"All Glass Aquarium" fluorescent bulbs

[lmarshall]

Hi,

Last fall I purchased a ten-gallon aquarium kit, don't really remember the brand. It had a Tetra Whisper filter, and an Aqueon heater (so far so good on the filter, the heater was a disaster). If I were to set up another aquarium there's no way I'd go that route again. I've learned a lot since, but kept it fish-only so far. I recently decided to try out some plants, I purchased some micro-sword, and water sprite.

Right now I'm using the bulb from the kit, which is a 15 watt "All Glass Aquarium" fluorescent. Is there any way to tell if this bulb puts out an acceptable spectrum for plants? Should I go get a better bulb ASAP?

 

[customdrum]

the light isnt enough to grow much at all. the microsword needs medium to high light. its not gonna live long in that lighting,the water sprite may grow o since its a low light plant.
you cant replace the bulb and get any better light since it only a 15watt fixture. you will have to buy a light for better lighting or build one for the 10g.
alot of people use the 10g hoods with screw in bulb sockets and put the spiral flourescent daylight/6500k bulbs in it and can grow plants decently. the strip light wont grow much other than java moss, maybe a crypt or amazon sword but not reallly grow very good.

 

[biggie357]

Hi,

Last fall I purchased a ten-gallon aquarium kit, don't really remember the brand. It had a Tetra Whisper filter, and an Aqueon heater (so far so good on the filter, the heater was a disaster). If I were to set up another aquarium there's no way I'd go that route again. I've learned a lot since, but kept it fish-only so far. I recently decided to try out some plants, I purchased some micro-sword, and water sprite.

Right now I'm using the bulb from the kit, which is a 15 watt "All Glass Aquarium" fluorescent. Is there any way to tell if this bulb puts out an acceptable spectrum for plants? Should I go get a better bulb ASAP?

If its a flourescent bulb and is actually 15w, thats alright for some low-light plants in your tank (you have 1.5 WPG [watts per gallon])

i have a 10g tank that i ran two 13w CFL twisty bulbs in, which gave me 2.6wpg, which made my plants EXPLODE. I havent had any experience with those plants but you could probably get away with your current bulb, or spend 10$ on twisty CFL bulbs for more wattage/new shiny bulbs.

Keep in mind more light = more plants needed to outcompete the algae that will all of a sudden poof into your tank.

 

[lmarshall]

What kind of fixture did you use for the twisty CFL bulbs?

 

[biggie357]

What kind of fixture did you use for the twisty CFL bulbs?

just a standard hood that came in a kit with the tank. it was bought a long time ago and my twisties just barely fit, but had about a cm of clearance to the top of the fixture. i lined the whole inside with aluminum foil and WOW does that make a difference.

dont be afraid to ghetto-rig your hardware. as long as the software works good