hey guys first time poster here. i recently got into planted tanks as my reef setup took a dive while on vacation. Too exp to start up again so went back to freshies but wanted to try planted. i currently have a 55g bowfront with some nice plants growing well. id like to try a 10g for my classroom where i work. I have a spare tank and everything i need except lightning. i would like to grow anything lol. probably clipping from my main tank but i would LOVE to get some dwarf hairgrass to cover tank floor. what kind of lighting am i looking for? ive read the wpg threads and thinking cfls are the way to go money wise. i have a clip on grow light from reef sump i might use. but what type of ligt do i need? since its one bulb what range do i want 6500? 5000? 18k? id like to get whiter light but if need be for plants ill go with the yellowish ones. any help would be nice. PS this is old 10g basic rimmed tank u get for 20 bucks lol. thanx in advance!

You can try a dual T5HO fixture on the 10 gallon. I had the aquaticlife 24" fixture on the 10gallon with a nice carpet of hairgrass. But also had pressurized co2. With the light and co2 you can pretty much grow any plant you want.


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You want 6500K for growing plants. They have the best Photosyntheically Active Radiation (PAR). I have a 24watt 6500k CFL from homedepot and lamp i got for $20 over my 10gal and works great, but a refugium light will probably work even better. . But be warned you probably wont get a carpet of DHG w/o CO2. However I think it would be a great demonstration of fermentation for your class if you do the DIY CO2 setup and put those yeast to work!

If you dont go with any CO2, some easy plants id recomend would be; Java Ferns, hygrophila angustifolia, Bacopa Carolina, Camboba, and Crypts. With the first two plants propbably being the easiest to grow. You can get Java ferns to cover the bottom of a tank by tying them to rocks/drift wood and be very patient. They arent the fastest growers but its possible to get something like this (Ferns in the middle):

If you can find one.... Aqueon makes a hood for their ten gallons you can purchase seperately. I have one and I just put 2 13 Watt 6500K CFLs in and my plants are extremely happy right now.

Best light for a ten gallon is hands down a CFL bulb. I have a high-tech 10 gallon and grown everyone from Erio's to swords in there.

Don't forget Anubias! Its a great low-tech or no-tech commonly avialable plant and there are a ton of variations in the family! It can be grown sumberged or emersed (needs a humid environment if grown out of water) and will flower (even when under water). Love this plant super hardy and does great in high ph and hard water (which I have), but can tank any params really ^^ Like java fern its rhizome cannot be buried so attach it to something like wood/rock/decor works well. I have mine all weighed down with glass beads and clear fishing line (bury bead in substrate and let plant sit on top of sand)

probably cheapest and most versatile light would be to just get a 10gallon incandescent strip light, and stick some daylight CFLs in there

I think something like 2 13 watts is in the upper end of low light, but if you want to go higher tech, you could stick larger bulbs in there ( I think 23 watt CFL are commonly available, and if you poke around, you can probably find even bigger ones.)

awsesome thanx for the advice guys. as for the co2 im currently doing that on my 55g and actually having good results with it. i currently have 2x24 t5 ho 18k and 2x 6500 i like the growth but wish i could get the more white look i see in all these cool tanks online lol. any suggestions for that?



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My main tank BTW lol. Trying to identify the middle plant as well as two green guys on either end. They appear to be blooming

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The anubias (last photo, center/right side) you need to pull the rhizome (thick horizontal green part that kind of looks like bamboo which leaves and roots grow out of) out of the substrate! It will rot and kill the plant if buried. You should tie it to some decor or a simple inert weight (like a glass bead) and bury that but not the plant.

Uh oh I'm sorry which is the anubias?

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ok so found what u said. got it out of substrate on both of em. the roots are nicely under ground but some showing just to be sure rhizome is out enough. saw the part u mentioned, and found its actually two plants now lol yay?

Your tank looks nice, but if you're a science teacher, you may want to do something with killifish instead of neons and stuff. You could have the tank of killifish and egg hatching containers and the children could watch the eggs develop.

Petsmart has a program that pays for part or most of the costs of setting up a classroom pet habitat, whether small animal or fish tank or whatever. Go in and ask about it.

I have cleaned up this thread. Please do not name-call and/or be rude to other people.

Dwarf Hair Grass could still grow under low light, but it won't carpet as fast as in a high tech setup.

This website below states that dwarf hair grass could grow under low light:

http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com...charis-parvula

I can't find the post, but a while ago, Tom Bar stated that he grew Dwarf Hair grass under 1 watt per gallon.

Here's a link below of someone who grew dwarf hair grass on a low tech tank without co2:

http://www.sudeepmandal.com/hobbies/...ed-tank-guide/

2x13 watt CFL bulbs are perfectly fine in a low tech tank with the aqueon incandescent fixture, and without CO2. At the moment, I am using this fixture with 2x15 watt bulbs and I dose API co2 boost about every 3 days, and my plants are growing fine. I was growing my plants with 2x13 watt bulbs, but I recently upgraded to 15 watt bulbs.

Here's a video of my tank: