Suggestions for ready made light fixture for 10 gal

1462 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by epicfish, Oct 26, 2007

Chihuahua6

Discussion Starter · Oct 6, 2007

Hi folks. It's been a while since I wanted to convert one of my reef tanks to a planted tank and now I want to take the plunge. I want to start out super low tech and cheap for now. I have a ten gallon or a 30 cube that I can use. I am leaning toward the ten gallon for now but maybe I'll change my mind if the cost difference isn't too great. The only lights I have now are either the stock regular output lights or a 96 watt pc, both of which wouldn't work for this application. What can I buy for either tank that would be very economical? I saw a slim pc somewhere (maybe Foster and Smith?) that was $30 something. Is there something cheaper out there? Thanks.
Amanda

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if_fishes_were_wishes

· #2 · Oct 7, 2007

I am on the same hunt

Coralife makes a slim T5, maybe that's what you're referring to, but the smallest size is 24"

Here's a link to a great post re: 10 gallon lighting, namely a 20" Coralife PC but you'll have to switch out the bulbs (comes w/a saltwater bulb only):

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/51187-lighting-system-10-gallon.html

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Church

· #3 · Oct 10, 2007

I just upgraded the lighting on my 10g with a Current USA Satellite fixture. It was the cheapest option I could find where I could still have high-light. But I got the dual bulb fixture, which set me back $125. You can get the single bulb (which would still give you 4wpg) for closer to $70. I don't think you'll get much cheaper than that if you want good lighting in a ready-made 20" form. Of course, you'll have to buy an extra bulb, because the one that comes with it is a 50/50, and they cost an extra $15 or so. Some people say that their lfs will actually swap out the bulb for free, but I don't know if a mailorder company would do that. I do know that drsfostersmith.com sells them for $55, and $17 per bulb. Also, these hoods come with a moonlight, which looks pretty cool for nighttime viewing!

I suppose you could get a generic hood with a fluorescent fixture, but I don't think those things come much stronger than about 15w or so. You could, on the other hand, go with a $15 dual-incandescent cheapy hood, and use 25w screw-in spiral fluorescents instead of incandescent bulbs. That's what I did up until I got the Satellite and it worked great, actually!

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Chihuahua6

Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 24, 2007

Thanks for the support. It would be cheaper to buy a new bulb for the 96 watt pc and use it on the 30 gal cube than it would be to buy a new light for the ten gallon. It will be bright but I can use the legs to raise the light, plus the glass top to filter it and maybe a fine mesh over the glass to filter it a bit further. Would do you guys think? Could this work if I don't want to add co2?

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narhay

· #5 · Oct 26, 2007

What about a 20" incandescent fixture and put two spiral bulbs in it?

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LordMaximo

· #6 · Oct 26, 2007

On a 10gl tank, you can build a raised lighting fixture and afford yourself the lighting you are requiring. With the standard 18" light fixture, there are bulbs you can get over at the PetCo shop. I also have seen others, in the past, use filter lens on the hoods to change the light spectrum of a flourecent light.
You can create many moods and stretch the wave lengths with different colored lenses. Light blue lense is a great one for coral reef tanks, it adds to the deep blue and gives a feeling of being down in the currents.
I helped a guy build a raised hood with mini-spots, trac-lights, he had two each with reds, yellows, greens, and blue lenses, along with two flourecent 48" bulbs. He also incorporated all his lights with indiviual switches to help the spread. Then to top it all off, we had three different shades of plexi shields for different lighting mmods. It took a week to gather and build this hood. He had to incorporate 2- 4" computer cooling fans for cooling the hood.
All in all, it was a very impresive fixture. 10 lights in all and it sat ~6" the glass top with feet on each corner. Good luck, Maximo

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epicfish

· #7 · Oct 26, 2007

Chihuahua6 said:
Thanks for the support. It would be cheaper to buy a new bulb for the 96 watt pc and use it on the 30 gal cube than it would be to buy a new light for the ten gallon. It will be bright but I can use the legs to raise the light, plus the glass top to filter it and maybe a fine mesh over the glass to filter it a bit further. Would do you guys think? Could this work if I don't want to add co2?

^ That might work...pretty slim chance though, since you'll be hitting 3+ WPG on the setup. BUT then again, there's about 20" of water for the light to pass through. I'd say give it a chance and dose Excel instead of doing CO2 first. You never know.

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