Marineland 10G kit

[Hawkian]

I just bought a 10G tank kit with incandescent lighting in the hood (2x 25w). If I go by the w/g rule that should be more than sufficient but I'd like to know what people think about using that lighting in a planted tank? The tank i a typical 20 x 10 x 12, will have a layer of soil underneath some fluorite. I am undecided about CO2.

Is my thinking wrong to believe that 50w of incandescent lighting in a 10G will be more than sufficient to grow plants successfully?

[samamorgan]

Incandescent lights simply don't work for plants. Have to upgrade to something more suitable.

[Hawkian]

Originally Posted by samamorgan

Incandescent lights simply don't work for plants. Have to upgrade to something more suitable.

Thanks for the reply samamorgan. However I have a very difficult time accepting that this is true. Plants will grow in all kinds of light conditions. I currently run a planted tank on a 1.25w/g and they look awesome: you just have to know which plants to get. That being said, I'd never heard that plants simply will not grow with incandescent light. Is this true? Should I swap the incandescent 50w hood for a fluorescent 15w hood (which is really my only option for the budget)?

[flutterbug]

I am just a beginner, but everything I've read about starting a planted tank said you need flourescents and incandescents don't work. Even a girl working at Petsmart said she had to change her incandescent to a flourescent and that was just for a java fern. Which supposedly need the minimum amount of light. I noticed none of the 10 gallon kits came with flourescent hoods that's why the subject came up.

[samamorgan]

Originally Posted by Hawkian

Thanks for the reply samamorgan. However I have a very difficult time accepting that this is true. Plants will grow in all kinds of light conditions. I currently run a planted tank on a 1.25w/g and they look awesome: you just have to know which plants to get. That being said, I'd never heard that plants simply will not grow with incandescent light. Is this true? Should I swap the incandescent 50w hood for a fluorescent 15w hood (which is really my only option for the budget)?

Incandescent bulbs put out very poor PAR values. Theyre the wrong spectrum for plants and they simply dont have the intensity. For example, a single 100w incandescent bulb puts out about 5 PAR at 24"(source). With a 25 watt bulb at 12" above the substrate, i would estimate you're getting maybe 8 PAR. This is below what we accept as even low light. One of those 13 watt CFL U bulbs (there would be two over your tank) would probably get you into the 35 PAR range with decent reflectors, a bit less with the standard setup in your hood. You would be comfortably in the low range of light at this point and be able to grow healthy low light plants.

Read here for more info on how aquarium lighting works, i always found this very informative: http://www.inda-gro.com/pdf/aquarium-lighting.pdf

Also the watts per gallon rule hardly applies anymore, and it never really applied at all to small tanks.

Here's an alright bulb to replace your incandescents with: http://www.americanaquariumproducts....erCompact.html
The incandescents that are long and U shaped should fit just right in your hood.

[CaptainPictusIII]

If you put a Sylvania Instant On 6500k CFL in your hood you will notice a HUGE difference in brightness and intensity even by eye.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:In...comparison.png

This is a simple picture I found on wiki. If you compare the light temps to the plant growing guides that you can find on plantedtank.com you will see what we are talking about.

[samamorgan]

Originally Posted by CaptainPictusIII

If you put a Sylvania Instant On 6500k CFL in your hood you will notice a HUGE difference in brightness and intensity even by eye.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:In...comparison.png

This is a simple picture I found on wiki. If you compare the light temps to the plant growing guides that you can find on plantedtank.com you will see what we are talking about.

I'm not sure those bulbs will fit in the space inside his hood, thats why i recommended the U tube CFLs, theyre long and skinny. Spirals might be too big around, i've seen that kit.

[diwu13]

Where do you guys order/find the U shaped CFL bulbs at a decent price? Walmart only carries the spiral CFL bulbs (2x 15W for $7, 2x 25W for $9)

[samamorgan]

My LFS has the coralife 50/50 and colormax ones for $13. I prefer the ones at the site i linked above.

[diwu13]

Originally Posted by samamorgan

My LFS has the coralife 50/50 and colormax ones for $13. I prefer the ones at the site i linked above.

At the site above, is the price of $7.99 for a single "U" CFL bulb? Or is it a package of two? Looks like it's a single bulb

[samamorgan]

Originally Posted by diwu13

At the site above, is the price of $7.99 for a single "U" CFL bulb? Or is it a package of two? Looks like it's a single bulb

Per bulb. You were expecting to pay less? Lol.

[diwu13]

Well. I was expecting something more reasonable haha. Walmart sells those curly CFL 6500K 15W bulbs, two for $6.99 haha.

[tlyons01]

Hi, I'm not sure if I would be any help to you, but I thought I could let you know about my setup. I also have an incandescent hood for my 10 gal. I am able to use the mini CFL, twist style, that I found at my local Lowes. I think they are GE, 13 watt 6500k and they had "mini" on the package. For 2 bulbs I believe it was around 8-9 dollars. I have seen the U shaped fluorescent lights at my local walmart as well, they have them in our pet dept as well as in the lighting area, and I believe I just saw them near the automotive section, where they sell the work lamps. HTH

[samamorgan]

Originally Posted by tlyons01

Hi, I'm not sure if I would be any help to you, but I thought I could let you know about my setup. I also have an incandescent hood for my 10 gal. I am able to use the mini CFL, twist style, that I found at my local Lowes. I think they are GE, 13 watt 6500k and they had "mini" on the package. For 2 bulbs I believe it was around 8-9 dollars. I have seen the U shaped fluorescent lights at my local walmart as well, they have them in our pet dept as well as in the lighting area, and I believe I just saw them near the automotive section, where they sell the work lamps. HTH

There you go. If they fit, they fit. they just use the standard E26 socket. I suggested the U shape ones because i have experience with the hood and i know they fit, but if the spirals do, hell yeah. Get some higher watt ones and go to town.