25w Incandescent vs. 15w Flourescent?

[robinos]

I've got a 10 gallon planted that I'm setting up for some corydoras panda. The fixture came with (2) 25w tubular incandescents. These generate a lot of heat and are pretty dim. I tried on a pair of 15w compact flourescents. They are much brighter and cooler, although they add up to less wattage. Which is preffered by the plants? I would think the brighter, but what about the # of watts per gallon suggestion?

-Rob

 

[born2lovefish]

I have used a 15 watt and I have used a 25 on a 2.5 gallon planted. Depends on what type of plants you are keeping.

 

[Riso-chan]

Definitely stay with the florescents, that's usually what's used. Too much heat isn't very good for a small tank, and incandescents will likely only grow you algea problems.
And don't worry about the wattage too much, because you've got plenty on there for a ten gallon. I'd say you have roughly 2.5 watts per gallon, which should allow you to have a decent variety of plants in the tank.

 

[Blinky]

Fluorescents produce WAY more useable light per watt of power consumption than incandescents. Using two 15W compact fluorescent bulbs in your 10g hood will give you lots of light, any plants that prefer low to medium light will do fine. I'd still avoid high light plants, but you've got loads to choose from even without them
I keep low light plants (Java moss, Java fern, Anubias) in my 10g planted, with two 15W 6500K 'daylight' bulbs (Philips, available at Home Depot). Everything does very well with minimal maintenance