I'm looking into getting a new hood/light set-up for my 10-gallon tank. How much will it be & what should I look for??
Lighting
- Thread starter CivicChick
- Start date
Depends on what you want...
if you are running a fish only tank, then just a simple glass cover will more than suffice. If you are going to run a plant tank, then the price of a hood generally goes up.
-Richer
if you are running a fish only tank, then just a simple glass cover will more than suffice. If you are going to run a plant tank, then the price of a hood generally goes up.
-Richer
Tell me more about the glass cover. I currently have no live plants, & I've had them before & they made a huge mess of my tank.
Well if you are not looking at keeping plants in this tank, you may opt for the minimal light requirements which also goes easier on fish which may or may not be sensitive to light. Basically, with no plants the choice is yours. Fish do not need any spacific wattage of lighting. As long as its half way bright during the day time (if by a window), lighting isn't even needed. It's all your choice.
Sorry to disagree, but Do Not put your aquarium near a window with sunlight. The "after effects" may have you giving up the hobby all together! Sunlit windows and aquariums don't go well together 90% of the time.
Believe me, you DO have control over your aquarium lights, you DO Not have control over the intensity of the Sun. Its way easier to keep the Sun out of the picture. You don't want to find a tank full of algae and wonder why it happened so fast.
aquariumfishguy, I did take into account that you mentioned "half-way bright by Sunlight".... Some may miss the 1/2 way part.. Hope I helped some by mentioning to keep Sunlight from a window, out of the picture on aquriums...
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Excuse me if I wasn't clearer earlier,
What I meant was that as long as you have a source of light in the room your tank is in (such as a window), you shouldn't need any high wattage bulbs/tubes. I do turn my lights on, but I dont "need" to in the tanks which dont have plants in them. The window in my fish room is about 7 feet from my tanks. The tanks are opposite of the window wall, on a side wall so they do get some natural light but not nessessarily direct sunlight...not for more than maybe 1 hour when the sun sets.
Anyway, sorry if it came out wrong. I didnt mean to make it seem you should have a aquarium right next to your window as that probably wouldn't work too well. However, sunlight certainly wouldn't hurt as long as its somewhat indirect.
What I meant was that as long as you have a source of light in the room your tank is in (such as a window), you shouldn't need any high wattage bulbs/tubes. I do turn my lights on, but I dont "need" to in the tanks which dont have plants in them. The window in my fish room is about 7 feet from my tanks. The tanks are opposite of the window wall, on a side wall so they do get some natural light but not nessessarily direct sunlight...not for more than maybe 1 hour when the sun sets.
Anyway, sorry if it came out wrong. I didnt mean to make it seem you should have a aquarium right next to your window as that probably wouldn't work too well. However, sunlight certainly wouldn't hurt as long as its somewhat indirect.
My recent 10g hood that I purchased was about $15 that includes an incandescent light fixture. For a flourescent one the prices I saw started at about $25. I probably should have gone for a glass hood since I don't actually use a light on this particular tank. Another option I thought about afterwards would be to use a piece of plastic from a hardware store that is used for kitchen lights and such and just cut it to size.
I got what you meant about the window, so don't worry (it would maybe also fry my fish 
and no one wants that 
). I was just asking because I just set up a tank in my bathroom. There are no windows & the tank has no lighting. My other tank is in a room where the fish get natural light, so I have never had to worry about lighting before. I was just looking for advice/suggestions/etc.'s before I make the wrong purchase.
and no one wants that ). I was just asking because I just set up a tank in my bathroom. There are no windows & the tank has no lighting. My other tank is in a room where the fish get natural light, so I have never had to worry about lighting before. I was just looking for advice/suggestions/etc.'s before I make the wrong purchase.
It sounds like its not going to be a planted tank then. I think you could use one of the inexpensive hoods on the tank. What I did recently was purchased a 2 foot by 4 foot piece of styrene plastic from a hardware store for $4 and cut a piece out that I put under the hood I had purchased for $15. I cut out parts of the styrene to allow air to flow and it still prevents the bubbles in the tank (sponge filter with airstone) from splashing on the lights on the hood.
Just my $.02, If plants AREN'T in the picture, the plastic single strip hoods are IMO great, I would go with florescent rather than incandescent light (heat and effeciency), but these tops are reasonably priced easy to work with, and lightweight. I happen to think they look pretty good as well. the major drawback with commercial plastic hoods is there ability to add high light levels for plants.