, either liquid or dry, and keep a good dosing schedule. Plants will use up the ferts when they start growing and if not replaced then you will have problems.
 
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