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Lighting a 10 gallon

1K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Leeed 
#1 ·
Greetings everyone. I've been reading these forums since probably around January. I wanted to do planted tanks from the get go but was easily scared off.

So the situation I am in, after getting a fair bit of fishkeeping experience in, I want to take the plunge into planted tanks. Want to start by converting an already active 10 gallon, which is more or less my test run tank for everything. Aquascaping, substrates, water conditions, these are all concepts I am extremely comfortable with. This is where you guys hopefully come in.

Lighting is the one point of confusion I can't seem to shake. I understand the WPG guideline and its limitations. Where my confusion comes in place is the seeming availability of options for a 10 gallon. I've been searching the internet for the best option for lighting for this little 10 gallon, and the most common things I can find are fluorescent hoods setup for T8 bulbs. Am I correct in my understanding that T5 will not fit in T8? Or is this the T5HO that are different? Are T8 bulbs enough to give at least mid-light quality for a 10 gallon? And the kelvin lighting ranges... I truly have no understanding of what is desirable from that statistic.

Overall, I am searching for recommendations. I am getting frustrated because it seems majority of folks plant much much larger tanks. I have every intention of going up in size but only if I can succeed in a smaller scale. Thank you in advance all!
 
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#3 ·
I was the same way. Just started my first planted tank a couple months ago and it is also a 10 gallon. Found this thread:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=153195

If you don't care much for aesthetics, I don't think you can beat this. You could probably paint the lamps black if you wanted to. Went with two 8 in. Bayco lights from Lowes. Less than $20 for both and cfls are relatively cheap. I bought 13 watt 6500k ones. Hanging them from the ceiling lets you adjust the height of them from the substrate very easily. The members in that thread also used them on large tanks. Just grab another one if you go to a bigger tank.

This thread helped me so much in regards of what wattage I should select for my needs and also how high to hang them. A lot of people are going by PAR nowadays rather than watt per gallon:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=85667&page=5

And you're right about t5 vs t8. You can't swap bulbs between fixtures. As for T5NO vs T5HO, I think you can put T5NO bulbs in a HO fixture but not HO bulbs in an NO fixture. I THINK. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Hope this helps!
 

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#6 ·
I was very close to just purchasing the AquaticLife T5HO Dual Lamp off of Drs Fos/Smith:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+23753&pcatid=23753&s=lh

Anyone experienced with this particular one? Overkill for a 10 gallon perhaps? Or just fine?

Currently I have one of those cheapo marineland LED hoods with the normal/night lights, that is just enough to keep java moss going. So I have limited knowledge on bulb colors. That AquaticLife one comes with a 18w 6000k bulb and 18w Pink Roseate. Are those.... decent? Should I purchase different bulbs in general, or is it more a person to person preference?
 
#7 ·
I've been reading descent reviews about the Odyssea T5HO fixtures. Here's a link to one http://www.aquatraders.com/20-inch-4x18W-T5-Aquarium-Light-Fixture-p/52302p.htm

With this being a quad fixture it will put you into the high to very high light range even though the reflectors aren't the best but you have a few options to lower the light out put. You can run one or two bulbs or use window screen to dim the light a bit. At $60 shipped though I think this is probably the best bang for your buck and if you ever decide to make the tank high light you are already set.

I'm actually thinking about replacing my Zoo-Med dual T5HO on my 40b with the 36'' Odyssea Quad T5HO with the biult in timer and moonlight.
 
#8 ·
Wow, now that's a home run hit. And at the cost... I'm basically sold.

Still going to continue researching all the great amounts of information dumped within this forum on lightbulb types, but you guys just got me past the last hurdle I had for trying a planted tank. Thank you all :)

Also... like the home depot utility lamp setup. May be trying that with a smaller nano in the future as well.
 
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