i have a ten gallon planted tank, there is 3 amozon swords all about 13" and a white sandria at about 7-8 inches, i also have a crypt at about 4 inches, i dont think that i can afford a flourescent yet, so i am running a small bulb with a 15 bulb is that ok or will i need to change it, i can up the light to a think 40w. i have the light on from 7am to 10pm, is that too much, or is that too little, what other plants would i be able to put in?
how much light will i need
- Thread starter Jonathan6190
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If you only have an incandescent bulb, I doubt you will see much growth. I have some vallisneria in a 2.5 gal. tank under incandescent light, and while it survives, it doesn't grow much at all. Flourescents really are the way to go if you want healthy growth. There are screw-in flourescent bulbs available that wouldn't cost much but would be a big improvement over incandescent lighting. HTH
I'm not sure about the bulb you are talking about. Is it like a bent/spiraled tube, or does it resemble a regular light bulb? CO2 might not help much if you don't have sufficient lighting.
scratch thaT the bulb is burnt out, how much would a small flourescent hood/light/top or something like that be, i have a minimal amount of cash
It would be cheaper to buy Compact flouresent bulbs for the hood, rather than replace the hood. I have a 10 Watt CF spiral bulb in my 2.5 gal., and that sucker lights up the tank like a spotlight! I am going to guess that you have a Wal-Mart special set-up, with the incandesent hood. If that is the case, I would just get a set of CF spiral bulbs. Either 10 or 14 Watt would work, as most of the higher wattage bulbs are much larger, and won't fit.
HTH
HTH
Yea...but I have an ancient lamp and a plexi glass top. I think I would need to buy a whole new hood..how much would that cost?
Johnathan,
I use an old 10g setup for my planted tank as well. What I did was to replace the two incandescent bulbs with power compact fluorescent 10 watt bulbs (self ballasted screw in bulbs). With these you can get 2WPG and do low light plants. You can get buy them at most LFS and hardware stores. Look for bulbs labeled daylight to get the best “K” (spectrum) rating for the plants.
Wayne
PS: Higher wattage bulbs are made but may be too big for your hood.
I use an old 10g setup for my planted tank as well. What I did was to replace the two incandescent bulbs with power compact fluorescent 10 watt bulbs (self ballasted screw in bulbs). With these you can get 2WPG and do low light plants. You can get buy them at most LFS and hardware stores. Look for bulbs labeled daylight to get the best “K” (spectrum) rating for the plants.
Wayne
PS: Higher wattage bulbs are made but may be too big for your hood.
If possible you should try to use a florescent bulb. Besides the intensity, florescent bulbs have a different wave length.
It depends how well you want your tank to look, but you might consider just a peice of plexiglass for a hood. Then you can use any lgiht source you want even if it hangs over a bit. Just make a few holes for ventalation. You could also make a "feeding hole" so you don't have to take off the light to feed the fish.
Also, your swords might grow out of the water if they haven't already. If so, its ok but it means that you'll need to do a little more maintenace. Just spray them down very well with water from a mist bottle a few times a day.
It depends how well you want your tank to look, but you might consider just a peice of plexiglass for a hood. Then you can use any lgiht source you want even if it hangs over a bit. Just make a few holes for ventalation. You could also make a "feeding hole" so you don't have to take off the light to feed the fish.
Also, your swords might grow out of the water if they haven't already. If so, its ok but it means that you'll need to do a little more maintenace. Just spray them down very well with water from a mist bottle a few times a day.