# [Wet Thumb Forum]-10 Gallon Tank in need of lighting :)



## aychamo (Jun 12, 2004)

Hey guys!

This is my first post, so let me say hello! I'm new to the world of having a fish tank, and I'm also new to the world of planted tanks! (my first time for both!) I'm learning a lot as I'm going, and I've been reading a lot. Of course, for my first tank I started with the very standard sized 10 gallon tank. I ended up picking up a starter kit at Wal-Mart that had a 15w flouresccent light in it. 

Being a biologist, I of course had to have only living plants, I couldn't stomach the thought of creating a mini-ecosystem with plastic plants!

Anyways, I irresponsibly went out and bought a lot more fish than my tank could handle (don't laugh: 3 silver dollars, 3 sharks, and 2 catfish.) When I told the lady what I had she almost killed me. Obviously I don't want the fish to die, so I returned the sharks and catfish to the pet store, and now I just have the three silver dollars and a small suckerfish. I know even the three silver dollars is too much for my tank, but when they start to grow, I have full plans to upgrade to either 50 or 100, I just want to make sure I'm capable of properly running a tank, first.

Anyway, so fast forward to today. It's been about a month, no fish have died, and I have a handful of plants in my tank, including Anacharis, Moneywort, Grass, and Amazon Swords. With my 1.5wpg lighting (I have a 15w 18" AquaLux flouresccent light), the amazon swords and the grass aren't growing at all. The Anacharis are growing, but just at a decently moderate pace. I haven't had the moneywort long enough to see it's growth.

I really want my plants to grow. I have the Hagen CO2 injector, and I use Leaf Zone Aquarium Plant Food and Flourish Plant Supplement. But despite all this, I know my light is just lacking incredibly. 

I've been reading a light, but I can't find out how to get better wattage in my tank lighting system. This leaves me with a lot of questions:

If I get an 18inch flouresscent light, that has more wattage than the one I have now (15w), do I have to upgrade the fixture the light sits in? Like the ballasts, and the starter? 

On my cheap aquarium hood, my light fixture comes right off, and it has a little piece of glass/plastic that the light shines through. I've experimented, and I see that I could move it entirely and place it on top of the thing that opens up to feed the fish. So if I could find another light-housing, I could have two 15w flourescent lights. Is two 15w the same as saying you have a single 30w? Or would it possibly be slightly better because the light would be more distributed throughout the tank?

Regarding complac flourescent, you guys say they are screw in, and can screw into incadescent fixtures. So how does one with flourescent bulbs adapt to these? I have absolutely no reservations about drilling into my light fixture housing, but I would like to know exactly what I need to do before hand. Like, would I just drill holes on either side, and mount the CF fixture's there, and secure them with say silicon or hot glue? So that would have these CF screw-ins on either side of the fixtue. But how do you get electricity to them? Can you "buy" just basic light fixtures with the electricity already ran to them? Or would I have to destroy some cheap lamp to get it done? You see what I'm asking?

Alternatively, is there a company that makes a new "cover" for the standard 10 gallon tanks that would provide a easy method for getting a good 3WPG?

Thank you all so much!


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## aychamo (Jun 12, 2004)

Hey guys!

This is my first post, so let me say hello! I'm new to the world of having a fish tank, and I'm also new to the world of planted tanks! (my first time for both!) I'm learning a lot as I'm going, and I've been reading a lot. Of course, for my first tank I started with the very standard sized 10 gallon tank. I ended up picking up a starter kit at Wal-Mart that had a 15w flouresccent light in it. 

Being a biologist, I of course had to have only living plants, I couldn't stomach the thought of creating a mini-ecosystem with plastic plants!

Anyways, I irresponsibly went out and bought a lot more fish than my tank could handle (don't laugh: 3 silver dollars, 3 sharks, and 2 catfish.) When I told the lady what I had she almost killed me. Obviously I don't want the fish to die, so I returned the sharks and catfish to the pet store, and now I just have the three silver dollars and a small suckerfish. I know even the three silver dollars is too much for my tank, but when they start to grow, I have full plans to upgrade to either 50 or 100, I just want to make sure I'm capable of properly running a tank, first.

Anyway, so fast forward to today. It's been about a month, no fish have died, and I have a handful of plants in my tank, including Anacharis, Moneywort, Grass, and Amazon Swords. With my 1.5wpg lighting (I have a 15w 18" AquaLux flouresccent light), the amazon swords and the grass aren't growing at all. The Anacharis are growing, but just at a decently moderate pace. I haven't had the moneywort long enough to see it's growth.

I really want my plants to grow. I have the Hagen CO2 injector, and I use Leaf Zone Aquarium Plant Food and Flourish Plant Supplement. But despite all this, I know my light is just lacking incredibly. 

I've been reading a light, but I can't find out how to get better wattage in my tank lighting system. This leaves me with a lot of questions:

If I get an 18inch flouresscent light, that has more wattage than the one I have now (15w), do I have to upgrade the fixture the light sits in? Like the ballasts, and the starter? 

On my cheap aquarium hood, my light fixture comes right off, and it has a little piece of glass/plastic that the light shines through. I've experimented, and I see that I could move it entirely and place it on top of the thing that opens up to feed the fish. So if I could find another light-housing, I could have two 15w flourescent lights. Is two 15w the same as saying you have a single 30w? Or would it possibly be slightly better because the light would be more distributed throughout the tank?

Regarding complac flourescent, you guys say they are screw in, and can screw into incadescent fixtures. So how does one with flourescent bulbs adapt to these? I have absolutely no reservations about drilling into my light fixture housing, but I would like to know exactly what I need to do before hand. Like, would I just drill holes on either side, and mount the CF fixture's there, and secure them with say silicon or hot glue? So that would have these CF screw-ins on either side of the fixtue. But how do you get electricity to them? Can you "buy" just basic light fixtures with the electricity already ran to them? Or would I have to destroy some cheap lamp to get it done? You see what I'm asking?

Alternatively, is there a company that makes a new "cover" for the standard 10 gallon tanks that would provide a easy method for getting a good 3WPG?

Thank you all so much!


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## aychamo (Jun 12, 2004)

Oh, btw, I have this floor-lamp that I used to use in my garage, on the inside of it, the reflective surface says "Type T-3 Lamp, 500w max". Obviously this light is a beast, until I get my lighting sorted out for my tank, could I use this in any way. For example, set it up like 5 feet away from the tank and shine it in?


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## nino (Oct 2, 2004)

Hi there,
Your plants won't utilize the CO2 you inject much since the lighting is too low.

This is what I did to my 10 gl planted. I bought a glass top and get another flourescent fixture and put one next to another just like you described. And I did one step further. I overdrive both bulbs 4x using 4f32t8 ballast. The output is brighter than 3 fixtures put together. My guess is close to 5.5wpg.

Another way to do it is to buy a power compact retrofit kit from www.ahsupply.com. You could get the 36watts PC.

And check if your hagen supply enough CO2 for your tank. Mine somehow can't even handle my 10gl tank and I end up using 2L coke bottle. Here is a link : http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html#1


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## aychamo (Jun 12, 2004)

Hey there!

I just went to Petsmart and picked up a "PerfectaStrip Aquarium Reflector with Eclipse Flourescent Lamp."

The flourescent light in this I am assuming is 15w. It is *way* brighter than my current Aquari-Lux 15w light. It really loks like a lot of nice light coming in, and when I turn off the new light, it makes me wonder how I was able to even live with just the original 15w light. 

I saw some bulbs that were $20 a piece, they were the low-heat, actinite blue (or something) that had the 180degree reflection in them. Is this a really good bulb? I'm thinking of getting a pair of those, but want to know before I dump $40 on it!


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## nino (Oct 2, 2004)

No, actinic is mainly used for coral or salt water tank. For freshwater planted, people usually stick with something between 5000-10000K color temp.

Mixing 2 different color temp bulbs can create a nice color also. Here is an article that has a few comparisons: http://www.aqua-web.org/users/saurama/


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

I've used incandescent fixture with screw in CF as well as desk lamps angled over the tank (glass canopy) and all work really well. However, I've noticed Drs.Foster and Smith have a new CF fixture that is really inexpensive comparatively. It's on page 87 of the catalog. I hate that I don't need new lights at this time! For a 12" double bulb (18 watts each) the price is $34.99, and for 20" double bulbs (36 watts each) $46.99, and for 24" double bulbs the price is $49.99. They are 6500K, aluminum housing, "built-in reflector to maximize light output," adjustable legs, straight pin bulbs. Sounds excellent to me!


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## csfish (May 19, 2005)

The 20" with 36watts sounds perfect! Go with that one...


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## aychamo (Jun 12, 2004)

Are these lights available at hardware stores? Or only online?


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## nino (Oct 2, 2004)

Some available in hardware store, some at lfs and others online. But for shorter tubes, it's easier to find it in lfs or online.


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## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

The fixture I was talking about appears only to be available at this time at Drs Foster and Smith

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11420&Ne=40000&R=7507&N=2004+113345

The only thing I wonder about is that they don't mention fans and I like fans with my light systems...


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## aychamo (Jun 12, 2004)

This looks good, huh?

http://www.aquarium-supply.biz/products/aqualight_53000.jpg

20inch, 28watts... ??


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## bcrewcaptain (Nov 28, 2003)

look around to see what you can find at local stores as well, I managed to shoehorn 4 tubes over the top of my 10gal with only 25 bucks invested. I was able to find a 2 tube undercabinet flor fixture for 8 bucks each @ a local roses store, this combined with a large plastic window planter with holes drilled in it made for a great hood, a 15 minute project and it'll get ya well within the lighting range to grow whatever you need in a little 10...good luck!


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