# Lighting a 10 gallon



## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

Hey,I was wondering what's the cheapest and effective way to light a 10 gallon? I'm trying to grow medium/high light plants and I'm running diy co2. I currently have one of those reptile lighting with a 23watt screw in cf









I could get another one of those and throw in a 27w bulb for like $25. Does anyone have any suggestions on this? I'm not looking to spend over $40 or $50, so the ahsupply one is sort of out of the question.
Thanks for the help!


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I haven't tried this, but it looks like a couple of those fixtures, with the 27 watt spiral fluorescent tubes, with color temperature above 5000K would be reasonably good over a 10 gallon tank. Don't keep the lights more than a few inches above the water though.


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

Alright, I'll try get another one of those. I guess I could use a 27 watt desklamp, or another one of those reptile ones. They would run me about the same price.


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

Next September, hit the HomeDepot/Lowes/Target/Wal-Mart type stores as that's when they put all of those back-to-school desk lamps on clearance. You can often get 13W 6500K loaded PC lamps for $10-$20, if you time it right. I was a little late shopping for my 5g shrimp tank light, so I settled for a 40W G9 type halogen lamp ($9, but I've had to spend another $6 on a replacement bulb). The spectrum is not optimal, but my mosses, Val & Bacopa seem happy so far.


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

Well, I wanna get around 40 watts, I was just thinking maybe to dish a little extra for that 36 watt ah supply since their reflectors are good, but $70 shipped is still a bit steep...

oh! can i buy a incandescent hood from walmart for $20 and stick in like 2x 27watts fluorescent?
does the incandescent support 2 bulbs and 27 watts each? maybe 23 i guess


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

A problem I have had with those spiral fluorescent light bulbs is that the higher wattage ones are often too large an outside diameter to fit into places where an incandescent bulb normally fits. I have a nice table lamp now that has a glass globe with the bulb inside, and I can only fit a very weak CF bulb in it. Just check how much clearance you have for the bulb before you buy the bulb. Electrical fixtures for incandescent bulbs will almost always work fine with up to 40 watt bulbs and usually for up to 60 watt bulbs. Overheating would be the only problem, but the CF bulbs don't generate that much heat.


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## onyx (Sep 14, 2007)

I just bought a 20" 1x40 watt Current USA light fixture for my 10g. I like it a lot. It includes a lunar light which is cool. I got mine from marinedepot.com. petmountain.com has it for a little cheaper.


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

Shipping comes out to $80 about to Hawaii. I don't know if that'll be better than the 36 watt ahsupply, but it does seem more convenient. 
I'll first check out the incandescent hood I guess. Does anyone know if it houses 1 or 2 bulbs?


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## jARDINI (Sep 2, 2007)

gotcheaprice said:


> Shipping comes out to $80 about to Hawaii. I don't know if that'll be better than the 36 watt ahsupply, but it does seem more convenient.
> I'll first check out the incandescent hood I guess. Does anyone know if it houses 1 or 2 bulbs?


it houses 2 bulbs. my sister has one over her 10 gallon


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

Thanks. I'll first ask around the petstores to see if they know anywhere with corallife kits maybe i can buy instores to save on shipping.
I threw my 27 watt desklamp there and moved the reptile lighting to my 3 gallon for now. I hope it does fine, though one end does seem a lot less lighted.

 I think my glosso in my 3 gal seems to be pearling with my reptile fixture... I'll see how it turns out.
yeah, the glosso is pearling like crazy compared to before. so is my anubias from it's rhimzone(though it was not as much with my desk lamp)
Yeah, everything is pearling really nicely... Maybe it's cause I put the light directly on top. It was raised a bit with the desk lamp.


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## JustOneMore21 (Mar 19, 2007)

I've also been researching lighting for a 10g and decided to go the cheap way of an incandescent hood. I know I can choose how many watts I want with this hood and if 40 or 50w turns out to be too much, then I can lower it.  Not the prettiest option, but definitely one of the cheapest.


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

Well, I hope that the hood will be able to house the bulbs. I'm gonna see first if I can get a better kit... the hood will sorta be a last resort.


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

Look at places like Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. and look at their lighting fixtures. I found a good one on clearance (about $15, GE brand) that holds two 18w NO flourescents. It sits perfectly atop my 10g tank and will grow pretty much everything, albeit a bit slower than a fancy PC set-up. I'm never in much of a hurry to prune.


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

What did the lighting fixture look like? And what do you mean by NO flourescents? I'm not looking for anything too fancy, just a HC lawn(is that fancy? )


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

I believe this is the exact fixture I have:

http://cgi.ebay.com/21-Under-Cabine...Z011QQcategoryZ116019QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

I'm currently using this on my shrimp tank, growing (farming) wisteria, HC, and Pogostemon yatabeanus. I use GE Sunshine bulbs (5000K), about $6-7 each at most box stores.


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## Gilraen Took (Apr 19, 2007)

Those reptile lights are around $5-7 at Home Depot like stores. They don't come with the bulbs(though the reptile ones don't usually either) and you can get screw in CF bulbs from walmart for a few dollars each in packages. Just mentioning


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