Sammie7 - we're agreeing on more and more as we go! I agree 2-3 WPG wouldn't be too much for a 5 gallon tank. Sorry I misread your profile and thought the CO2 was on your 5 instead of your 10 (where it is, right?).
The bulb of an incandescent is definitely hotter than the bulb of a CF, but the base of the CF is hot...really hot if it's a bigger bulb. It was right above the base area, on both sides, where the black plastic hood became soft on my self-rigged set-up...you could push into it with a finger. Many plastics melt or become soft at lower temps than you'd expect.
I'm guessing you've never known anyone who had their house burn down otherwise those sarcastic rolly eyes wouldn't have appeared on the better safe than sorry comment. A man I supervise had his house burn to the ground about a month ago - he lost everything. 10 year old house, cause officially unknown, but they suspect something electrical as the likely cause. I've also known of a friend whose barn burned to the ground - 8 horses killed...cause was believed to be electrical in nature again.
Eric
No, the rolly eyes were because of the cliche: "better safe than sorry." Everyone has heard that before. I agree with always being cautious, I am a worrywart, I am always afraid of something bad happening. I don't even like it when my mother uses candles around the house, because I know that bad things do happen, and it doesn't always happen to other people...
Yes, the CO2 is on my 10 gallon tank.
I do find it silly that the smaller tanks cost so much more than the bigger ones. Also that I saw the 5 hex, which I eventually bought at Walmart for 30 dollars, at Petco for 50!
That's just plain robbery. It's a good thing that I wasn't crazy enough to spend 50 dollars on that dang tank... I still wish I had bought a bow front tank, instead of the hex, even though it cost more. The bow fronts give more swimming space than the hex tanks. This will be my first and last hex tank...
