Florescent lighting?

Sammie7

Sammie7

Get funky wit it!
May 28, 2006
1,284
0
36
Florida
That would grow low light plants. In a 10g hood, it will probably only be 15 watts. The bulb is ok for plants, but will still be low light. Java fern, Anubias, Java moss, Anacharis, and Cryptocorynes are all good low light choices.
 
I don’t think that light is worth the money. 10K light is very pleasing to the eye, however It won’t grow plants any better than an ordinary bulb would.
 
In order to grow some nice pants, it most times becomes necessary to upgrade the lighting which usually but not always means a new fixture. For low light plants it is best to have at least 2 watts of light per gallon of water and for higher light plants it jumps to 3 watts of light per gallon of water. Most times at 3 watts of light or more there is a need for c02 injection as well. If you do not want to deal with co2 injection, and there are a lot of people that never use it and are successful, then you should stay in the 2-2.5 range.

Marinemom
 
I agree with you guys. Thanks for your replies. I will tell the person that. They said they would like to grow glosso, anubias, java fern, java moss, tiger lotus, and apongetons. I'm definately thinking the glosso is out because they want it as a carpet plant.
 
Hold on a sec! Tiger Lotus and aponogetons get huge... my 75G is too small for them.

As for java fern, java moss, and anubias I have good luck growing them in a 20g with a 15W flourescent light: http://www.petsolutions.com/Aqua-Flora-Plus-T6-Lamp+I74000054.aspx However on a 10G I would bet you'd need a shorter bulb than an 18" - you would have to figure out what length is first. The bulbs I linked are available in shorter lengths on other websites. I must say though, dont exepct a lot of growth on such a low wpg setup, most 10g with high growth are in the 60-70W light range (with co2 and ferts too). Glosso is usually considered to be a high light plant, although Tom Barr has grown it well in very low light, I dont know what his trick is with it.
 
Hey guys,

Sammie7 posted this topic for me here and I loved what all of you guys suggested, so I signed up. Thanks again Sammie7.

I decided to go for a tank that is capable for supporting Glosso and other plants in that catogory. So, In order for me to get a higher WPG I will need to get a higher wattage, correct? But I only have a single light case, in other words, I can only have one light over my aquarium right now. This tank is in my room, so I don't want lights to be hanging from the ceiling or anything like that. I googled this item, double light case, and nothing came up. Does anyone know where to get a double light case for a 10gallon?

Thanks so much guys!
 
If you're the DIY type, you can get a 2x13w kit from www.ahsupply.com, they have a guide to retrofitting your hood with the kit.
Click to expand...
26 watts over a 10g still isn't enough to grow glosso IMO.

I'd go for atleast 4 watts per gallon, which would be 40w over the tank. I personally like Power Compact fixtures. With 4wpg or more you'll also need CO2 and ferts. I'd get either a 1x40 PC fixture or 1x65w (if they come in 20 inches). That means buying a new fixture and ditching the hood.

The AH Supply 1x36w kit may fit in the 10g hood, but I'm not sure. That might be enough to grow glosso with CO2 and ferts, but I'm not sure.

Something like THIS would work. You can buy a mounting kit for it or legs, not sure on this particular brand, so that it hovers above the tank.
 
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