Compact Fluorescent Energy Saver vs tube fluorescent

So you have 1 19w vs 2 14w bulbs? Look for 6700k screw in compact flourescents. Still, you should start off with the lower light plants since it isn't much light. You can do a lot with the variety of anubias sp, java fern, and mosses out there.

The 19w NO fluorescent hood would put you in the low light range for a 10g. If it appears dim, try switching to a full spctrum daylight bulb if it isn't one already. This will be fine for plants like java fern & moss, anubias, hornwort, anacharis, and a few others.

The screw in incandescent hood will put you in the medium low to medium range, giving you more plant options but may require a little more work like occasionally adding fertilizer. Look for full spectrum or daylight bulbs, much less yellow than warm white and quite bright.

I'm guessing you don't want to deal with CO2 injection, correct? If yes, you don't have to worry about using a HOB filter. The only time a HOB filter is undesirable is when you inject CO2, the amount of surface agitation a HOB filter causes would lead to more CO2 gas off. Underwater current is almost always a good thing, it distributes heat and nutrients and makes it harder for algae to form. Only time there's too much current is if it's uprooting plants or making it hard on your fish to swim.

The difference between a 20g and a 10g isn't that much, and a 20g may end up being easier to take care of. More water means the water parameters will be likely be more stable. If you go with a 20g, the screw-in hood will still work well with it.

While a 20g tank (standard not tall) would give a bit more real estate to work with having a planted 10g should still be fine. As for your lighting if you look around you can find bulbs in the 5000k to 6500k range that are generally good at keeping plant life. A higher lumens rating would also make the tank a bit brighter to look at. At last check walmart had some 6500k screw in flourescent lights, but I can't remember what wattage.

People have already mentioned java ferns and anubias plants, but have found that crypt lutea and crypt wendtii also grow well in a lower light low tech setup. I've never tried hornwort (yet), but for whatever reason anacharis won't seem to take well for me.

May i recommend a forum search for "Lights of america".
You will find tons of useful threads - some in which i posted.
The lights mentioned there work great and i have been using them for at least 8 months now....

Find 25w "daylight" bulbs, Home Depot sells Phillips brand for $4 and change. Due to restrike (light striking against the bulb instead of the water), you're only dealing with about 50% of the bulb, so you'll be running about 25w over your 10 gallon tank. It should be enough to do some low-mid light plants... Don;t forget you'll need to start into gas and fertilizers at that point.

Those spiral bulbs are designed to send more light out the end for a room ceiling fixture or table lamp. The straight ones aren't that much more, and the light quality is better.



Here's one source:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=9870&N=2004+113346

I can say from experience that the spiral ones work great...as long as they are full spectrum....on my first plant tank i used two 15w screw-in CFs...and I could grow anything that would fit in the tank...just make sure you have some source of CO2 or you will get TONS of algae... :duh: ....personal experience also

Just for the record... the lights i mentioned (and that i am using) are "straight" - and not spiral. They run about $8.xx for a 2 pack of either 15, 20 or 25W at walmart.
I have some of the corallife bulbs from Drs.FosterSmith aswell and i have to say they are
a) way overpriced
b) fish colours look slightly better with the cheap ones from walmart even though they are the same colour temperature (6700K)